Mark Stephen Harvey (born 17 September 1958) is a museum scientist and

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

. Since 1989 he has been based at the

Western Australian Museum The Western Australian Museum is a statutory body, statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, WA Museum Boola Bardip, is located i ...

as Curator of Arachnids and Myriapods.

Career

Harvey graduated from

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

in 1983 with a PhD titled "Contributions to the systematics of the Pseudoscorpionida (Arachnida) : the genus ''Synsphyronus'' Chamberlin (Garypidae) and the family Sternophoridae". His research interests include the

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

and evolution of

arachnid Arachnids are arthropods in the Class (biology), class Arachnida () of the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, camel spiders, Amblypygi, wh ...

s and other terrestrial invertebrates. He has published 374 scientific papers or books, and was instrumental in the promotion of short-range endemism Short-range endemic invertebrates through a paper outlining the criteria for recognising taxa that could be considered short-range endemics. His primary research interests are with Pseudoscorpions. As of 2024, he has described 888 new species, 93 new genera and four new families including the aquatic mite family Pezidae and the pseudoscorpion family Larcidae. He is a member of the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

and served as Vice-President from 2016–2022.

Achievements, awards and recognition

Harvey was presented with the 1991

Edgeworth David Medal The Edgeworth David Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Societ ...

by the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

. He was awarded the Bonnet Award by the

International Society of Arachnology The International Society of Arachnology (ISA) promotes the study of arachnids and the exchange of information among researchers in this field. It acts as an umbrella organisation for regional societies and individuals interested in spiders, and rel ...

in 2013. In 2017, he was awarded the Distinguished Career Award by th
Society of Australian Systematic Biologists
As part of the

Australian Biological Resources Study Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) is a project undertaken by the Parks Australia Division of Australia's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Background ABRS was founded in 1973 from the recommendations ...

50th Anniversary Awards, Harvey was presented with the Distinguished Career in Taxonomy & Systematics Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Mark 1958 births Living people Australian arachnologists Monash University alumni