Rob Morrison (scientist)

In 2015, SciWorld partnered with the Australian Science and Mathematics School to offer cadetships for young people in the field of science communication.

In 2013, the show's former hosts, Hutton and Morrison, announced they had purchased the remaining rights to the show and around 5,000 segments. The show was repackaged as an online YouTube channel and launched in 2014. As of August 2022 the channel has over 330,000 subscribers. His books on science and natural history included 10 written with Deane Hutton which featured material from The Curiosity Show, including companion books containing scientific explanations and instructions for experiments for children to perform at home themed on the four Western classical elements of earth, air, fire and water.

Morrison was for many years Vice-President of the organisation "Friends of Science in Medicine" (FSM), which he jointly founded in 2011, described by the University of Adelaide as "a public health watch dog group ... concerned about honesty in medical claims and the need for evidence-based medicine".

In addition to his formal academic roles and media work, Morrison has been involved with bodies that champion scientific literacy, evidence-based medicine and policies. He is cited in the media as an expert on fields including the role of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, government restrictions on dangerous "alternative health" practices and the risks of university courses in health-related subjects which are not backed by appropriate standards of evidence. He is also a commentator on matters of the balance between the economy and ecology. In 2010 when the federal Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research conducted a review of science communication as a step towards a "national strategy", his evaluation was a supplement.

He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to conservation and science communication. In 2008 he was named the Senior Australian of the Year for South Australia.

In 2007 he jointly established SciWorld, a mobile not-for-profit science education organization in Adelaide which runs education programs and regional science fairs and shows, and he was its inaugural chairman. SciWorld came after the closure of The Investigator Science and Technology Centre in Adelaide; Morrison and three co-founders bought the assets and formed SciWorld to keep interactive science going in the state.

In the 2004 Australia Day honours, Morrison was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in recognition of his "service to conservation and the environment, and to the fields of science education and communication". In 2008, he was South Australia's "Senior Australian of the Year" and a finalist for the national "Senior Australian of the Year".

From 2000 to 2006, Morrison was President of the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia (promoted as "Zoos SA"), where he oversaw both the smallest metropolitan zoo in Australia, Adelaide Zoo, and the largest, Monarto Zoo (now Monarto Safari Park). During this period, the Society membership grew three-fold. He chaired the Society's Research Committee and one of the major research projects during this period involved accelerated breeding programs for animals and birds which had become endangered or extinct in their native habitats in order to reintroduce them in the wild, including Yellow-tailed black cockatoos, the Mongolian wild horse and the bilby. Their vet (David Schultz) pioneered the surrogacy technique of using more common species of wallabies to foster the translated joeys of rarer species, allowing the rare mothers to bring on more joeys much faster and greatly increasing the number of individuals of that species.

On his return to Australia, he lectured at Sturt College of Advanced Education, the South Australian College of Advanced Education, and Flinders University in zoology, animal behaviour and human biology and he introduced a course on field studies based on his experience during his Churchill Fellowship. Initially he combined his academic roles with writing books and radio and television work, but in 1995 he resigned from the university to focus on his career in writing and the media. In 2007 he was appointed a Professorial Fellow in the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work.

He chaired the Anti-Rabbit Research Foundation of Australia (ARRFA) from 1995 to 1998, investigating ways to reduce this introduced pest so that native animals and plants can get re-established. This organization was renamed in 1998 to The Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia (RFA). In the 1990s they introduced chocolate "Easter Bilbies" as an alternative to conventional Easter rabbits, to publicise the plight of native animals brought about by rabbits. In addition, some chocolate makers have helped to raise funds by donating part of the sales of chocolate bilbies to the Foundation.

Initially, Morrison's researches continued his PhD topic of mammalian olfactory systems. While at Flinders University, he developed an interest in researching nestboxes. He conducted a statewide project called "The Nestbox Project" in South Australian schools over 1992 and 1993, getting students to design, build and monitor nestboxes to see what used them. This supported the development of better designs, and educated children as to the value of the hollows in dead trees which were being cleared. The project's results were published in Nature Australia. Its design suggestions were summarised in a joint publication with major ornithological groups, and thousands were made and deployed as part of Rotary's ROBIN project.

In 1971, Morrison was invited onto the Channel 9 children's show Here's Humphrey to talk about a possum which he was hand-rearing. The day after that shoot, the network offered him the job as presenter for their new show, which became The Curiosity Show. Morrison and scientist Deane Hutton co-hosted over 500 episodes of The Curiosity Show which aired between 1972 and 1990, in 14 countries. The emphasis was on science and nature, with a strong emphasis on practical demonstrations, and it also included general craft and music. The Curiosity Show won many national and international awards, including the Prix Jeunesse International in 1984, voted by peers from around the world as the best factual program for children.

Morrison studied at St Peter's College, Adelaide, and he went on to study at the University of Adelaide, earning his Bachelor of Science in zoology, physiology, and psychology in 1965, followed by Honours in 1966, and his Ph.D in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology in 1971. His PhD thesis was Comparative Studies on the Olfactory System of the Mammal (University of Adelaide, December 1969). In 1972 he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study in the UK, and in 1972–73 he was a post-doctoral Research Fellow in animal behaviour at the University of Edinburgh, working with the noted animal behavior expert and television presenter Professor Aubrey Manning.

Robert Gwydir Booth Morrison, OAM CF (born 14 November 1942) is an Australian zoologist and science communicator. He co-hosted The Curiosity Show which aired on television from 1972 to 1990. He has written or co-written 48 books about science for the general public.