The West Coast Penguin Trust is delighted and hugely proud to share the news that our Chair and Scientist, Kerry-Jayne Wilson, has been awarded MNZM – Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit – in the New Year’s Honours for services to seabird conservation.
“No one achieves anything alone – seabird work is a very collegial environment. I work with the West Coast Penguin Trust, the Australasian Seabird Group and many other colleagues” she said.
Kerry-Jayne says it’s important to focus on the seabirds rather than the honour. “Seabirds are in trouble: plastic and climate change are making things worse for them every day; they need all the help they can get.”
Seabird work is also a world without borders. “On a given day, I might work locally, just down the road, then on national seabird issues, and also working with colleagues around the world as our seabirds travel outside NZ jurisdiction, even to the other side of the world.”
The collegiality of this work is essential. “People working in this field are interesting, likeable, friendly and helpful and they all work at the local, national and international level. I am privileged and very fortunate to work with such a great group of people and I love the variation that comes with it. Our shared work is critical and will continue.”
The Minister for Climate Change congratulated recipients in the 2019 New Year’s Honours whose work is helping Aotearoa New Zealand understand and address climate change. James Shaw said:
“I also offer my congratulations to internationally recognised conservationist, Kerry-Jayne Wilson, for her honour as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to seabird conservation.
“Kerry-Jayne’s more than 40 years of study, teaching and voluntary work, which has included working with seabird scientists in Antarctica, Europe and Australia, has helped advance research and understanding of threats such as climate change.
[Top image shows Kerry-Jayne Wilson, Falkland islands Dec 2018, with king penguins and chick.]
We put the new ramp out on the beach as a trial run, with a camera to record the usage, however with much technology issues with the camera, we didn't get a confirmed answer as to whether the ramp needed altering or not. Next season we will try again.
A big thank you to the students for their time and energy. But particularly to Peter, who turned up on a Sunday afternoon having built a huge ramp and a floatation system.
Watch this space!
