Baylis Lecture: Down in the Weeds

Speaker: Carol West. Location: Archway 4, University of Otago.

My journey with environmental weeds began with Botany Division, DSIR and Clematis vitalba in 1984, in the days of the Noxious Plants Act. It then continued throughout my roles in the Department of Conservation with a host of weed species, the Biosecurity Act, policy and strategy development, Standard Operating Procedures and science advice spanning the entire country and occasionally diverting overseas. I’ll cover some highlights/key points from this journey.

About the speaker: Carol West was awarded the Allan Mere in 2022 for contributions to the study and preservation of New Zealand’s flora for more than forty years. This talk will focus on one aspect of those contributions – management of environmental weeds.