Project partners

Many people and many institutions have contributed to the eFlora.

Much of the botanical content of the eFlora is derived from a collaboration between Noel Beadle, Obed Evans, Mary Tindale and Roger Carolin that spans over 40 years. This collaboration resulted in four editions of the Flora of the Sydney Region, the most recent of which formed the foundations for the 5th Edition of the Flora of the Sydney Region (Pellow, Henwood and Carolin; 2009). The NSW Environmental Trust provided funding for the design and implementation of the website and the revision of the text of 4th Edition of the Flora of the Sydney Region (Carolin and Tindale; 1994) that forms the basis of the botanical content of the eFlora website. Funding for the revision of the 4th Edition of the Flora of the Sydney Region was also supplemented by the University of Wollongong's Educational Strategies Development Fund.

Support from these sources has seen not only the completion of the eFlora, but also the publication of the 5th Edition of the Flora of the Sydney Region (Pellow, Henwood and Carolin; 2009) by Sydney University Press (SUP). We would like to express our thanks to Susan Murray-Smith and Agata Mrva-Montoya from SUP for their support. We are also grateful to David Keith and Jean Clarke for their contribution to the revision of the 5th Edition of the Flora of the Sydney Region.

The eFlora has been produced from a partnership with the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Sydney, the University of Sydney Library and the University of Wollongong. Su Hanfling and Rowan Brownlee from the University of Sydney Library made major contributions to the design and implementation of the eFlora application. Rowan created an early prototype of an interactive flora which assisted discussion of requirements and guided the development of the project. Rowan has been the technical coordinator through the life of the project. Staff from the University of Sydney Library IT Services, especially Paul Al and Nik Lam contributed advice and assistance. Oleksander (Alex) Motyka (The University of Sydney Print and Digital Media) and Gaith Bader (University of Sydney Library Web Services Development Manager) designed the website. We are grateful to Alex and Gaith for their sensible approach to website design and their ability to render our, at times, unusual requests into code.

Numerous people have provided advice and assistance along the course of the eFlora project. Helen Thompson (Australian Biological Resources Survey) provided insights into her experiences with implementing the electronic version of the Flora of Australia Online. Kathy Kuzmanovic of the Teaching Development Unit (The University of Sydney, School of Biological Sciences) built a prototype interactive glossary. Mary Peat (School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney,) and Kris French (School of Biological Sciences, The University of Wollongong), provided invaluable contributions and support in the early stages of the project.

Lastly we wish to extend our appreciation to Conal Tuohy. Conal skilfully translated the botanical content into usable XML and was responsible for solving myriad technical problems encountered during this project.