Hill, Kenneth (Ken) D. (1948 - )

Born 6 Aug 1948 in Armidale, NSW, Australia.

Ken joined the staff at the National Herbarium of New South Wales (NSW) in 1983 as the research assistant on the eucalypts, after previously working as an exploration geologist. In his relatively short botanical career, Ken made a very significant contribution to botany, most notably with his eucalypt work in collaboration with Lawrie Johnson, his own work on the systematics, evolution and conservation of Cycas, as well as his less widely known botanical informatics work.

He has become an internationally respected botanist whose calibre, value and application of research work has spoken for itself in its praise, acceptance and use by the botanical community. He has played a stellar international ambassadorial role for the Royal Botanic Gardens with his cycad work and also the leading role he has taken in the uptake and development of bioinformatics at the RBG. With his exceptional computing skills combined with his ability to be original and innovative, he took the lead in delivering a number of electronic products that have greatly benefited the staff of the RBG as well as the botanical and general community, notably the Cycad Pages, NSW Flora Online, Type Specimen Catalogue, Eucalypt Pages, WattleWeb and Online Census of NSW (subsequently developed into PlantNET on http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/).

As the last resident eucalypt specialist on the staff of NSW, Ken has continued the tradition of expertise in eucalypts that has existed here for over a century. His skill and expertise in the field, travelling extensively in Australia, and in the latter years in the botanically very poorly known Asia/Pacific region in pursuit of Cycas, has enabled the discovery of many new species, solved numerous problems of identification and nomenclature and expanded our knowledge of these two groups significantly. His collaborative work in Asia has enabled local botanists there to undertake study not otherwise possible and enhanced herbarium cycad collections in Asia and worldwide.

Ken's expert advice and broad-ranging knowledge has been greatly valued and always given freely to those who have sought his help. He has always been happy to make his time available to answer questions – ranging from eucalypt IDs through to computing problems, and often doing so in a seemingly effortless manner. This generosity continues in his retirement.

A quiet achiever and always modest about his achievements, Ken has spent long hours both at work and home, the results of which are evidenced by his prolific publications and the electronic products he has developed. Also being a fairly quiet person, the way to get to know Ken is to work closely with him. And of course one of the best ways to get to know a botanist is to spend time with them in the field. Ken has spent varying amounts of time with many of us and I'll leave those of you who have been in the field with him to recall your own stories that you inevitably return with! At NSW he has had the reputation of returning from overseas trips to regale us with bizarre and humorous stories of his experiences.

Ken's love of plants, motorcycles, travelling and his field trips to remote and out of the way places have made for a very interesting life. Ken is also a keen gardener and has been a collector of a diverse range of plants, including cycads, cacti, succulents, orchids, bulbs and sub-tropical plants for much of his life.

Ken Hill retired from the National Herbarium of New South Wales on 13th August 2004 due to deteriorating health.

In his retirement Ken intends to maintain an honorary association with NSW, working on projects of interest, including a monograph of Cycas, finishing other systematic papers, continuing with the electronic flora and also the cycad web site. His other plans include moving to his property at Somersby, about 60 km North of Sydney, where he's working on drought and fire tolerant garden plantings and techniques that are compatible with the Australian environment.

Leonie Stanberg

Source: Leonie Stanberg, National Herbarium of New South Wales, in ASBS Newsletter 121, December 2004. Portrait: RBG Sydney, Field photo: Leonie Stanberg