I was very sad to learn of the passing of Dawn Frith, who, with her husband Cliff, lived in Paluma for several years.
Dawn was a world-renowned biologist, bird watcher and naturalist. I never really got to know Dawn and Cliff (they had left Paluma by the time we bought our house), but as a young aspiring biologist, I was in awe of their achievements and their series of natural history books and booklets that brought rainforest ecology to life for me. We have had many famous scientists come to Paluma to do research, but the Friths, as residents, arguably put more time into studying our local fauna than anyone else.
Peter Valentine has written a wonderful and informative obituary that describes Dawn and her achievements far better than I can. I recommend you read it here.
In Paluma “…Dawn not only contributed to the study of birds of paradise and bowerbirds with Cliff, but also developed her own project that contributed to an understanding of their ecology, using detailed field studies of insects and leaf-litter invertebrates. … it was her passionate love for our tropical rainforests that motivated her to spend thousands of hours in the forests at Paluma, observing and recording the lives of many species and building a wonderful knowledge base about our forest birds and their lives.
Peter Valentine
Together with Cliff, Dawn was the recipient of an Order of Australia Medal, Dominic Serventy Medal from the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union and a Cassowary Award from the Wet Tropics Management Authority.
Jamie Oliver
I was sad to hear of Dawn’s death. I was a friend of Cliff’s as a teenager and I remember him fondly. Dawn and Cliff spent 53 years together as soul mates and colleagues pursuing their deep love of wildlife and conservation. R.I.P. Dawn and sincere sympathies to Cliff.
Thank you for this tribute to the remarkable Dr Dawn Frith OAM.
I got to know Cliff and Dawn well in 1982 when I was understaking my Ecology Honours research on small mammals in the tall open rose gum/ Eucalyptus grandis forests on the rainforest ecotone. I was one of the many JCU students and keen birders who had first travelled to Paluma as undergraduates, mostly with Professor Betsy Jacques who studied the dramatic transition in vegetation types from Paluma to Hidden Valley, but I had a family connection here too, and returned for pleasure as well as to research the local population of the rare Swamp Rat in the spectacular forests around the Taravale turn-off. This work helped to ensure that the tall open forests were included in the Wet Tropics World Heritage boundaries then being drafted, and so they are (thank you to Dr John Winter who foresaw the need to know more). Dawn and Cliff kindly let me store small mammal casualties and other roadkill fauna in their freezer (along with their own recoveries) while on the mountain. Once when I found that a large red-bellied black snake had somehow jammed itself into a small collapsible Elliot trap, Cliff and I undertook a delicate deconstruction of the trap to free the snake which, unharmed, was returned to the forests. It was reassuring to know that Dawn and Cliff were there, based in their house at the end of village, always passionate about the living Paluma rainforest and the lives of their beloved local resident bowerbird species.
Dawn was a brilliant observational scientist and photographer, but her early training in marine zoology also shone through in her quantitative work with little-known rainforest invertebrates – the insect biodiversity and biomass she was so curious about in connection with the wider ecology of bowerbirds. Dawn was a ‘brain’ – and I learned that her quiet determination and discipline as a biologist was a driving force in her prolific and collaborative publication practice, from scientific papers to the big, beautiful books and accessible articles.
Here is another tribute by Birdlife NQ, with special photos by Lindsay Fisher: https://www.birdlifenq.org/post/vale-dawn-w-frith-oam
The last photo of Dawn with two other powerhouses, the trailblazing Andrée Griffin (of Paluma) and the inimitable Margaret Thorsborne AO, is one to treasure.
I extend my sincere condolences to Dr Cliff Frith. Cliff, what a wonderful gift Dawn was and will continue to be for many people and the many nonhuman beings she gave voice and value to through your shared lifework of science and creativity; she will live on in all. Warmly, Dr Louise Boscacci, Paluma.
Hi Everyone, On behalf of myself and Liz, please pass on my condolences to Cliff with the passing of Dawn. I absolutely loved knowing her in Paluma from 1980 to when they moved to the Tablelands and especially admiring their publications on North Queensland tropical rainforest environment which we used for our environmental education programs through the Paluma Environmental Education Centre. We’ve still got some items they sold in the Paluma Gallery and in particular a photo of sunset looking back from Hinchinbrook Channel to Cardwell that’s adorns our lounge room wall. I’ll always remember spending many hours at the ABC Bowerbird bower waiting and then watching make Golden Bowerbirds cavorting around their bower and we’ve also got two photos of that bower and male golden bowerbird hanging on our office wall. Dawns rainforest research and photography will be an indelible legacy. Kind regards Cam and Liz Mackenzie
Rest in peace Dawn. Condolences to your family.