The Western Australian Naturalists’ Club is celebrating its Centenary in 2024 and one of the highlights later in the year will be a re-enactment of the Club’s first excursion which was to Leighton Beach on Saturday 26 July 1924.
At the time of the second meeting (25 July 1924), severe gales prompted the decision to hold an excursion along Leighton Beach on the following day ‘to investigate the material washed up by the storm’. It was fitting that Ludwig Glauert, leader of so many similar excursions to come, should have elected to lead the first field party of the new Club.1
Ludwig Glauert MBE (1879-1963) was a founding member of the Western Australian Naturalists’ Club in 1924. Although initially employed as a temporary field geologist by the Western Australian Geological Survey in 1904, he was interested in all aspects of natural history and in 1910 transferred to a permanent post in the WA Museum, eventually rising to Director, a position he held until his retirement in 1956. Early in his career he enriched the museum’s collections of sea-birds and marine specimens extensively by personally beachcombing between Leighton and Swanbourne after winter gales. He also spent considerable time conducting zoological surveys of Rottnest Island. Glauert was made an honorary Life Member of the Club in 1946 and served as the Club’s patron 1951-1962.
Since its first excursion, the Naturalists’ Club and its many members have made significant contributions to the study of marine and coastal biology in Western Australia and beyond, none more so than esteemed marine biologist Loisette Marsh AM (1928-2021).
Loisette Marsh was a member of the Naturalists’ Club from 1976 until her death in 2021. During this time, she was a prolific researcher and author but still found time to participate in numerous excursions and field trips arranged by the Club, from morning beach sweeps along Perth’s beaches to extended excursions along the Kimberley coast.
After breakfast Loisette Marsh wasted no time in heading off for the shoreline and mangroves for a quick look.2,3
No matter where she was, she enjoyed passing on her amazing knowledge to young and old alike. Soon after her retirement, she volunteered as the Club’s librarian filling the role between 1995 and 2000.
Loisette like Glauert, was a frequent visitor to Rottnest Island and other islands where she undertook research on the fauna of the intertidal rock platforms for her Master’s degree.4 This research led to the paper, A survey of the fauna and flora of rocky shores of Carnac Island, Western Australia, co-authored with her supervisor, being published in the Western Australian Naturalists in 1962 and later to her being a contributor to the Club’s handbook, The Shelled Gastropoda of South Western Australia.5
After a period in the Pacific, Loisettereturned to Perth in 1968 and was employed as a Demonstrator in the Zoology Department, University of WA. In 1970 she moved to the Western Australian Museum, starting as a Graduate Assistant in the Mollusc Department. She quickly rose to Curator of Marine Invertebrates (1972-1978) and later Head of Marine Invertebrate Zoology (1978-1993). Diana Jones, Executive Director, Collections and Research, Western Australian Museum, in an obituary published in the Western Australian Naturalist in 2021,6 listed 80 publications authored or co-authored by Loisette.
Ludwig Glauert and Loisette Marsh are just two of the many individuals who have provided the opportunity for Western Australians of all ages to gain an understanding and appreciation of our unique plants and animals and our terrestrial and marine environments over the last one hundred years, while the Club has provided a hub for amateur and professional naturalists to share knowledge and expand on their fields of interest.
The Western Australian Naturalists ’Club is to be congratulated on reaching this significant milestone.
In addition to the re-enactment of the first excursion, the Naturalists’ Club will be holding several other events throughout 2024, to commemorate its Centenary, commencing with a public launch of the anniversary at Tomato Lake, Kewdale, on Sunday 7 April 2024 between 9:00am and 12:00pm. Details of this event and other events including the Centenary Lunch on Saturday 13 July, will be posted on the Club’s website, https://www.wanaturalists.org.au/
All past and present members of the Club and CMCN are invited to attend these events.
Story by The Western Australian Naturalists’ Club
Image supplied by The Western Australian Naturalists’ Club
Notes
- Erickson, R. (1984). A history of the W.A. Naturalists’ Club, 1924-1984. WA Naturalists’ Club, Perth. Page 6.
- Coates, K. (2006). The 1990 expedition to Camden Harbour, north-west Kimberley: Part 1- Background and Expedition Narrative.Western Australian Naturalist, Volume: 8, Issue: 3, Page 206.
- Marsh, Loisette M. (2011) in The 1990 expedition to Camden Harbour, north-west Kimberley: Part 5 – marine invertebrates. Western Australian Naturalist, Volume: 8, Issue: 3, Pages 62—72.
- Marsh, L. M. (1955). Ecology of the Western Australian limestone reefs. M.A. thesis. University of Western Australia:Perth.
- Hodgkin, E.P., Kendrick, G., Marsh, Loisette & Slack-Smith, Shirley (1966). The Shelled Gastropoda of South-Western Australia. Published by Western Australian Naturalists’ Club, 1966.
- Jones, D. (2021). Obituary, Loisette Matilda Marsh AM. Western Australian Naturalist, Volume: 32, Issue: 2, Pages: 87-100.