Irish-born Dr Elizabeth Nesta Marks was an eminent Queensland entomologist whose breakthrough work with mosquitoes and malaria in the 1940s and 1950s was of international importance. Dr Marks, who was generally known as Pat, migrated to Brisbane with her family from Ireland in 1920 and completed her Bachelor of Science at the University of Queensland in 1938. Dr Marks was appointed a Graduate Research Assistant to the newly formed Mosquito Control Committee (MCC) at the University of Queensland in 1943. During the War, she uncovered the breeding behaviour of many mosquitoes, including Aedes culicformis, using specimens from Cape York. From 1949 to 1951, Dr Marks studied at the University of Cambridge, attaining her PhD in 1951. She produced more than 100 papers describing 38 previously unknown species of mosquito as well as new species of other insects including fruit flies, bugs, cockroaches and ticks. Her major publications include the Atlas of Common Queensland Mosquitoes (1966) and the 12 volume set The Culicidae of Australasia (1980-1989). After the MCC closed in 1973, Dr Marks moved to the Queensland Institute of Medical Research where she was appointed as Principal Entomologist. She retired in 1983 but continued her research at the Institute after her retirement. She was also actively involved in local Queensland history which lead her to become a notable figure at Brisbane History Group seminars and functions and an active member of the Samford District Historical Museum Society.

Frederick Walter Robinson (known as "Doc Robbie") was born in Sydney on 21 October 1888. He was educated at Sydney High, University of Sydney and the University of Jena. He was Associate Professor of Modern Languages at Royal Military College Duntroon (1913-1932), and Captain and Intelligence Officer in the AIF (1915-1919). F.W. Robinson lectured in English and German at The University of Queensland (1923-1945), and later became Associate Professor of English (1946-1958). He was in the General Staff Office as a Major (Intelligence) in 1941-42. He presented the Commonwealth Literary Fund Australian Literature Seminars and Lectures at The University of Queensland in 1944 and 1958, and at Sydney University in 1946. F.W. Robinson also set up the Fryer Memorial Library of Australian Literature at The University of Queensland. For many years he was associated with the Oxley Library, the Queensland Art Gallery and other cultural institutions. He played a large part in the planning of the University of Queensland at St Lucia. F.W. Robinson died on 26 August 1971.

Founded in 1888, ANZAAS has a long history and many specialist scientific societies in Australia and New Zealand have developed from what were sections at ANZAAS Congresses. The last ANZAAS Congress was held in Adelaide in September 1997.