In 2011 Jennifer (Jenny) Liney was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her outstanding services to conservation and the environment. The award recognised her many years of volunteer work in the Eurobodalla region - for the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden, Eurobodalla Natural History Society, South Coast Shorebird Recovery Program, Australian Plants Society and NSW Rural Fire Service. Jenny was a quiet achiever and accepted the OAM with typical humility and grace, saying "so many people do so much more than me."

Previously in 2006, Jenny received a NSW Senior Citizens Award in the category of Education and Lifelong Learning, and an Annual Conservation Award from the Australian Plants Society. In 2019, the Friends of the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden established the Jenny Liney Tertiary Scholarship in her honour.

For 25 years, Jenny was the Wallace Herbarium Curator at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden, and subsequently in 2019 took up the role of Chief Botanist at the Garden. She shepherded the heritage-listed Wallace Herbarium from a fledgling operation to the substantive scientific collection it is today, now the envy of many regional botanic gardens. The Herbarium collection provides a permanent record of plant biodiversity in the Eurobodalla region and has been used for botanical research, threatened species conservation, post-fire recovery studies, as well as providing support to the Botanic Garden.

Jenny's knowledge of regional plants was extraordinary, based on extensive field exploration and study of the scientific literature. She was willing to share that knowledge through newsletter articles, workshops and field excursions. Each week, she provided a plant identification service at the Botanic Garden. And she visited Landcare and other conservation groups to help them distinguish local plants and weeds.

To staff, volunteers and Garden visitors, she was always welcoming and helpful. Jenny had an excellent memory - and concern - for people as well as plants.

To her fellow volunteers at the Herbarium Jenny was a wonderful leader, mentor and colleague. She was fun to work with and had a way of bringing the finer points of botany to life with her plain-English descriptions. And when birthdays came around, Jenny's formidable culinary skills came to the fore with delicious chocolate cakes.

Jenny's valuable contributions extended well beyond the walls of the herbarium with an active involvement in the botanic garden's development through fundraising, past management committee and subcommittee roles.

None of us could aspire to Jenny's knowledge of the Eurobodalla flora - it was the unique opportunity of the time, seized by an enthusiastic, intelligent and professional volunteer. But because of the scientific way Jenny approached her work, we don't need to. Our task is to preserve and build her legacy for generations to come.

Jenny is survived by three of her four children, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren.

Funeral service at Broulee Memorial Gardens, 11am, Monday, July 4.