Anthony Whalen

I'm the General Manager of the Australian Biological Resources Study; based in Canberra. I have a broad interest in Australian taxonomy, systematics, bioinformatics and conservation biology. I am strongly motivated by work that helps raise the awareness, understanding and appreciation of the Australian plants, animals and natural systems. Previous to this I worked in the a number of positions in the Australian Government's Department of the Environment (and its many taxonomic and nomenclatural synonyms). These roles included Species Information, Natural Heritage, Heritage Policy, the National Landcare Programme and Wildlife Trade.

My team and I are currently working on the Flora of Australia as one of our key priorities. With the help of the Atlas of Living Australia, Kevin Thiele and others, the Flora is rapidly evolving via a new dynamic e-flora platform. I am hopeful that resources such as the Flora of Australia can be highlighted within a Decadal Plan for Taxonomy and Biosystematics - in part for the role they can play to inform research and policy - but also to underline the importance of appropriately resourcing and developing such tools into the future.

I look forward to seeing the Decadal Plan go forward.