Dianne J Bray

Dianne Bray has had a long involvement in fish biology, starting in her undergraduate days, then with a MSc at Macquarie University, where her Thesis was about the systematics of Zeid fishes, and continuing with long-term positions as an ichthyologist at Australia’s two major Natural History Museums: The Australian Museum (mid 1970s to late 1990s) and the Museum Victoria (1999 to today). Dianne has a number of important publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, books, book chapters, reports and on-line contributions: perhaps most prominently as co-editor of and major contributor to the 928-page, 2008 book, Fishesof Australia's SouthernCoast. She is one of the founders of the Fishes of Australia website (http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/), which aims to be “the ultimate resource for information on the diversity and biology of Australia’s amazing marine and freshwater fishes”, and is a major contributor to and editor of it. Dianne is also a major contributor to the Fish section of the Australian Faunal Directory. She is a Regional Representative of the Redmap (Range Extension Database and Mapping) website project (www.redmap.org.au), which uses citizen science to monitor and document range changes of marine fishes. Dianne has embraced social media, including Facebook, as a means to communicate the science of fishes.  She has been a member of and a major office holder in the Australian Society for Fish Biology since the 1970s. Dianne has served as a mentor for many young fish biologists, including Vanessa Thompson, Greta Frankham, Alice Clement, Susi Maldonado, Katie Smith, Ursula Smith and Matthew Warr.  Dianne has worked and published with some of the ‘big names’ in Australian ichthyology, all of whom are Hall of Fame Members: John Paxton, Doug Hoese, Martin Gomon and Jeff Leis.

Dianne Bray has been involved with the Society since the 1970s, and has served the Society in a variety of roles, including two terms as Treasurer (1977-1980, when known as Dianne Blake), and as Secretary (2001-2003). As Treasurer, Dianne was the second female office holder in the Society, and she continues to contribute to the Society in a range of less official ways. She was also was one of the major organizers of the 2010 ASFB Annual Conference in Melbourne, and has made numerous presentations at annual conferences.

Dianne’s publications have been numerous (see publication list below), particularly given her day job as Collection Manager, is not a research position.  Her publications have been cited more than 150 times according to Google Scholar. In addition, her on-line contributions are numerous, including the Australian Faunal Directory, Fishes of Australia and Redmap, and an Australian Fishes Facebook site.

Dianne’s books and online publications are a major resource for anyone working on or interested in Australasian fishes, and are relied upon by amateurs and professionals alike every day. As a manager of collections first at the Australian Museum and now at Museum Victoria, Dianne contributes daily to the research efforts of fish biologists who work on Australian fishes from all over the world, not only by providing access to specimens that are essential to their studies, but also by providing information about the collections.

Selected publications:

Bray, D.J. 1993. Whydowedependonestuaries?An environmental educational resource. NSW Fisheries. 97 pp.

Bray, D.J. 1994. Order Zeiformes, pp. 416-427. In Gomon, M.F., C.J.M. Glover & R.H. Kuiter (eds). The fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. 992 pp, 811 figs.

Bray, D.J. 2008. Families Elopidae, Alepisauridae, Veliferidae, Lampridae, Lophotidae, Trachipteridae, Regalecidae, Diretmidae, Anoplogasteridae, Cyttidae, Zeidae, Oreosomatidae, Coryphaenidae & Molidae. In Gomon, M.F., D.J. Bray & R.H. Kuiter.

2008. Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Reed New Holland, Chatswood, Australia. 928 pp.

Gomon, M.F., D.J. Bray & R.H. Kuiter (eds). 2008. Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Reed New Holland, Chatswood, Australia. 928 pp.

Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Allen, G.R., Allen, C., Cross, N. & Paxton, J.R. 2006. In Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. Australia: ABRS & CSIRO Publishing. Parts 1-3: 2178 pp. (and also various chapters)

Fishes of Australia http://fishesofaustralia.net.au

Bray, D.J. & M.F. Gomon. 2011. Fishes. In Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria. http://portphillipmarinelife.net.au

Bray, D.J. 2011-2012. Various fish orders and families in The Australian Faunal Directory http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-  resources/fauna/afd/taxa/PISCES

McGrouther, M.A., D.F. Hoese, J.R. Paxton, S.E. Reader, D.J. Bray, D.E. Brown & J.M. Leis. 1998. Types of the Australian Museum Fish Collection