Stephen Hopper

{{Short description|Australian botanist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Stephen Donald Hopper | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = 18 June 1951 | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | education = | fields = Botany, Conservation Biology, Eucalyptus, Haemodoraceae | title = | spouse = | parents = | workplaces = University of Western Australia, Kings Park, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew | thesis_title = Speciation in the Kangaroo Paws of South-western Australia: (Anigozanthos and Macropidia: Haemodoraceae). | thesis_url = https://books.google.com.au/books?id=IKY5GwAACAAJ | known_for = OCBIL Theory (old, climatically-buffered, infertile landscapes) | author_abbrev_bot = Hopper | honorary suffix = | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AC|FTSE|size=100%}} }} {{Scholia|author}} '''Stephen Donald Hopper''' (born 18 June 1951)<ref>{{cite news | title = Birthdays | newspaper = The Guardian | pages = 41 | date = 18 June 2014}}</ref> is a Western Australian botanist. He graduated in biology, specialising in conservation biology and vascular plants. Hopper has written eight books, and has over 200 publications to his name. He was Director of Kings Park in Perth for seven years, and CEO of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority for five. He is currently Foundation Professor of Plant Conservation Biology at The University of Western Australia. He was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 2006 to 2012.<ref name="Kew history">{{cite web | url=http://www.kew.org/about-kew/history-heritage/director-stephen-hopper/ | title=Director (CEO & Chief Scientist) – Professor Stephen D Hopper AC FLS FTSE | publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew | work=History & Heritage | access-date=8 March 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309010719/http://www.kew.org/about-kew/history-heritage/director-stephen-hopper/ | archive-date=9 March 2014 }}</ref>

This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation '''Hopper''' when citing a botanical name.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Brummitt, R K |author2=Powell, C E |title = Authors of Plant Names |publisher = Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |year = 1992 |isbn = 1-84246-085-4}}</ref>

== Research == Hopper published his early research on the systematics and speciation of the family Haemodoraceae, including kangaroo paws (''Anigozanthos''), which formed the basis of his PhD at the University of Western Australia in 1978. He subsequently worked on the conservation, ecology, and taxonomy of Western Australian flora, including eucalypts, orchids, and plants of granite outcrops.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stephen Hopper |url=https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/stephen-hopper/ |access-date=2025-11-08 |website=the UWA Profiles and Research Repository |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In the 1990s and 2000s, Hopper's research extended to plant biogeography and conservation management, emphasising the flora of south-western Australia. In 2009 he developed the OCBIL theory (old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes), proposing evolutionary and ecological processes distinctive to ancient, nutrient-poor regions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hopper |first=Stephen D. |date=2009-09-01 |title=OCBIL theory: towards an integrated understanding of the evolution, ecology and conservation of biodiversity on old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-0068-0 |journal=Plant and Soil |language=en |volume=322 |issue=1 |pages=49–86 |doi=10.1007/s11104-009-0068-0 |bibcode=2009PlSoi.322...49H |issn=1573-5036|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Honours== On 1 January 2001, the Australian government awarded Hopper the Centenary Medal for his "service to the community".<ref>{{cite web|title=Stephen Donald Hopper|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1124040|publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> On 11 June 2012, Hopper was named a Companion of the Order of Australia for "eminent service as a global science leader in the field of plant conservation biology, particularly in the delivery of world class research programs contributing to the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems."<ref>{{cite web|title=Companion (AC) in the General Division of the Order of Australia – The Queen's Birthday 2012 Honours Lists|url=http://www.gg.gov.au/res/file/2012/honours/qb2012/Media%20Notes%20AC%20(final).pdf|publisher=Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia|page=[http://www.gg.gov.au/res/file/2012/honours/qb2012/Media%20Notes%20AC%20(final).pdf#page=5 5]|date=11 June 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616221648/http://www.gg.gov.au/res/file/2012/honours/qb2012/Media%20Notes%20AC%20%28final%29.pdf|archive-date=16 June 2012}}</ref> He was also inducted into the Western Australia Science Hall of Fame in the same year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-31 |title=WA Science Hall of Fame Inductees |url=https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-energy-and-economic-diversification/wa-science-hall-of-fame-inductees |access-date=2025-10-31 |website=www.wa.gov.au |language=en}}</ref>

==Albany== In 2015, he moved to Albany, Western Australia, and he has returned to his interest in ''Anigozanthus''.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/talkingplants/heaven-on-earth-in-a-botanists-garden/7090896 |title = 'Heaven on Earth' in a botanist's garden| website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date = 15 January 2016}}</ref> In 2025 he published a book on the genus Eucalyptus that examines Aboriginal knowledge and Western Science relating to the genus.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Laurie |first=Victoria |date=2025-10-03 |title=The humble scientist who became the world's greatest eucalypt expert |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-humble-scientist-who-became-the-world-s-greatest-eucalypt-expert-20250924-p5mxhg.html |access-date=2025-10-31 |website=The Age |language=en}}</ref>

==Selected works==

* ''Gondwanan heritage'' (1996)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hopper, Stephen D | title=Gondwanan heritage : past, present, and future of the Western Australian biota | date=1996 | publisher=Surrey Beatty & Sons in association with Australian Systematic Botany Society and Kings Park and Botanic Garden, Western Australia | isbn=978-0-949324-66-5 }}</ref> * ''Eucalyptus'' (2025)<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hopper |first=Stephen D. |title=Eucalyptus |date=2025 |publisher=Reaktion Books, Limited |isbn=978-1-83639-111-1 |edition= |series=Botanical Series |location=London EC1V 0HE}}</ref>

with Jane Sampson:

* ''Endangered poison plants'' (1989)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Sampson, Jane | author2=Hopper, Stephen | author3=Rainbird, John | author4=Western Australian Wildlife Research Centre | title=Survey of endangered poison plants of Western Australia : field guide | date=1989 | publisher=Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management in association with the World Wildlife Fund Australia | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/23216594 | access-date=17 January 2016 }}</ref>

with Anne Taylor:

* ''The Banksia Atlas'' (1991)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Taylor, Anne | author2=Hopper, Stephen D | author3=Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Land Management | author4=Australia. Bureau of Flora and Fauna | title=The banksia atlas | date=1991 | publisher=Australian Govt. Pub. Service | edition=Repr. with amendments | isbn=978-0-644-07124-6 }}</ref>

with Bert and Babs Wells:

* ''Kangaroo paws and catspaws'' (1993)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hopper, Stephen D | author2=Wells, Babs | author3=Wells, Bert | author4=Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Land Management | title=Kangaroo paws and catspaws : a natural history and field guide | date=1993 | publisher=Dept. of Conservation and Land Management | isbn=978-0-7309-5913-7 }}</ref>

with illustrator Philippa Nikulinsky:

*''Soul of the Desert'' (2005)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Nikulinsky, Philippa | author2=Hopper, Stephen D | author3=Nikulinsky, Philippa | title=Soul of the Desert | date=2005 | publisher=Fremantle Arts Centre Press | isbn=978-1-921064-06-7 }}</ref> *''Life on the Rocks'' (2008)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Nikulinsky, Philippa | author2=Hopper, Stephen D | title=Life on the rocks : the art of survival | date=2008 | publisher=Fremantle Press | edition=Reissued casebound | isbn=978-1-921361-28-9 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, Stephen}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Australian botanists Category:21st-century Australian scientists Category:21st-century Australian botanists Category:Australian taxonomists Category:Botanists active in Australia Category:Botanists active in Kew Gardens Category:Botanists with author abbreviations Category:Botany in Western Australia Category:Companions of the Order of Australia Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Category:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Category:Scientists from Western Australia Category:Academic staff of the University of Western Australia Category:University of Western Australia alumni

Stephen Hopper

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