John Dwyer

Lawyer, philosopher, conservationist, garden historian, and horticultural writer, John Dwyer, after some 40 years practising and teaching law, including 20 years as a QC at the Victorian Bar, preferred the world of plants and nature. He has an MA in philosophy, and is a qualified horticulturist from Burnley College with a PhD on ‘Weeds in Victorian landscapes’.

John worked for almost 30 years for heritage conservation, first on the Council of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), where he was President for 5 years. He was made an Honorary Member in 1999. He then became a member of the Victorian Heritage Council, and then its Landscape Advisory Committee. He was Chairman of the National Management Committee of the Australian Garden History Society from 2009 to 2012.

He writes about our relationship with nature in gardens and landscapes, and their place in our history. He wants to change the way we care for our environment, how we connect with nature, and what we do about weeds.