This induction into the Hall of Fame celebrates Dr Harvey’s enduring contribution to science, and his three decades of research helping document and improve our understanding of Australia’s biodiversity.
Dr Harvey joined the Museum in 1989 and spent much of his career as Curator of Arachnids and Myriapods, before serving as Head of Terrestrial Zoology from 2006 to 2022. His fieldwork has taken him around the world in search of spiders, pseudoscorpions, scorpions and other invertebrates, while his research has focused on their taxonomy, systematics and biogeography.
Notably, this taxonomic work has played a vital role in conservation, which is particularly imperative when many species remain undescribed, threatened, or even become extinct before they are formally identified.
In 2025, Dr Harvey became one of the few people on the planet to have described more than 1,000 new species and, throughout his career, has published nearly 400 scientific papers. He has helped build one of the largest arachnid collections in the Southern Hemisphere, creating an important scientific record while advancing the research used to identify and classify species. His contribution to science is also revered amongst fellow scientists, who have named 45 species and 2 genera in his honour.
Although Mark recently retired from his role at the WA Museum, he remains very much part of the scientific community as a Museum Research Associate and Adjunct Professor at the University of WA.
Congratulations Dr Mark Harvey on a thoroughly deserved place in the WA Science Hall of Fame!
