Western Australian Conservation Centre re-named to honour former Environment and Conservation head

Western Australia's science conservation centre has been renamed in honour of the former Director General of the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation, Keiran McNamara.

The $31 million centre houses 750,000 plant specimens, including some collected by Joseph Banks during Captain James Cook's expedition.

Opened in 2010 as the name Western Australian Conservation Science Centre, it has been re-named the Keiran McNamara Conservation Science Centre.

The Centre is the largest integrated botanical research facility in Western Australia and works with Perth's Kings Park and Botanical Garden to preserve the DNA of West Australian plants.

The Centre is also involved in the Millennium Seed Bank partnership with Kew Gardens in London, which aims to protect the seeds from plants that are in danger of becoming extinct.

McNamara, 58, died from cancer earlier this year and his family attended the re-naming ceremony at the beginning of November.

His youngest son, Ian, told the ABC that his father had a strong belief in scientific research and that the family looked forward to the work being carried out in the building to further conservation in Western Australia.

Keiran McNamara joined the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) in 1985 and became Director General of of the Department of Environment and Conservation in 2006.

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