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| Awards ceremony (photo credit: Anja Reckendorf) |
[ Highlighted text here indicates where appropriate (and inappropriate)images were shown.]
I was delighted and honoured to again be tasked with the delivery of the ECS Mandy McMath Conservation Award this year, and I said something along the following lines:
First I recalled Mandy McMath after whom the award is named using words written by her good friend Peter Evans in a tribute that can be found in full the SeaWatch Foundation's website
HERE.
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| “With the passing
away of Mandy McMath … after a long fight against cancer, the world of marine
conservation lost a true champion. Mandy was so much more than her job title –
Senior Marine Ecologist at the Countryside Council for Wales. She had a passion
for the conservation of all animal life, and her personal warmth and caring for
other people struck everyone within moments of being introduced to her. |
She was a true
diplomat of the conservation world, offering wise advice, working away quietly
and modestly towards those goals, wherever necessary cutting through
bureaucratic red tape to achieve this.
Mandy was an eco warrior, not only
for marine conservation in Wales but also throughout UK and beyond, with marine
mammals being a particular passion, specially seals. She was also an underwater
photographer and diver, and in her spare time, an accomplished gardener and an
active member of her local community…. She was a very principled person, a
committed vegetarian, and one of the first to adapt her house to renewable
energy.”
Then my presentation continued thus:
Among the things that she
championed and helped to establish was the ECS conservation award. Mandy believed
that it was not just a fitting reward at a time when the planet has never more
needed its conservation heroes - but it would act as an inspiration to the next
generation of scientists and conservationists.
As most of you know by now this
ceremony consists of me first trying to honour Mandy’s wry sense of humour
by reflecting in a brief but deeply meaningful (and highly scientifically robust) way on the year since our last meeting and, simultaneously, dropping a series
of clues as to the award winner until she (or indeed he) is revealed. And the
event closes with your loud and enthusiastic cheering. Let me remind you that
the award is for an outstanding contribution and hence your applause to this
point has merely been practice. Wolf whistling and whooping is allowed.
[There is encouragement to wolf whistle at this point.]
However, unfortunately, nothing of
any consequence that has happened this last year and therefore I have nothing
to report.
And I am reinforced in this view by the
fact that whenever I turn on my news media sampling device (or television)
anywhere in the world I am consistently rewarded by documentaries focused on
something called the Kardasians.
And I am perplexed as to what they
are, where they come from …. And why we should in anyway care. My research
indicates that Kardasia is in Armenia and that the Kardasians should in fact be
a community of humble stone cutters. There is little sign of any stone cutting….
Or any discernible employment - But I believe they are K-selected – Kim, Kloe, Kourtney, Kris….
Krispy-Crème and so forth.
I have also managed to discern that
this particular matrilineal society is somehow more famous when departing, rather than
when arriving.
I am hopeful that in due course Barb Taylor will be able
to explain to us whether this is a discrete population that we should or should
not give a damn about. (And I believe that this may be the first time that this
two great American icons - Kim Kardasian and Barb Taylor - have featured in the
same presentation.
I have also noticed over the last
year – with some pleasure - the continuing return of the beard as a fashionable
facial attribute for young men. Of course some of us have championed it for
many years. As usual you will have seen many examples around the conference
halls ranging from the bearly-there why bother or ‘Ritter’ style through the neatly-trimmed
or ‘Ryan’ style, to the more fulsome version preferred by the more old
fashioned field scientists – as exemplified by the ‘Whitehead’ (to which I will
return).
The younger men currently prefer a
more fussy styled version complete with a full waxed moustache to complement
their equally fussy hair – you young ladies must get really bored these days
waiting for your boyfriends to fuss and fix their hair into many stylish waves
and then wax and mouse their fulsome moustaches – This is Ryan tells me the
hipster style. . some thing to look
forward to guys is the time when with maturity you can also wax and plait your
nasal and ear hairs.
Personally – in terms of beard - I
have always aspired to the full ‘Giuseppe’ – a neat cut (setting 3- 4 on the
beard trimmer) – but I have failed to grow the highly expressive and effective mustache of the ecotype.
In fact I aspire to Italian approach
to many things. Of all the nationalities of Europe and beyond, including the
Armenians, it seems to me that Italians come with inherent style – it is simply
genetic. The Italians even invited the word Ciao - which can be used to say both hello and good bye with considerable style! (It is also the only country
where crime is properly organised). And you will all know this old phrase –
Then
God decided to make sexy people – and he created Italians.
This style and elegance is of course typified
by the Tethys research group as you see here practicing… I believe a strandings
response practice. [Dolce and Gabana advert]
This research troop is elegant in its
presentation and its work.
And I can, of course, find no better term to
describe the president of Tethys than ‘elegant’ in all respects.
(And I would like to take this
opportunity to apologise to Dr Notarbartolo di Sciara for mispronouncing and
misspelling his name for the better part of at least twenty years.)
Moving rapidly on - Here is a famously bearded knight
of Malta by Titian
The person that we honour today has
some similar attributes – he (or she) has a distinguished lineage and like this
image was produced in Venice (surely the coolest city in the coolest country).
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| Giuseppe Notobartarlo di Sciara |
I think I have probably narrowed the
field enough to reveal (but hold your applause please) that I speak of none
other than of course than a past president of the ECS, the current president of
sexy Tethys and someone that we all owe a great debt to in terms of inspiration,
education and science: Dr Giuseppe Notarbartolo di sciara.
Educated in Italy, Giuseppe moved to
extend his studies in the US where he worked on beluga whales and whale
sharks, as well as doing research with humpback whales in Hawaii and Bryde’s
whales in Venezuela. He obtained a Ph.D. at the Scripps Instution of Oceanography (1985) in marine biology with a thesis on manta ray
taxonomy and ecology in the Gulf of California. He discovered and
described a new manta ray species, Mobula munkiana, which he named
after his mentor Walter Munk.
Undoubtedly, enriched by his time in the USA, Giuseppe
moved back to his home country in 1985 where he started working on
Mediterranean and Red Sea conservations issues.
In 1986, Giuseppe founded the Tethys Research Institute. Under his guidance it has conduced research focused on Mediterranean
cetacean ecology essential for the conservation of these animals.
A decade later, Notarbartolo di
Sciara was nominated by the then President of Italy to lead the Central Institute
for Applied Marine Research (ICRAM). He was President of ICRAM
guided that institution in a more strategic direction and allowed the creation
and flourishing of many important conservation and planning initiatives,
including the strengthening of marine protected area design, coordinated
research within MPA sites. Notarbartolo di Sciara has also served as the President of the European
Cetacean Society (1993-1997).
Today Giuseppe is well known
throughout Europe as a conservation leader and a television commentator
with regular contributions to wildlife shows. In addition, Giuseppe has also been a stalwart of
the Scientific Committee of ACCOBAMS and the Commissioner for Italy to the IWC.
I cannot begin to list his
publications (there are at least 140 scientific papers with his name on them) … but would direct
you to his website for more details. And I should make special note of his book on gambling.
His current roles are numerous and I
have listed the ones that I know of here [slide] there may be more. And I add here his latest. (I forget the full title of this new role but is something like 'Conference of the Parties Appointed Councillor for Aquatic Mammals', but I am sure you will be representing other marine animals. )
Not surprisingly Giuseppe has been honoured
for his work elsewhere (and we have to hope that he still has a little room on
his mantelpiece for the ECS crystal. [A list of honours can be seen HERE.]
As you know his expertise extends to
manta rays –and he even has a manta ray parasite named after him. Here it is … and if we
change the focus slightly you can probably see one reason why this happened.
I want ’to make a pause here before
we extend our full salute to this years conservation award winner (and also to provide a little warm up
applause exercise).
Giuseppe emphasised yesterday the
recognition made by the Parties of the Convention of Migratory Species at their last conference of the need
to consider cultural units in its work. This highly important development
was underpinned by the hard work of a team of people starting the godfather of cetacean
culture Hal Whitehead and his colleague Luke Rendell and combined with all the efforts behind the
scenes of my ex-colleagues and good friends at Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
There are layers of hard works that
lead to the passing of a resolution in an international body. I have some idea
of how hard the scientists, NGOs and the Secretariat worked to prepare the way
for this conclusion. I would ask that the records of the ECS show that we celebrated
this development and commended all concerned and that you signal your assent to this by
applause.
[there was loud applause}
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| Hal Whitehead, Luke Rendell, Heidi Frisch, Philippa Brakes, Nicola Hodgins, Alison Wood and supporting literature. |
Now returning to the 2015 award-winner.
Some of us reflected on what made a
successful person at the student careers workshop back on Saturday (which seems
a long way away now) – I suggested drive, confidence and affability and that
having a vocation may help.
Students I still stand by that and can commend no better
example to you than Giuseppe.
But a vocation can be a hard mistress
– and I know Guiseppe well enough to know that he is sometimes frustrated and
distressed when things get worse rather than better on his watch.
An award and the celebration
associated with it we all hope will act to boost Giuseppe ever onwards and upwards
to ever greater things. So please now be prepared to show your appreciation as
we celebrate the life’s work of this modest knight of Monaco, child of Venice, wise
gentleman of Italy, friend of manta rays and marine mammals, proud beard wearer
and citizen of the world.
Ladies and gentlemen – Don Giuseppe
Notarbartolo di Sciara.
[A standing ovation and many minutes of applause follow.]
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| ECS President Thierry Jauniaux presents the Giuseppe with the award trophy. |
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| Don Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara (photo credit: Anja Reckendorf) |
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