‘We must not be stunned into inaction by the enormity of the task’: renowned life scientist Nigel Winser ruminates on World Earth Day 2024.
GM: Hi Nigel, lovely to meet you! Virtually, of course, as we’re minding our carbon footprint. The theme for World Earth Day this year is ‘Planet vs Plastics’, which feels like a real call to arms. Have you noticed a change in messaging over the past few years?
NW: Thank you and the BlueSkyFriday team for this kind invite to share my thoughts. Yes, themes over the past 54 years have covered all colours of the environmental agenda, including conservation of species, the stupid pollution of our seas, the power of regenerative farming, challenging environmental justice and climate literacy for all. But the two most important being (in my view) to radically change the direction of the habitat loss and carbon footprint graphs, year on year. This year, the call to arms is to put the UN goal - ‘reduce the amount of plastic entering our aquatic ecosystems by 60% by 2040’ - much higher up boardroom and government agendas. So if you vote and have influence in your company, please do share the disastrous plastics story with your colleagues.
GM: You’ve had an amazing career working with the Royal Geographical Society and Earthwatch. Please could you tell us a little bit about what being a ‘life scientist’ entails?
NW: I had the privilege of joining a pioneering Life Sciences degree course at the Polytechnic of Central London in 1972, with some remarkable tutors. In short, the task of life scientists (holding hands with other geographical scientists) is to do four things: identify what nature we have (a planetary audit), understand how it works locally and globally, assess how it’s changing year on year and then advise policy makers and the general public what we should be doing in order to create a sustainable planet for our grandchildren. At the time, I was told that we must ‘not be stunned into inaction by the enormity of the task’. This has been a mantra used by all the discerning field scientists with whom I have had the privilege to travel over the past 50 years. It was fun being a life scientist and I was lucky to be part of that cohort, at the start of the environmental movement.
GM: I’m sure it's hard to choose, but we'd love to hear some career highlights.
NW: You must read my book when it comes out in 2032! Where do I begin? At the RGS in 1977 - 15 months in the field with over 100 scientists (and some artists) from 11 different nations, working from our Berawan made Borneo longhouse, studying the rainforests of the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, takes some beating. Especially as we were looked after by the Penan and Berawan guardians, whose traditional knowledge helped us to understand the true complexity, diversity, and fragility of tropical rainforests. Today, this mountain forest region is an 8th wonder of the world – and now an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was also the project where I met my wife, the remarkable and inspirational Shane Wesley-Smith.
Then 10 years with Brian Rosborough and Andrew Mitchell’s Boston based Earthwatch International; rubbing shoulders with teams of tireless field scientists, the curious public, brave teachers, and seconded business folk. I am immensely proud of the 20-year partnership with HSBC, where many thousands of bankers worked in the field with our Earthwatch international principal scientists around the world. A quiet revolution. The legacy of those programmes has been far- reaching.
When I first started work at Earthwatch in 2005, a remarkable member of staff put a Post-It note on my desk: ‘Everytime you buy something, you are voting for a world you want’. Nearly 20 years later, that note is still there.
GM: Your work is based all over the planet. Where are you at the moment, and what are you up to?
NW: Now in retirement, one focus is to mentor the next generation of field scientists and conservation leaders, with a particular interest in Whitley and Tusk funded projects in Africa, Oman and the Middle East, where I have worked for many years. Also I am the proud UK rep for the East African Wildlife Society, which keeps me in touch with the country of my birth, Kenya. I am so proud of the incredible work being undertaken by a new generation of brave conservation biologists. Recently, I was invited to be a Vice President of the incredible Fauna & Flora International NGO, based in the David Attenborough Building in Cambridge, which is a great honour. It’s a hotbed of the leading active conservation scientists in the UK. I found my original membership cheque for £5 in 1975! So its been a long and valued association. Do have a look at their work, now led by Kristian Teleki, and support if you can.
GM: I watched a brilliant interview with you for the ‘Explore’ conference, and I loved the way you talked about the change in how we view exploration; inclusivity and urgency being key. Explore your garden and do it now! Is data collection still top of the priority list? And how far off does the end point feel?
NW: Good question. Take systematics and the naming of species; if you listen to Professor E.O. Wilson, the late Harvard biologist, the end point is in the middle of the 23rd century. He believed the quest to name all the plants and animals of the planet is a higher priority than to head to Mars. In his book ‘Half Earth’, he reminds us we have only identified some 20% of the species of the world. So yes, systematic field data collection remains a high priority, aided and abetted by new, very clever field technologies.
Recently I was chatting to Oliver Steeds, who heads the Nekton Mission and Ocean Census team, using submersibles and remote operating vehicles to study life in the deep ocean. They’ve recently been surveying the sea mounts in the Maldives, each expedition returning with laptops full for a significantly better understanding of the biodiversity of the Indian Ocean, the least known part of our home. So much to do if you are a young life scientist today.
GM: I imagine technology has changed the field in incomprehensible ways. When you first started out, did you imagine we’d be at this point?
NW: Of course, the change has been exponential and excitingly, will continue to be so. Take comms: in 1977, it often took over 10 days to send results and messages back to the RGS in Kensington Gore, from our Mulu Base Camp Longhouse in the high mountain forests of Sarawak. Now seconds by WhatsApp.
Take position findings in 1980, in the even higher mountains of the Karakoram: two exceptionally large and extremely expensive JMR heavy satellite receivers – each the size of a small fridge – had to be placed precisely 100 metres apart on the mountain glacier and left to pick up signals over a 12-hour period. And now, a small handheld GPS with instant results.
The power of your mobile! Take Merlin, for example; a free app from Cornell University that enables you to list the birds singing within recording distance. Imagine the opportunities for future global surveys and mass bird data collection, free! And there are many other apps worth exploring, such as I-Naturalist’s Seek. We can now all be David Attenborough on a daily basis.
GM: Have you ever experienced technology hindering an expedition and gone back to more grassroots methods?
NW: The classic example is when your Global Positioning System runs out of battery power. You then need to resort to a printed map or navigation chart, navigate by the stars and ask your Bedu guide to get you home after sharing coffee and dates. Much more enjoyable!
GM: When inspiring new scientists who want to work in the field, what are your main pointers?
NW: Passion. Passion. Passion. Immersing yourself in the subject and knowing your passion is the key. Many months of training and fieldwork at all hours, in all places and in all weathers will test your commitment. But if you are passionate about the research you are doing, you will succeed. Secondly, do not be too ambitious to begin with. Build up field experiences over time and choose a project you can complete. In mountaineering terms, ‘it’s nice to get the top’ as Al Rouse always used to say. Thirdly, learn how to be an adaptable team player – finding solutions to problems and keeping your cool. This will increase your chances of being picked. And one more thing: do your homework and don’t be shy to ask for help, politely. Informed youth with ‘global good manners’ will go far.
GM: Is it ever difficult to remain positive?
NW: Of course, but I have found that being realistically positive is an effective way forward. It opens doors and finds treasures. Such positivity introduces you to other optimistic folk, with whom it’s good to share a beer and make exciting plans.
GM: With all the greenwashing that’s going on, it’s sometimes hard to truly understand what we can do to make a difference. On a personal level, what do you do in your everyday life to be as gentle on the planet as possible? What can we do?
NW: Oh come on – get a grip. Much depends on your source of data or reading literature. The first thing to realise is that every tiny step in the right direction is progress. Do you really know your personal ecological footprint? Or how many tons of carbon you emit into the atmosphere each year? Or if you run a business, do you know the impact your organisation is having on biodiversity? There’s no shortage of proven calculators for those with any ounce of discernment.
Be clever here, it’s not rocket science. And begin your own movement. I just yesterday learned about Lesein Mutunkei, an 18-year-old Kenyan footballer who has started Trees4Goals; to combat desertification in Kenya, he plants 11 trees each time he scores a goal. How great is that! The sky is the limit. And do you know about ‘Take 3 for the Sea’ every time you go to the beach?
In the Winser home, it’s food and drink. We do all we can to keep our food miles low and plastic free. As such, we are truly supportive of our local kitchen garden scheme, buy direct from farmers or their shops and, luckily for us, buy our beer from our local brewery in Chadlington. I am not a fan of throwing wine and beer bottles into glass recycling schemes. Imagine the day when wine bottles are re-used, just like the milk bottles that arrive by magic overnight on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
GM: What’s next on the agenda?
NW: An exciting new project over the next 18 months is to road test effective mobility scooters for environmental field scientists with badly behaved legs (like mine), wanting to work in remote and challenging environments. Suresh Paul and his Equal Adventure team in Scotland have set up a series of expeditions in the Cairngorms, and I am looking forward to being an active guinea pig, offering feedback. The ‘late onset effects of polio’ is my access ticket!
GM: And where do you hope we’ll be next World Earth Day?
NW: At table 4 in the Bull Inn, Charlbury with BSF founder Harry and his wife, Laura Becher? More seriously, for 60% of BlueSkyFriday champions to have adopted a 60% plastic reduction strategy at work and play. Good luck!
GM: Thanks so much, Nigel!
NW: It has been a pleasure catching up with the BSF team. Thank you.
April, 2024
