Frances Bodkin

Frances Bodkin
Born1937 (age 88–89)
Darlinghurst
Known forBotany

Frances "Fran" Bodkin (born 1937 in Darlinghurst) is an Australian botanist and Dharawal elder. In the 1970s, she helped establish the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan near Sydney at a former meeting site of Indigenous people.

She is the author of Encyclopaedia Botanica: The Essential Reference Guide to Native and Exotic Plants in Australia (1986). More recently, she compiled the Dharawal Pharmacopeia, an on-line catalogue of native plants and their medicinal uses by aboriginal people.

Bodkin was cultural consultant on Jasmin Sheppard's production of Macq for Bangarra Dance Theatre in 2013.

In 2017, Bodkin received a UWS Community Award and in 2019, she was nominated for a Landcare Australia land management award. On 5 March 2024, Transport for NSW named the first Parramatta-class ferry after her.

References

  1. ↑ Reporter, Rookie (2026-08-17). "Francis Bodkin Scientist Profile". Behind The News. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
  2. ↑ "Inspiration from Dharawal educator". ANSTO. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "My Garden Path - Fran Bodkin". Gardening Australia. Series 31. Episode 34. 6 November 2020. ABC.
  4. ↑ "The secret history of the native hibiscus". Conversations. 28 January 2018. ABC.
  5. ↑ Hambrett, Micaela (3 August 2018). "How planting trees and grasses can help stabilise farmland in a changing climate". ABC Central West. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  6. ↑ Eason, Charles; McGowan, Pā Robert; Mead, Aroha; Foster, Meika; Kerridge, Donna; Stephens, Miriana (December 2025). "Giving voice to Ngā Taketake a Tāne: a review of contemporary, traditional and indigenous pharmacopoeias, and implications for Te Tauihu in Aotearoa‐New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 55 (6): 1400–1417. doi:10.1080/03036758.2024.2415899.
  7. ↑ "Dharawal Pharmacopeia". Library. Western Sydney University.
  8. ↑ "Frances Bodkin". Bangarra Knowledge Ground. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  9. ↑ "UWS Community Award recipient: Aunty Fran Bodkin". News Center (Press release). Western Sydney University. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  10. ↑ "2019 Indigenous Land Management Award – NSW". National Landcare Conference. Landcare Australia. 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  11. ↑ "New Parramatta River Class Ferry starts sea-trials on the Derwent". Transport for NSW. 5 March 2024.