Biography

Australian botanist at the National Herbarium of New South Wales in Sydney. Weston gained his bachelor's degree at the University of Sydney, going on to receive his PhD in 1985 with the thesis "Systematics and biogeography of the Persooniinae (Proteaceae)" He joined the National Herbarium of New South Wales (NSW) at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney in 1982 as a scientific officer and is presently Senior Principal Research Scientist (since 2008). Among his responsibilities Weston is a member of the Plant Diversity Program Leaders Committee at the Herbarium and in 1992-1993 was the Australian Botanical Liaison Officer at Kew. He has been on the staff of the University of New England since 2000 (as an adjunct associate professor since 2004) and in 2006 he was a visiting lecturer at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. His work as a teacher was recognised in 2006 with the Carrick Award for Australian University Teaching.

Weston's research has focussed on the theory and practice of phylogenetic analysis, and the broader uses to which phylogenetic theory may be applied. He has carried out phylogenetic analyses of groups in the Proteaceae, Fabaceae, Orchidaceae and Rutaceae families and used the results to test theories of historical biogeography, trait evolution and adaptation. At NSW he curates the Proteaceae, Faboideae (Fabaceae) and Orchidaceae. He has collected plants in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Chile, South Africa, Argentina and the U.K.

Sources:
Personal communication, March 2010.