Bruce Roger Maslin (born 3 May 1946) is an Australian

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

, known for his work on ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' taxonomy. Born in

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...

, Western Australia, he obtained an honours degree in botany from the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

in 1967, then took up an appointment as a botanist with the

Western Australian Herbarium The Western Australian Herbarium is the State Herbarium in Perth, Western Australia. It is part of the State government's Department of Parks and Wildlife, and has responsibility for the description and documentation of the flora of Western Austr ...

. The following year he was

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

to serve in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

; he gave three years in National Service, serving in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

in 1969. In 1970 he returned to his position at the Western Australian Herbarium, serving in that institution until 1987. During this time he was

Australian Botanical Liaison Officer Australian Botanical Liaison Officer was a secondment position, held for up to twelve months by an Australian botanist (or expert in Australian botany) at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, England in the United Kingdom. The position was c ...

in 1977 and 1978; editor of ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

'' from 1981 to 1983; and acting curator in 1986 and 1987. In 1987, Maslin was appointed a Senior Research Scientist, still within the Department of Environment and Conservation. A specialist in the genus ''Acacia'', he has published around 250 ''Acacia'' taxa. He retired from his position at the Western Australian Herbarium in 2017, after 48 years of service and more than 180 scientific papers and articles. He has continued his ''Acacia'' work as an Honorary Research Associate at the Herbarium and has conducted research in south, south-east and east Asia, dealing with the region's ''Acacia'' sens. lat taxonomy and nomenclature. Bruce was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2017.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maslin, Bruce Roger 1946 births Living people Australian Botanical Liaison Officers Botanists active in Australia Scientists from Western Australia Members of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian scientists Australian taxonomists