Botanist’s art funds scholarship

[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 3, No. 1  14 April - 12 May 2008 ]

By Janine Sim-Jones

As a distinguished botanist and ecologist, the late Dr David Ashton combined his love of the arts and science to produce hundreds of paintings depicting Australian landscapes.

Today those paintings are not only a testament to Dr Ashton’s impact on the field of botany, but have also planted the seeds of a new annual University of Melbourne scholarship – the David Ashton Scholarship.

The new Scholarship will be awarded to a postgraduate botany student for the first time at the end of this month.

After his death in November 2005, Dr Ashton’s estate left a bequest of $50 000 and 200 oil and pastel paintings to the University’s School of Botany Foundation.

So far about 60 per cent of the paintings have been sold – bringing the total of Dr Ashton’s bequest to $75 000.

Head of the School of Botany, Professor Pauline Ladiges, says Dr Ashton was one of Australia’s most eminent plant ecologists.

“The bequest symbolises Dr Ashton’s commitment to botany and the environment,” she says.

“Dr Ashton’s influence in the field of botany will not only continue through the ongoing impact of his research – and his beautiful artworks – but also by creating opportunities for young scientists to further increase our knowledge of Australia’s plant life.”

Dr Ashton’s relationship with the University of Melbourne spanned 50 years.

He began his undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne in 1946, was conferred with a PhD in 1957, and was an Associate Professor in the School of Botany until 1989, when he became an Honorary Research Fellow.

He is renowned for his studies of the ecology of mountain ash forests and contribution to undergraduate and post-graduate teaching.

Dr Ashton was presented with the Ecological Society of Australia Medal in 1990 and given an award within the Order of Australia in 2001.