OBITUARY

John Possingham died on 30/4/2023.

Dr John Possingham was elected as a Fellow of the Academy in 1979 and was a valued South Australia and Northern Territory Division member. John was also a member of the Agriculture, Energy and Water Forums.

After completing his Doctorate in Philosophy, Dr Possingham was assigned by the Maralinga Atomic Bomb Trials as an Australian participant and observer for the British Government’s Biological Response Team. One of his published papers looked at the effects of atomic fallout on plant leaves.

Dr Possingham was Chief of CSIRO’s Division of Horticulture from 1967 to 1971. He is the author of some 250 published articles on grape growing, general horticulture and plant nutrition. He revolutionised the Australian wine industry in the 1970s by introducing mechanical grape picking and pruning.

In 1990 Dr Possingham was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia and received a Centenary Medal in 2001.

Dr Possingham was a grape grower for over 25 years and was a premium wine producer owning Possums Vinyards in McLaren Vale, close to Adelaide.

Dr Possingham died on 30 April 2023, aged 93 years. Loving husband of Carol. Loved father of Tony, Simon, Marcus and Sarah. Grandfather of Rosina, Alexander, Atticus, Dominic and Simon. Father-in-law of Fiona. Remembered by Leonie, Kundi and Suzanne. 

1. Horticultural Research -
Since 1962 the candidate has been responsible for CSIRO's research program in horticulture. This now covers the introduction and adaptation of fruit crops to Australian environments; breeding of wine and drying grapes; management of fruit trees and grapevines including effects of nematodes, viruses and salinity; physiology and .biochemistry
of horticultural plants; domestication of Australian native plants.
Applied research is centred at the Merbein laboratory and a basic
program of horticultural research is centred at a new laboratory built in Adelaide in 1964. Over the past 10 years the Division has developed a high international standing in both applied and basic research.
2. Personal Reearch in Plant Physiology -
This research was initially concerned with the role of mineral nutrients
in plant metabolism and, more recently, with the study of the growth and replication of higher plant chloroplasts - the unique small green structures contained in the leaves of all plants, which convert incoming sunlight into usable food for plant growth.
His earlier research established that the trace element manganese is an essential component for the normal functioning of chloroplasts and thus affected the amount of food produced by plants. It was this work that led
to a continued interest in higher plant chloroplasts.
Other research is concerned with the beneficial role of mycorrhiza fungi on the phosphorus nutrition of grapevines and on the way in which alkaline dipping emulsions accelerate the drying of grapes.