Kerry-Jayne Wilson

Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM (6 March 1949 – 29 March 2022) was a New Zealand biologist and lecturer in ecology at Lincoln University in the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM
Wilson in 2019
Born	(1949-03-06)6 March 1949
Died	29 March 2022(2022-03-29) (aged 73)
Nationality	New Zealand
Occupation	Biologist / Ecologist – seabird specialist
Employer	Lincoln University
Awards	Robert Falla Memorial Award (2012)

Work

As an undergraduate, Wilson spent the summer of 1969–1970 in the Snares Islands, working as an assistant to the Australian ornithologist and photographer John Warham. She was struck by the huge numbers of sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus), penguins, petrels, and prions, and seabirds later became her research focus.^[1] She earned a Master of Science degree at the University of Canterbury, and was appointed a faculty member at Lincoln College (now Lincoln University) in 1986.^[2]

Wilson worked for over 40 years on different conservation projects in New Zealand, with a focus on its avifauna. Most of her field research on seabirds was conducted in New Zealand, the Chathams, the sub-Antarctic Islands, and Antarctica, but she also worked in Mongolia, Malaysia, Newfoundland, Indonesia and the Cook Islands.^[3][4][5] One of her research projects was on the endangered Chatham petrel (Pterodroma axillaris), where she helped develop a burrow entrance flap that prevented broad-billed prions (Pachyptila vittata) from invading Chatham petrel nesting burrows and disturbing their chicks.^[6]

She was New Zealand committee member of the Australasian Seabird Group, was vice-president of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand (OSNZ), and edited the State of New Zealand Birds Report.^[3] She lectured at the University of Göttingen on ecology and wildlife conservation in New Zealand.^[7]

Wilson started teaching at Lincoln University in the entomology department as a lecturer in 1986 under her male birth name.^[a][10] After teaching ecology for 23 years, Wilson retired to Charleston on the West Coast of the South Island in 2009.^[11] She continued to be involved in conservation projects, and was a founding trustee of the West Coast Penguin Trust in 2006.^[11][12] Her work with the Trust led to the construction in 2014 of a three-kilometre (1.9 mi) fence along State Highway 6, which prevented blue penguins from being killed on the road.^[13] She was involved with the conservation of the Westland petrel (Procellaria westlandica) colony near Punakaiki, including strategies to protect petrel fledglings from being disoriented and confused by street lights.^[14]

In 2021, Wilson published New Zealand Seabirds, a summary of her 50 years of research. She died on 29 March 2022.^[15]

Awards and honours

In 2012, Wilson was awarded the OSNZ's Robert Falla Memorial Award for her "work... in the field of ornithology and her contributions to the work of the society over many years".^[16][17][18]

In the 2019 New Year Honours, Wilson was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to seabird conservation.^[19]

In 2023, the fossil penguin species Eudyptula wilsonae was named after her.^[20]

Publications

Wilson published 70 scientific papers and three books. Among her most important works is Flight of the Huia, a book that deals with the issue of species conservation in New Zealand.

• — (2004). Flight of the Huia: ecology and conservation of New Zealand's frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-0908812523.
• — (2007). A Checklist to New Zealand Birds, Frogs, Reptiles, Mammals and Butterflies. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-877257513.
• — (2013). West Coast Walking: a naturalist's guide to the West Coast. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-927145-42-5.
• — (2021). New Zealand Seabirds: a natural history. Nelson: Potton & Burton. ISBN 978-1-98-855025-1.

Footnotes

1. In the 1989 Lincoln College Calendar, Wilson last appears under her male birth name.^[8] In the 1990 Lincoln University Calendar, compiled on 1 October 1989, she first appears as Kerry-Jayne Wilson.^[9]

References

1. "Kerry-Jayne Wilson: flying with the seabirds". RNZ. 2 January 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
2. 2008 Calendar. Lincoln University. p. 19. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
3. . The Blue Penguin Trust. West Coast Penguin Trust. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
4. Field, Michael (29 December 2013). "Former Lincoln scientist stuck on ice". The Press. from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
5. "Kerry-Jayne Wilson". Potton & Burton. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
6. Sullivan, Wendy; Wilson, Kerry-Jayne (2001). "Use of burrow entrance flaps to minimise interference to Chatham petrel (Pterodroma axillaris) chicks by broad-billed prions (Pachyptila vittata)" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 25 (2): 71–75.
7. . Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
8. "1989 Lincoln College Calendar". Lincoln University. p. xx. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
9. "1990 Lincoln University Calendar". Lincoln University. pp. xiv, xx. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
10. "1987 Calendar Lincoln College". Lincoln University. p. xv. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
11. "Penguin trust founder dies". Hokitika Guardian. 31 March 2022. p. 3.
12. Naish, Joanne (6 May 2022). "Life story: Kerry-Jayne Wilson, a renowned bird expert and passionate conservationist". Stuff. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
13. Naish, Joanne (30 October 2020). "The fence that's saving little blue penguins' lives". Stuff. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
14. Naish, Joanne (21 December 2020). "Westland Petrels crashing in Greymouth after lights go out in Punakaiki". Stuff. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
15. Cooper, John (30 March 2022). "An ACAP Species Summary for the Westland Petrel – dedicated to Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM, 1950–2022". Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
16. . West Coast Penguin Trust. West Coast Penguin Trust. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
17. . Birds New Zealand. Ornithological Society of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
18. . West Coast Penguin Trust. 2012. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
19. "New Year honours list 2019". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
20. Daniel B. Thomas, Alan J.D. Tennyson, Felix G. Marx, and Daniel T. Ksepka, 2023 Pliocene fossils support a New Zealand origin for the smallest extant penguins Journal of Paleontology: 1–11 doi:10.1017/jpa.2023.30.