Jack Hyett (11 July 1915 – 21 July 2001) was an Australian

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, broadcaster,

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and amateur

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

. He was born in

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australi ...

. He was the founding president of the Victorian Ornithological Research Group and the Ringwood Field Naturalists Club. He was editor of the ''

Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

'', the journal of the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native b ...

1965–1968. His enthusiasm as a field naturalist led also to his being made an honorary life member of the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka in 1980, leading natural history tours overseas and in Australia, as well as lecturing frequently on natural history on radio and television. In 1985 he was awarded the

Australian Natural History Medallion The Australian Natural History Medallion is awarded each year by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) to the person judged to have made the most meritorious contribution to the understanding of Australian natural history. The idea origin ...

. As well as numerous journal and magazine articles, books authored by Hyett include: * 1959 - ''A Bushman's Year''. F.W. Cheshire: Melbourne * 1961 - ''A Bushman's Harvest''. F.W. Cheshire: Melbourne * 1982 - ''Koalas, wombats and possums'' * 1982 - ''Platypuses & other primitive animals''

References

External links

Bright Sparcs entry on Jack Hyett
accessed 1 July 2007 * Rosanne Walker,

, Encyclopedia of Australian Science, created 8 February 2001, last modified 24 May 2006. Accessed 6 April 2011 Australian ornithologists 1915 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Australian zoologists 20th-century Australian naturalists {{Australia-ornithologist-stub