Alison Vaughan
Manager Collections
Alison Vaughan manages the National Herbarium of Victoria’s collection of 1.5 million botanical specimens. With Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria’s Collections team, she ensures excellence in collections care and optimises access to the herbarium collection by welcoming research visitors, promoting good information management, and sharing stories from the collection. The appropriate management of Indigenous Cultural Knowledge associated with specimens in the Collection is a key focus of her current work.
With a background in botany, history, Indigenous studies and communications, Alison is passionate about connecting people with plants through social history and storytelling. Her research focus is Australian botanical history, particularly the contribution of First Peoples and women to botanical science.
Publications
Maroske, S., May, T.W., Taylor, A., Vaughan, A. and Lucas, A.M. (2018). On the threshold of mycology: Flora Martin née Campbell (1845–1923). Muelleria 36, 51–73.
Maroske, S. and Vaughan, A. (2014). Ferdinand Mueller’s female plant collectors: a biographical register. Muelleria 32, 92–172.
Parnell, J.A.N., Womersley, H.B.S., Sinkora, D., Vaughan, A. and Huisman, J.M. (2010). W.H. Harvey's Australian Travelling Sets of algae in the herbarium of the Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL), Australia. Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 110B, 119–161.
Vaughan, A. (2017). The Eileen Ramsay collection at the National Herbarium of Victoria. Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 171, 18–22.
Klazenga, N. and Vaughan, A. (2014). Australia’s Virtual Herbarium hits 5 million records. Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 159, 7–10.
Vaughan, A. and Brown, G. (2014). The University of Melbourne Herbarium: now accessible on-line via Australia’s Virtual Herbarium. Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 160, 10–11.
Vaughan, A. (2017). The Eileen Ramsay collection at the National Herbarium of Victoria. Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 171, 18–22.
Conference proceedings
Stajsic, V. and Vaughan, A.C. (2007). The role of the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL) in the documentation of new weeds. In Proceedings third Victorian weed conference: earth wind fire water and weeds, pp. 70–74. Weed Society of Victoria, Frankston.