John graudated from the VSF in 1932. He was a Rhodes Scholar and he also obtained a Dip.For.Vic. (The distribution of Eucalypts in the Bunyip River Valley and their relation to soil types), a B.Sc in 1939 and a Dip. For. (Oxon).

While in the FCV he had postings at Bendigo, Rushworth, Beech Forest, Dunolly, Belgrave and Apollo Bay. He was posted to Melbourne in 1937 and spent time as Assistant Silvicultural Officer and in Assessment before resigning in 1949.

At the University of Melbourne he became the Senior Lecturer in 1949, later the first Reader in Forestry and, finally, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry until the mid-1980s.

The article linked below is from a September 2001 publication by the IFA.

Taggerty 1934/35