Andrew Rozefelds

Dr Andrew Rozefelds is the Principal Curator, Geosciences at Queensland Museum and Adjunct Associate Professor at Central Queensland University.

Andrew rejoined Queensland Museum in 2011, after working in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery as a botanist and then Deputy Director of Collections and Research. He previously worked at Queensland Museum from 1977 to 1991 in invertebrate zoology and geology and was involved in palaeontological fieldwork throughout Queensland. He completed a Bach Applied Science (Biology) at Central Queensland University and undertook a Bach Sciences (Honours) at The University of Adelaide. In 1991 he left the museum to undertake a PhD in botany at The University of Melbourne, with one year spent at The University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Andrew has written over 100 peer-reviewed and popular articles. His current research interest and focus is on Green History which aims to study the origins, evolution and history of the modern Australian flora. The current project aims to document the impacts of vulcanicity on the evolution of the Australian flora. He has also published papers on fossil vertebrates and invertebrates, modern plant systematics and weed sciences, biographical research and other areas. He has described over 14 new species of living plants and over 20 fossil plants.

Honours and Awards

• Swiss Government Scholarship, Zurich, Switzerland (1992-1993)
• ANZAC Fellowship, collect and study herbarium collections in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland (1996)
• Overseas study tour of selected Museums in the United States, Canada and England. Savings and Loans Credit Union Travelling Fellowship in Public Service Management (1997)
• Ian Potter Travel Grant to attend Botanical Society of America Conference, Montreal, Canada (1997)
• Field work on Macquarie Island, Australian Antarctic Division Grant (2001)
• Museum Leadership Program, University of Melbourne (2005)
• Museum Leadership Refresher Program, University of Melbourne (2007)
• Professional Development Grant, Queensland Museum to attend the International Geological Convention, Brisbane (2012)
• Professional Development Grant from Queensland Museum to attend European Palynological and Palaeobotanical Meeting, Padova, Italy (2014)
• Queensland Smithsonian Fellowship to undertake research on the evolution and origins of the modern Australian Flora, Washington DC, USA (2016)
• Churchill Fellowship (2022) to visit centers of excellence in the field of palaeobotany.

Eponymy

• Living plant (Boronia rozefeldsii M.Duretto)
• Fossil plant (Elaeocarpus rozefeldsii M.E.Dettmann & H.T.Clifford) (Spondylostrobus rozefeldsii M.E.Dettmann & H.T.Clifford)
• Living spider (Ixamatus rozefeldsi Raven)
• Fossil Fish (Canaryicthyes rozefeldsi Bartholomai)

Projects

Current Projects

• Green History: The origins, evolution and history of the modern Australian Flora.
• A high-altitude terrestrial and aquatic biota preserved by Oligocene volcanism in Central Queensland
• Fossil syncarpous fruits from the Oligocene-aged Capella flora, provide support for a gondwanic history and origin for the tribe Artocarpeae (Moraceae)

Exhibitions

• Tayenebe Steering Committee Chairman Tayenebe: Tasmanian Aboriginal Women’s fibre work, Catalogue and Exhibition Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (2007)
• Lost Creatures Queensland Museum (2013)