Born: 6 September 1925, Australia
Died: 22 May 2015
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: Morwenna Jean Harslett
This biography has been shared from The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, published by the Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Jean Harslett is a nationally recognised historian and collector. She has spent most of her time collecting flora and fauna of the Glen Aplin district in Queensland and writing about the regions history. Her father Alex Gemmell was a well known insect collector too and after his death Harslett took over his vast collection which contained many jewel beetles. She also developed a passion for jewel beetles as well as butterflies, birds and native orchids. Her knowledge of the plant and animal life in the Glen Aplin region is unsurpassed. Harslett’s specimens can be found in entomological collections around Australia including with the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation).
Jean Harslett was a founder of the Stanthorpe Field Naturalist’s Club, a prominent conservationist and a local history expert having written widely on all three areas. In 2004 on 7 March the Jean Harslett Research Centre was opened at the Stanthorpe & District Historical Museum in Queensland. The centre houses over 16,000 photographs of her photographs as well as research into local families’ histories and the development of the region.
Chronology
1985
Award – British Empire Award received
1985
Career position – Paul Harris Fellow (Rotary International)
1994 –
Award – Fellow, Royal Historical Society of Queensland
1995
Award – Queensland Naturalist Award received
2002 –
Award – Honorary Life Membership of Queensland Entomological Society