Emeritus Prof Ray Specht commenced his career as a botanist in 1948 on the American-
Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. This ground-breaking expedition, which laid the foundations for his subsequent remarkable career, was brought to mind by a celebratory article in the newsletter of Jubilee Community Care in April 2018.

Prof Specht was invested as an Honorary Life Member of the Royal Society of Queensland at a ceremony in the EcoSciences Precinct in December 2015. He celebrated fifty years as a Member of the Society in 2017. In 2018 he is still drafting manuscripts, marking a career of seventy years of active research. On 5 June 2018 he participated actively in a celebration at the University of Queensland of the inaugural round of applications for the Research Fund, launched by his friend and collaborator Prof Trevor Clifford, also a Life Member.

Retrospective: From Arnhem Land Expedition 1948 to 2018 – A life’s work

With editorial assistance from member Dr David Doley, Prof Specht has compiled Ray Specht – A Retrospective including a bibliography of some of his published work – more than 220 citations. This overview is a thoroughly fascinating chronologue of 70 years of curiosity-led investigation – a history, a memoir, an encapsulation of an immense volume of botanical scholarship, and an index to a lifetime of public interest research, all wrapped into one readable paper. (Revised 16 January 2019).

A most excellent teaching resource for undergraduate biology/ecology classes, and even Year 12 students.