Our History

CSIRO’s first three statisticians were all women and all three had trained at Rothamsted Experimental Station in the UK under RA Fisher or F Yates, two of the founders of modern statistics.

We are proud to present a series of brief testimonials from eminent Australians in the areas of science, industry and science communication.

CSIRO deeply regrets the passing of Dr John Paul Wild, distinguished scientist and former Chairman of CSIRO. Dr Wild died on Saturday, 10 May 2008.

Robert Ingpen was employed by CSIRO in the early 1960s in the then novel field of science communication.

For over 30 years the Australian National Wildlife Collection (ANWC) has been the primary collection of Australian land vertebrates, including birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.

This video showcases 80 years of science achievement to mark CSIRO's 80th anniversary in 2006. (4:00)

See how CSIRO has grown over its 80 year history in a collection of archival and current vidoe footage of CSIRO’s science and research. (6:00)

Many statisticians and mathematicians work at CSIRO. Miss Betty Allan’s appointment in 1930 to CSIRO's predecessor, CSIR, as their first statistician, marked the beginning of recognition of statistics' vital role in scientific research. (12 pages)

From Fleece to Fabric provides an overview of the wool industry from 1948–1998 and how research by CSIRO’s Wool Technology group helped create one of the nation’s main export industries.

CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, based in Hobart, continues nearly 100 years of Australian research into our oceans, fisheries, atmosphere and climate.

Meet the people who have managed CSIRO since 1927.