Dr Ben Wallace ‘Yunnan, land of plant plenty’

Ben will briefly discuss the floristic diversity of this Chinese province and the ecological and geographic factors contributing to this outcome. We will also tour the incredible landscapes of the Yangtse, Mekong and Salween Gorges, Mt Meili or K6 with its magnificent Ming Yong Glacier, and plants seen along the way. Meet some of the fascinating minority culture people, their towns, traditional architecture, dress and cuisine.

Ben has a PhD in the Faculty of Science, Department of Botany at the University of New England. Since childhood he has been fascinated by plants, particularly their great diversity and where and how they grow. Rainforest floristics and ecology, especially regarding epiphytes, have become a specialisation along the way and his doctoral dissertation was on the flora and ecology of Australian epiphytes.

Professionally, Ben taught industrial arts for five years then was the Horticultural Botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney for most of the ‘80s.  From 1991 to 2000 he was Curator of the Living Collections at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, and member of the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research. 

Currently he is a consultant in botany and horticulture, and an ecotour operator, to China, Southeast Asia and Tasmania.