Dr W. (Bill) J.F. McDonald joined National Parks Branch, Qld Department of Forestry in 1974 and transferred to Botany Branch, Qld Department of Primary Industries (incorporating the Queensland Herbarium) in 1977. He then worked on botanical survey and mapping projects throughout central and southern Queensland. He developed a particular interest in rainforest floristics and ecology and was awarded his PhD in 1998 for a study of semi-evergreen vine thickets (softwood scrubs). He went on to prepare the national recovery plan for the endangered semi-evergreen vine thicket communities of the Brigalow Belt of Queensland and New South Wales (2010).

He initiated and co-authored the first report on rare and threatened plants of Queensland in 1987. He was appointed a member of the first Scientific Advisory Committee under Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act (1992) and was a long-standing member of the Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee for the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Areas.

Prior to his retirement in 2012, Dr McDonald was heavily involved in the Queensland Herbarium’s vegetation mapping programs in the Wet Tropics, Central Queensland Coast and South-East Queensland biogeographic regions. He continues to follow his interests in rainforest ecology and classification as an Honorary Research Associate with Queensland Herbarium, and with Ecological Services, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.