Nelson, Desmond John (Des)   (1935 - )

Des was George Chippendale's assistant in the Northern Territory Administration's herbarium at Alice Springs, established by George in 1954.

In 1956 a deal was signed between the USA and Australia for 50 acres of land at Pine Gap (near Alice Springs) to be transferred to joint Aust/US management for what was later called 'Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap'. Prior to the signing Des Nelson, "a well respected botanist", was called in to assess "how valuable the proposed space base acreage was".

After some years working with George he was transferred to the government chemistry laboratory in 1965. When George left for a position in Canberra in July 1966, Des was asked to return to duties in the herbarium pending the arrival of a new botanist, and to complete some projects for George.

In April 1967 John Maconochie came to take the position of senior botanist. Des's duties were divided between chemistry and botany. He then assisted John as much as possible. In March 1973 Des transferred to the Plant Ecology unit of CSIRO Alice Springs but maintained contact with John and the herbarium, always willing to be of help to fulfil requests.

Bruce Maslin named Acacia nelsonii in his honour, but the name proved to be nom. illeg. so it was renamed Acacia desmondii.

Des received an Order of Australia (General Division) Honour in 2013.
The citation reads:

"Mr Desmond John Nelson OAM
For service to conservation and the environment, particularly in Central Australia.

Mr Desmond Nelson has contributed to the understanding of plants of Central Australia for over 56 years. He collected the first central Australian specimen for over 50 plant species between 1952 and 2004.

Mr Nelson has remained active in Central Australian ecology and botany since his retirement. He is a voluntary consultant for local and government groups, a regular guest speaker, author and co-author of a number of papers and articles dealing with botany, ecology and the history of the Northern Territory, plusa bookon his activities with the CSIRO.

Mr Nelson was the Technical Officer in Botany and Ecology, Animal Industry Branch, Northern Territory Administration from 1956 to 1973. He then served as a Senior Technical Officer in Botany and Ecology, Division of Land Resources Management, CSIRO, in Alice Springs from 1973 to 1990.

Two new central Australian plants have been named after Mr Nelson: Gossypium nelsonii, a desert rose he discovered on Bond Springs Station; and Acacia desmondii, a wattle he found on Todd River Station."

'Trip to Coburg Peninsula in 1961'
by Nelson, Des
Casuarina, N.T. : Historical Society of the Northern Territory, 2007 BookBook

'The Rock named Uluru'
by Nelson, Des
[Darwin] : Historical Society of the Northern Territory, 2009 BookBook

Source: Extracted from: ASBS Newsletter 150 (March 2012)
'Working with John Maconochie (1941-1984)' by Des Nelson
Pers. com. Margaret Friedel (2023)
'Spies in the Outback - selling a space base' Episode 1, ABC Podcast 2024
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/expanse/selling-a-space-base/103729416
Portrait Photo: 1978, George Chippendale collection held by ANBG.

Collecting localities for 'Nelson, D.J.' from AVH (2021)

Data from 3,359 specimens