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Professor Colin Galbraith
Professor Colin Galbraith is Director of his environmental
consultancy, dealing with a range of environmental issues in
Scotlandandat theglobal level. Hewasuntil recently theDirector
of Policy and Advice in Scottish Natural Heritage. In this capacity
he was the principal adviser on policy, scientific and technical
matters for the organisation for over twelve years. Colin has
been involvedwith the United Nations for a number of years and
has made contributions through the Convention on Migratory
Species (CMS) and to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
in particular. This work area involves him in high profile nature
conservation issues including the conservation of the African
Elephant and developing new international agreements to
assist the conservation of Albatross, and in reviewing the impact
of climate change on the ecology of threatened species.
He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Scientific Council of
the CMS. He has been an Honorary Professor in Conservation
Science at the University of Stirling since 2002.
Professor Ian Newton
Professor Ian Newton OBE, FRS, FRSE is an ornithologist with
a particular interest in the things that limit bird numbers, with
research at different times on seed-eating birds, waterfowl and
birds-of-prey. Throughout his working life, he was employed by
the Natural Environment Research Council, and for many years
he was head of a unit at Monks Wood Research Station which
studied the effects of pesticides and pollutants on birds. He
has authored eight books on different aspects of avian biology,
and published more than 300 papers in the scientific literature.
He has also served as President of the British Ecological Society
and the British Ornithologists’ Union, and as Chairman of the
Royal Society for Protection of Birds and the British Trust for
Ornithology.
Professor Chris Perrins
Prof. Chris Perrins LVO, FRS joined the Edward Grey Institute
of Field Ornithology at the University of Oxford as a student in
1957. Chris retired in 2002 but remains at the University as a
Professor Emeritus. His main studies have been on population
biology: Great Tits (inWythamWoods), seabirds, especially Manx
Shearwaters (on the Pembrokeshire islands of Skokholm and
Skomer) and Mute Swans (especially on the River Thames and at
Abbotsbury, Dorset).
In the 1970s, Chris was asked to study the reason for the
decline in Mute Swans in the UK. Intensive studies showed
that the greatest single cause of mortality of the birds was lead
poisoning – almost entirely from the ingestion of lead angling
weights. Not only did the lead cause the deaths of many swans,
but many of the living birds were carrying high lead burdens.
The importation and sale of lead angling weights from 0.06
and 28.35 grams (No.6 shot to 1oz) was prohibited in 1987 and
their use banned by most regional water authorities shortly
afterwards. Nationally, the Mute Swan population doubled in
the ten years to 1997, with the largest increases being observed
on the lowland, heavily fished, rivers.
PRESENTERS/FIRST AUTHORS
Dr. Ruth Cromie
Dr. Ruth Cromie gained a PhD for vaccine development in
wildfowl from University College, London, in 1991. Since then
she has worked on various aspects of wildlife health from
diagnostic technologies to environmental management in
both wild and captive animals in the UK and overseas including
the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, Smithsonian
Institution and Hong Kong University.
As WWT’s Head of Ecosystem Health, Ruth is responsible for
organisational health and welfare standards, plus WWT’s
Ecosystem Health programme which includes surveillance,
research, advocacy, contingency planning, capacity building
and policy work. Ruth regularly teaches and examines wildlife
health and conservation biology on a number of post-graduate
programmes.
Ruth is an active member of the UN-Convention on Migratory
Species (CMS)/Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Co-
convened Scientific Task Forces on both Avian Influenza and
Wild Birds, andWildlife and Ecosystem Health. Ruth has worked
on resolutions for both the CMS and the Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands promoting integrated approaches to dealing
with health, in particular of domestic and wild animals, as well
as recent production of the Ramsar Wetland Disease Manual
which is a substantive practical resource written specifically for
land/wetland managers.
Appendix 1