Honours & Awards

Maxwell Ralph Jacobs Fund

Background

The Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA), wishing to commemorate the life and work of Dr Maxwell Ralph Jacobs (25 February 1905 - 9 October 1979), established a fund in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Science and the then New Zealand Institute of Foresters to be used to support research in Australian forestry.

The late Dr Jacobs was one of Australia's most distinguished foresters. At the time of his retirement in 1970 he was the Director-General of the Forestry and Timber Bureau having worked in the public service for 44 years. He died in Canberra ACT in 1979.

The Fund was raised by an Appeal Committee of which the late Sir John Crawford was Patron. A Fund Committee was established to assist the Academy and the Institute to administer the Fund; the Foundation Chairman was Dr M.F.C. Day. The Committee first met on 7 December 1984 to decide on the areas to be supported through grants:

Work to be carried out in or related to Australasia in any field of forestry science;
Field-oriented research in Australia and New Zealand in fields reflecting Max Jacob’s particular interests;
Overseas travel for either administrators or scientists.

It also decided to inaugurate a Max Jacobs Memorial Lecture to be given every two years at the IFA Biennial National Conference. The Committee has subsequently met annually, and grants have been made each year.

Operations were reviewed in 2007 and it was agreed that the Fund would be transferred to the Committee under the control of the Institute of Foresters of Australia which had been providing funding to support the scheme after the original funding was exhausted. The capital of the Fund is declining, but the Institute of Foresters of Australia has guaranteed funding until 2011 by contributing $5,000 each year to the Fund.

Achievements

The Fund Committee believes that the Fund has been an important institution in Australian and New Zealand forestry, the Awards being one of the few sources of recognition and modest finance available in forest science or management. The Awards have had a significant catalytic value, frequently enabling recipients to attract other support. They and the Oration have succeeded in maintaining awareness of Max among a new generation of foresters and forest scientists.

Operations

The current membership of the Committee is Alan Brown (Chair), Professor Peter Kanowski, Dr Ian Bevege, Dr Peter Volker and J. Adrian O’Loughlin (Secretary).

Applications open in June each year by announcement on the IFA website and in the IFA Newsletter.

Further enquiries should be referred to the IFA National Office at ifa@forestry.org.au or phone: +61-2-6281 3992.

Recipients of the Maxwell Ralph Jacobs Award

Year*	No.	Name	Topic
2009	74	Sarah Monks	Biodiversity conservation in production forests – The study aims to investigate the approach taken to biodiversity conservation in areas subject to production forestry activities in Canada and North America in particular, how the effectiveness of measures for the conservation of biodiversity are monitored and how new information is taken into account in on-ground managemenet.
	73	Sebastian Pfautsch	Water use and requirement of Nothofagus spp. – Research on Nothofagus cunninghamii (southeastern Australia), N. Antartica and N. Pumilio (southern Argentina), in order to measure their water requirements. Correlating these measurements with environmental parameters, and modelling the influence of these parameters on tree water use in the futures.
	72	Krishna Shrestha	Overseas travel to undertake research in Nepalese community forestry. This research is a part of an international research which aims to examine the politics of environmental justice in decentralized natural resource management.
2008	68	Bryony Horton	Travel to The Bruns Laboratory at the University of California, for 3 weeks in 2008. While there, work with expert researchers to develop skills in the area of fungal molecular identification and use these skills to identify ectomycorrhizal samples I have collected throughout my PhD study.
	69	Kerrie Catchpoole	Travel to deliver a paper at an international workshop to be held in Finland in 2008. The workshop is part of the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) series, and will focus on the connection between silviculture and wood quality in a modelling context.
	70	Audrey Quentin	Travel to carry out photosynthetic and growth measurements. Understanding of the reasons behind pest and disease attacks on plantations is a key factor in the sustainable and intelligent management of the Australian forestry.
	71	Shannon Smith	Using genetic techniques, the temporal and spatial variation within A. incompertus in South-east Australian forests will be investigated. This knowledge will enable the implementation of management strategies to intervene with beetle dispersal and improve wood quality.
2007	66	Dr Ross Peacock RPF	Validate models of vegetation change following timber harvesting in East Gippsland, Victoria.
	67	Matthew Brookhouse	Visit the Swansea University’s tree-ring laboratory. Test a wood density assessment technique, called blue reflectance, on two Australian species. The first, Eucalyptus delegatensis, will provide the opportunity to test the technique on eucalypts. The second species, Podocarpus lawrencii, is an alpine conifer that may be affected by climate change.
2006	64	Vic Jurkis	Examine the Wombat (Victoria) long term fire study area. Examine decline of Eucalyptus camaldulensis in the Macquarie Marshes (NSW) and E. fasciculosa in the Mt. Lofty Ranges (SA). Study ongoing Aboriginal fire management in the Northern Territory and compare with post-European practices of graziers;
	65	David Forrester	Study water use and water use efficiency of mixed species plantations of eucalyptus and acacia.
2005	62	Alison Miller	Conduct research aimed at using vegetation management to modify herbivore feeding behaviour and thus contribute to non-lethal management of browsing damage by marsupial herbivores.
	63	Ian Brooker	Travel grant to Papua New Guinea to conduct research on Eucalyptus papuana. Collect samples of Eucalyptus papuana and compare with Corymbia paracolphica and C. arafurica.
2004	60	Anna Smith	Travel to South Africa – examine Mycosphaerella nublisoa on Eucalyptus nitens
	61	Julienne O’Reilly-Wapstra	Travel – Macauley Research Institute, Aberdeen Scotland, collaborative work on natural plant resistance
2003	58	Phil Alcorn	Travel to present paper at International Union of Forest research, Helsinki, Finland 17 June 2003
	59	Natalie Kelly	Field trials – application of mathematical modelling techniques - comparison between young Eucalyptus regnans crowns
2002	55	Ms Justine Edwards	Attend ‘Roots- the dynamic interface between plants and earth’, 6th ISRR Symposium, Nagoya, Japan, November 2001
	56	Marie Yee	Registration costs to attend 5th Invertebrate Biodiversity and Conservation Conference, Adelaide 2001 and a Beetle Identification Workshop in Canberra
	57	Sue Baker	Travel expenses and projected materials for field-based sampling of litter beetles
2001	53	Ms Helen Nahrung	Research on the southern eucalypt leaf beetle, Chrysophtharta agricola
	54	Ms Alieta Eyles	Kino production by eucalypts in response to wounding
2000	50	Mr Craig Kenneth McFarlane	Visit Utah USA for research on metabolism of eucalypts
	51	Ms Geraldine Moore	Research on bats in pine plantations at Kinleith
	52	Ms Emily Kemp	Travel to Oregon to acquire skills for research on ectomycorrhizae in woodlands
1999	48	Dr Jane Medhurst	Attend ‘Canopy dynamics…” IUFRO meeting, Scandanavia, Aug. 1999
	49	Mr Terry Walshe	Field trips to gather data on growth stages of euc. forests
1998	45	Dr Paul R. Adams	Attend Vegetation Management conference Toronto August 1998
	46	Mr Robert Preston	Attend remote sensing forum Canada February 1998
	47	Mr Robin Thwaites	Attend N.American Forest Soils Conf.
1997	43	Dr Jurgen Bauhus	Relationships between fine roots of eucalypts and acacias
	44	Dr David Jones	Development of eucalypt propagation in SA
1996	41	Dr Kenneth G Eldridge	Travel to NZ to assist preparation of book on radiata pine
	42	Dr Pauline Garnier-Gere	Chemicals for genetic analysis of E. delegatensis
1995	38	Mr M Ian H Brooker	Visit India re eucalypt identification
	39	Mr Jeff Claussen	Drought tolerance of rainforest species
	40	Dr Philip Polglase	Travel to USA re waste water re-use in forests
1994	36	Mr Mark Krstic	Travel, NZ, re hormones in rooting radiata pine cuttings
	37	Drs Phil Evans, Robin Wingate-Hill	Documentation of wood collection transferred from Latrobe to ANU
1993	32	Drs Phil Evans, Robin Wingate-Hill	Indexing and registration of ANU (?) wood collection
	33	Mr Gary Hopewell	Training in timber identification
	34	Dr Timothy Langrish	Data logging and control interface
	35	Mr Luke Wilson	Travel in Vic., value adding in hardwood sawmills
1992	30	Dr J Clive Carlyle	Workshops, international, fine roots
	31	Mr Stephen Walker	Travel, New Caledonia, breeding, propagation and establishment of pines and eucalypts
1991	25	Mr Ian R Bail	Travel, NZ, re dothistroma
	26	Mr Philip CJ Barker	Travel, NZ, re growing speciality native timbers
	27	Mr William L McCaw	Travel, USA, fire research and management
	28	Mr Peter F Moore	Travel SW WA, prescribed fire history and policy
	29	Mr Wang Qiao	Field studies of Tryphocaria- a pest of eucalypts
1990	19	Mr Roger Church	Airfares to California for PhD re computers in forest planning
	20	Dr Bernard Dell	Travel to North America: conference on mycorrhiza
	21	Mr Mark F Ellis	Travel, Australia, re eucalypt hybridisation
	22	Mr Henry W Esbenshade	Study, WA, of adoption of agroforestry
	23	Miss Jillian M Packham	Travel, NZ, re regeneration of Nothofagus
	24	Mr Gary Waugh	Travel, USA, re sawing small eucalypt sawlogs
1989	14	Mr Paul Biggs	Travel, Canada, large-scale aerial photos
	15	Mr Christopher L Brack	Travel, BC + USA, mensuration, inventory, management
	16	Dr Ann Gibson	Travel, Australia, site adaptation, E. camaldulensis
	17	Mr Philip J Smethurst	Attendance, NZ workshop harvesting and productivity
	18	Dr Geoffrey B Wood	Travel, mensuration code of practice
1988	9	Mr John N Cameron	Travel, Europe, eucalypt breeding and propagation
	10	Dr Paul YH Fung	Travel, Brazil, charcoal from eucalypts
	11	Dr Pauline A Heinrich	Travel,, root physiology, E. camaldulensis
	12	Dr Michael M Roche	Travel to Australia, company strategies
	13	Dr Inez C Tommerup	Lab costs, Cambridge, mycorrhizae
1987	6	Mr Wayne N Tibbits	Travel, Australia, collection of eucalypt pollen
	7	Dr Ian Abbott	Travel, WA, insect pests
	8	Mr Anthony P Wilkins	Travel, Japan, growth stress
1986	2	Dr Elaine Davison	Travel, Germany, forest decline
	3	Mr Mark J Lewty	Travel, Australia, pines and waterlogging
	4	Dr David R Mulligan	Purchase of chemicals and isotopes, P nutrition, eucalypt seedlings
	5	Mr Andrew K Skidmore	Subsistence, USA, remote sensing
1985	1	Dr Bradley M Potts	Travel, France, cultivation and breeding eucalypts

Maxwell Ralph Jacobs - Memorial Orators

The Maxwell Ralph Memorial Orations have been presented in conjunction with the biennial IFA conference, and have been a series of thoughtful, constructive and stimulating contributions on major forestry issues.

1985	Prof. LD Pryor	1997	Dr G J Bacon
1987	Mr J Groome	1999	Mr E R Rolley
1988	Mr R L Newman	2001	Prof. Sid Shea
1989	Prof. I S Ferguson	2003	Prof . Roger Sands
1991	Mr H Bunn	2005	Mr N.P.Cheney
1993	Dr J H Drielsma	2007	Mr W Jackson
1995	Senator BF Gibson