Bob Makinson is a conservation botanist at the Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney, where he is also Co-ordinator of the Centre for Plant Conservation. He is currently (since 2007) President of the Australian Network for Plant Conservation Inc.

After taking his bachelor's degree in biology at Macquarie University (1980), Makinson joined the National Herbarium of New South Wales as a technical officer. In 1991 he was appointed Curator of the Herbarium at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra (from 1993 the Australian National Herbarium). He also became Leader of the Herbarium and Services Program in 1993 at the Centre for Plant Biodiversity, a joint facility of Environment Australia and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Plant Industry. Makinson remained at Canberra until 2001, during which time he spent a year in the U.K. as the Australian Botanical Liaison Officer at Kew. Since 2001 he has led conservation-related policy, research, education and extension at the Centre for Plant Conservation at Sydney Botanic Gardens. Among his other responsibilities have been chairing the Commonwealth's Endangered Flora Network (1997-2000) and being a member of the New South Wales Scientific Committee that assesses and lists threatened species and populations.

Makinson's principal research interests are the taxonomy, biogeography and phyologeny of the Grevillea genus, on which he co-authored the first modern taxonomic monograph in 1993. He also provided the section on the genus in the Flora of Australia, published in 2000. The taxonomy of Astrotricha is another of his specialist areas.

Sources:
Personal communication, March 2010.