Janine Evans

Janine holds Bachelor degrees in Nursing Science (1995) and Arts (2019). In 2013, Janine undertook a BA majoring in Political Science / International Relations and History. Her BA led to Honours in environmental history which received Class 1 High Distinction. 'A weed's guide to empire: An historical account of Lantana camara in colonial Australia, 1841-1914,' suggested that networks of trade and exchange in so-called useful plants such as lantana demonstrated how imperialism transformed Australia's landscape permanently.

Janine began her PhD in History in 2022, and her thesis is titled 'Gay with toil, lovely with art: Women, labour, and the gendered politics of botanical illustration at the Endeavour River, 1770-1999.' Janine's thesis examines the history of botanical illustration at the Endeavour River valley, northern Queensland. It explores how this specific geographical region became a significant site for botanical documentation, tracing the artistic and scientific traditions that developed there from early colonial encounters to 1999. By examining how women botanical artists navigated the challenged inherited structures at a single location, the thesis reveals both the persistence of gendered exclusions in botanical science and the strategies women developed to claim botanical authority despite them.