Ian Thomas Fraser (born 1951) is an Australian naturalist, conservationist and author, based in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, where he arrived from

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in January 1980. From 1997, he presented a fortnightly natural history show on ABC Radio Canberra, until the station discontinued the program at the end of 2016. He teaches bird and other natural history courses to adult students at the

ANU Anu ( akk, , from wikt:𒀭#Sumerian, 𒀭 ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the sky father, divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the list of Mesopotamian deities, dei ...

Centre for Continuing Education. He ran the educational Environment Tours program – natural history bus-based tours throughout Australia – initially in association with the Canberra environment movement from 1984 until retiring at the end of 2016, and since 2006 has worked for Chris Carter of ''Time Travel Australia'' leading natural history tours to South America (with single tours to Malaysian Borneo and Madagascar). He was awarded the Australian Plants Award by the Australian Native Plants Society in 2001, and the

Australian Natural History Medallion The Australian Natural History Medallion is awarded each year by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) to the person judged to have made the most meritorious contribution to the understanding of Australian Natural History. The idea origina ...

in 2006. In 2011 his book ''A Bush Capital Year'', written with artist Peter Marsack, was awarded a Whitley Certificate for Best Regional Zoology by the Royal Zoological Society of NSW. In 2013 ''Australian Bird Names; a complete guide'', co-authored with Jeannie Gray, was also awarded a Whitley, this one as best book in the category Zoological Resource. From 2002 to 2013, he wrote a monthly essay on birds – 100 in all – for ''Gang-gang'', the Newsletter of the Canberra Ornithologists Group. He served on the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

(ACT) Natural Resources Management Advisory Committee (and its various predecessors), advising the ACT government on biodiversity issues from its inception in 1984, and chaired it from 2005 until his retirement at the end of 2014. Since 2012, he has been the author of a natural history blog, ''Ian Fraser Talking Naturally'', now weekly, formerly more frequently, on all aspects of natural history, aiming to bring biological science and conservation principles to a lay audience. In 2016 he curated, by invitation, a three-month exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery entitled ''Bush Capital, the natural history of the ACT''. He was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2018 "for service to conservation and the environment." He is partnered to former journalist and ABC local radio presenter Louise Maher.

Bibliography

* ''Above the Cotter; a driver's and walker's guide to the North Brindabellas''. Ian Fraser and Margaret McJannett, Canberra and South-East Region Environment Centre, Canberra, 1991 * ''Wild about Canberra; a field guide to the plants and animals of the ACT''. Ian Fraser and Margaret McJannett, ACT Parks and Conservation Service, Canberra, 1993 * ''Wildflowers of the Bush Capital; a field guide to Canberra Nature Park''. Ian Fraser and Margaret McJannett, Vertego Press, Canberra, 1993 * ''Over the Hills and Tharwa Way; Eastern Namadgi National Park, a driver's and walker's guide''. Ian Fraser and Margaret McJannett, Canberra and South-East Region Environment Centre, Canberra, 1994 * ''Neighbours in Trouble! Endangered plants and animals in the ACT''. Ian Fraser and Margaret McJannett, Conservation Council of the South-East Region and Canberra, Canberra, 1996. * ''Wildflowers of the Snow Country''. Ian Fraser and Margaret McJannett, Vertego Press, Canberra, 1998 * ''A Bush Capital Year; a natural history of the Canberra region.'' Ian Fraser and Peter Marsack, CSIRO Publishing, 2011. * ''Australian Bird Names; a complete guide''. Ian Fraser and Jeannie Gray. CSIRO Publishing, 2013. .

External links

Ian Fraser :: ABC Canberra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Ian 1951 births Living people Australian nature writers Australian naturalists Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia