Noel Charles William Beadle | |
---|---|
Born | 20 December 1914 Sydney, New South Wales |
Died |
31 October 1998 (aged 83) Armidale, New South Wales |
Nationality | Australian |
Fields | botany |
Institutions | University of New England |
Alma mater | Sydney University |
Influenced | J.B.Williams |
Author abbrev. (botany) | N.C.W.Beadle |
Noel Charles William Beadle (20 December 1914 – 13 October 1998) was an Australian botanist and plant ecologist who spent most of his working life at the University of New England in Armidale.
Noel Beadle was born in Sydney to parents Emma and Arthur Beadle and spent his early life in the suburb of Chatswood. Living close to bushland, he enjoyed exploring the bush. He developed an appreciation for horticulture in his boyhood, learning the Latin names of plants from his horticulturally trained father.
Beadle was educated at North Sydney Boys’ High School. He then attended the University of Sydney, studying chemistry with the aim of becoming an industrial chemist. Botany was an elective subject that captured Beadle’s imagination. It led to studying the biochemistry of tomatoes both in his honours year and in the Master of Science degree that followed.
Employed as a demonstrator in the University of Sydney’s Department of Botany, Beadle was recruited for a plant collecting trip organised by the Linnean Society of New South Wales in 1939. The trip collected botanical specimens from Broken Hill, Milparinka, Tibooburra, Wanaaring and Bourke. Beadle gained experience in drying, pressing and identifying plant specimens from the trip. This led to his employment as a research officer and botanist with the Soil Conservation Service, a newly-established New South Wales Government agency, in late 1939. Based in Condobolin, Beadle was commissioned to conduct a soil survey of the region. This project evolved into a detailed survey of the vegetation of the western region, resulting in the publication of Beadle’s map, Vegetation Map of Western New South Wales. The Soil Conservation Service published Beadle’s report in 1948.