{{short description|Australian botanist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2020}} {{infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AO|FTSE|size=100}} | image = | caption = | birth_name = Kingsley Wayne Dixon | birth_date = 1954 | citizenship = Australian | fields = Botany | workplaces = University of Western Australia Curtin University | alma_mater = University of Western Australia | thesis_title = | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = }}
'''Kingsley Wayne Dixon''' is an Australian botanist currently working as a professor at the University of Western Australia. He was the founding Director of Science at Kings Park and Botanic Gardens, and helped to establish the laboratories there as among the world's leading.<ref name="Curtin University Staff Profile" />
==Early life== Dixon grew up in the Perth suburb of Morley, Western Australia. He spent his time exploring the bushland that existed in the suburb during his childhood, which encouraged his interest in botany.<ref>{{cite web |title=Western Australia has some of the most ancient and diverse flora on the planet |url=https://www.abc.net.au/radio/perth/programs/wa-afternoons/kingsley-dixon/8439816 |website=ABC Radio Perth |date=12 April 2017 |accessdate=16 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="Western Australian Naturalists' Club">{{cite web |title=KINGSLEY DIXON—LIVING IN A BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT |url=https://www.wanaturalists.org.au/reports/kingsley-dixon-living-in-a-biodiversity-hotspot/ |website=Western Australian Naturalists' Club |accessdate=16 October 2020}}</ref>
==Career== Dixon received a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and a PhD from the University of Western Australia (UWA). Dixon was the founding Director of Science at Kings Park and Botanic Gardens from 1982 to 2014. Kingsley was a professor at UWA before taking up a professorship at Curtin University in 2017. As of January 2025, he has returned to UWA as a Professor at the School of Biological Sciences.<ref name="Curtin University Staff Profile" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kingsley Dixon |url=https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/00041183 |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=the UWA Profiles and Research Repository |language=en-GB}}</ref>
One of Dixon's most notable achievements is the 1992 discovery of smoke as a cause for the germination of Australian plants after bushfires.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dixon |first1=Kingsley W.|last2=Roche |first2=Shauna| last3=Pate |first3=John S.| date=February 1995 |title=The promotive effect of smoke derived from burnt native vegetation on seed germination of Western Australian plants|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/bf00317282|journal=Oecologia |volume=101 |issue=2|pages=185–192 |doi=10.1007/bf00317282 |pmid=28306789 |bibcode=1995Oecol.101..185D |s2cid=29631845 |access-date=11 July 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The study, which was published in 1995, applied knowledge which had previously been researched in South Africa to the native plants of his home state.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=De Lange |first1=J.H. |last2=Boucher |first2=C |date=December 1990 |title=Autecological studies on Audouinia capitata (Bruniaceae). I. Plant-derived smoke as a seed germination cue |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0254629916310092 |journal=South African Journal of Botany |volume=56 |issue=6 |pages=700–703 |doi= 10.1016/S0254-6299(16)31009-2|access-date=11 July 2023|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=N. A. C. |date=March 1993 |title=Promotion of germination of fynbos seeds by plant-derived smoke |journal=New Phytologist |volume=123 |issue=3 |pages=575–583 |doi= 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1993.tb03770.x|doi-access=free }}</ref>
He later helped to show that plant species in other parts of the world also have germination caused by smoke, showing that this is not exclusive to plants in fire-prone regions. After this, he started a study with scientists from UWA and Murdoch University to discover the specific chemicals in smoke that cause this effect, testing over 4,000 chemicals and eventually discovering a new molecule, named karrikinolide, after "karrik", the Noongar word for "smoke". The discovery was published in ''Science'' in 2004.<ref name="Curtin University Staff Profile" />
Dixon featured on David Attenborough's documentary ''The Private Life of Plants'' in 2001.<ref name="Curtin University Staff Profile" />
In December 2017, Dixon became a member of the Lotterywest board.<ref>{{cite web |title=New commissioners appointed to Lotterywest Board |url=https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2018/01/New-commissioners-appointed-to-Lotterywest-Board.aspx |website=Media Statements |accessdate=16 October 2020 |archive-date=19 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019213249/https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2018/01/New-commissioners-appointed-to-Lotterywest-Board.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About us |url=https://www.lotterywest.wa.gov.au/lotterywest/about-us |website=Lotterywest |accessdate=16 October 2020}}</ref>
Plant species first described by Dixon include ''Caladenia rosea'', ''Caladenia lateritica'', ''Desmocladus glomeratus'' and ''Rhizanthella johnstonii''. ''Caleana dixonii'' was first identified as a distinct species by and named after Dixon.
==Personal life== Dixon owns a {{convert|160|acre|adj=on}} property near Waroona named "Cypress Farm and Gardens", where he lives with his husband. The property was featured on the show ''Gardening Australia'' in 2023,<ref>{{cite web |title=My Garden Path: Kingsley Dixon |url=https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/how-to/my-garden-path-kingsley-dixon/103198146 |website=ABC News |access-date=25 March 2024 |date=8 December 2023}}</ref> and had Australia's largest maple collection. The property was partially destroyed by a bushfire in March 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Runciman |first1=Caleb |title=Cypress Farm and Gardens: South West garden owned by Curtin Uni Professor Kingsley Dixon destroyed by bushfire |url=https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/cypress-farm-and-gardens-south-west-garden-owned-by-curtin-uni-professor-kingsley-dixon-destroyed-by-bushfire-c-14059442 |website=The West Australian |access-date=25 March 2024 |date=23 March 2024 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Caporn |first1=Dylan |last2=Hickey |first2=Phil |title=Kingsley Dixon: Firefighters save Cypress Farm home of renowned scientist |url=https://thewest.com.au/news/disaster-and-emergency/kingsley-dixon-firefighters-save-cypress-farm-home-of-renowned-scientist-c-14064336 |website=The West Australian |access-date=24 March 2024 |date=24 March 2024 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cross |first1=Daile |last2=McNeill |first2=Heather |title=Three homes lost as fire tears through bushland in WA’s south |url=https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/massive-wa-bushfire-still-out-of-control-with-lives-and-homes-under-threat-20240325-p5fez1.html |website=WAtoday |access-date=25 March 2024 |date=25 March 2024}}</ref> Dixon was also an owner of the heritage-listed Halliday House in Bayswater between 1984 and 1992, where he worked to restore the garden and house.<ref>{{cite web |title=Halliday House (P/AD) |url=https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/admin/api/file/2848c0d4-614b-0b07-40f0-304597a32632 |website=inHerit |publisher=Heritage Council of Western Australia |access-date=24 March 2024 |date=June 2000}}</ref>
==Awards== * Golden Gecko Awards for Environmental Excellence (1997, 2000, 2008)<ref name="Curtin University Staff Profile">{{cite web |title=Professor Kingsley Dixon |url=https://staffportal.curtin.edu.au/staff/profile/view/Kingsley.Dixon/ |website=Curtin University |accessdate=15 October 2020}}</ref> * Australian Minerals Energy Environment Foundations Awards of Environmental Excellence (1992, 1996)<ref name="Curtin University Staff Profile" /> * UWA Chancellor’s Medal (2010)<ref name="Curtin University Staff Profile" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Chancellor's medal for leading plant biologist |url=https://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201009092857/alumni/chancellors-medal-leading-plant-biologist |website=University of Western Australia |accessdate=15 October 2020}}</ref> * UWA Award of Honour (2013)<ref name="Curtin University Staff Profile" /> * Linnean Medal (2013)<ref>{{cite web |title=Plant hero lauded |url=https://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201305275711/awards-and-prizes/plant-hero-lauded |website=University of Western Australia |accessdate=15 October 2020}}</ref> * Western Australian Scientist of the Year (2016)<ref name="Curtin University Staff Profile" /><ref name="WA Scientist of the Year">{{cite web |title=Past winners |url=https://jtsi.wa.gov.au/what-we-do/science-and-innovation/science-award-programs/premier's-science-awards/past-winners#chapter15 |website=Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation |accessdate=15 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Curtin professor named WA Scientist of the Year |url=https://news.curtin.edu.au/media-releases/curtin-professor-named-wa-scientist-year |website=Curtin University |date=18 August 2016 |accessdate=15 October 2020}}</ref> *Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (2020)<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=26 November 2020|title=2020 ATSE New Fellows|url=https://www.atse.org.au/news-and-events/article/newfellows2020/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=29 November 2020|website=Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering|language=en}}</ref> *Officer of the Order of Australia (2023)<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 June 2023 |title=Distinguished Professor Kingsley DIXON |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2013913 |access-date=11 June 2023 |website=Australian Honours Search Facility}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hiatt |first1=Bethany |title=King's Birthday Honours: Passion for natural world drives acclaimed botanist Kingsley Dixon |url=https://thewest.com.au/news/awards/kings-birthday-honours-passion-for-natural-world-drives-acclaimed-botanist-kingsley-dixon-c-10891046 |website=The West Australian |access-date=12 June 2023 |date=11 June 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite web |title=Kingsley Dixon interview |url=https://www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Interview-Transcript-Kingsley-Dixon-26-Jan-2022.pdf |website=Australian Garden History Society |date=26 January 2022}}
==External links== *[https://staffportal.curtin.edu.au/staff/profile/view/Kingsley.Dixon/ Curtin University staff profile]
{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Kingsley}} Category:Officers of the Order of Australia Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Category:Academic staff of Curtin University Category:University of Western Australia alumni Category:Kings Park, Western Australia Category:20th-century Australian botanists Category:Linnean Medallists Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Australian botanists