Bernard W.T. Coetzee

The current extent and severity of the biodiversity crisis cannot be overstated: addressing climate change will mean nothing if it cannot also halt the loss of biodiversity. My work over the past almost two decades has squarely addressed pressing issues in conservation, including answering how climate and land use change is altering bird communities, how global protected areas are working, how to expand Antarctica’s protected area network and mapping the last wilderness areas in Antarctica, to understanding how artificial light is impacting species like disease vectors, and how to ensure human-elephant co-existence.

My work is highly multidisciplinary, and in consequence I have collaborated with a range of authors in different subject fields and apply a variety of techniques.

I had an unusual path into academia. While I have strengths in the regular requirements for such a position, such as post graduate degrees and scientific papers and acquiring funding for my research group, much of my career was deeply rooted in non-academics, working with both small and very large conservation NGOs. This has deeply affected my work, and work ethic, as I’m always seeking impact, policy outcomes, and real change on the ground, not only rigorous science. My love of adventure is reflected in the host of field positions I have held, ranging from Aldabra Atoll, Kenyan and South African savannahs, Costa Rican rainforest, sub-Antarctic Marion Island, to name some. These experiences have taught me a more nuanced understanding of ‘life on the ground’ – both for the people and the organisms we study.