ISLAND CONSERVATION SOCIETY-Meerkat man joins Aride |05 October 2009

Rob was previously manager of the Kalahari Meerkat Project in South Africa, the premieranimal behaviour research project in the world, renowned for its long-running and detailed collection of scientific data and familiar as the setting for Animal Planet’s popular Meerkat Manor TV series.

Rob has a personal drive to discover “places that blow my mind” and is certainly not disappointed by Aride: “It’s so full of life. There’s so much movement. There’s always something to watch and something to find out about”. He can’t wait to explore every nook and cranny of the island and its surrounding reef, observing the wildlife through all their different breeding cycles. “I want to know everything as quickly as possible and am looking forward to learning as much as I can from the local experts: our Seychellois staff.”

Born in England, Rob spent many childhood holidays helping out on his grandfather’s farm, an experience that sparked his interest in animals, brewed a love of active, outdoor work and fuelled a desire for adventure. After gaining degrees in Environmental Biology (at the University of Nottingham, UK) and Wildlife and Conservation Management (at the University of Reading, UK), Rob studied the territorial movements, breeding success and general ecology of eagle owls in Southern Spain before moving to the Kalahari to work on meerkats with Cambridge University’s Tim Clutton-Brock. Back home in his native Oxfordshire, he has also compared habitat use of invasive mink and native polecats.

After four years in a remote desert, Rob is no stranger to isolation and the challenges of living and working in a small community. He thinks the first five months will be the toughest: “Everything is new”. On top of that, he’ll also be thousands of miles away from his partner, a research scientist who will join him on Aride as Assistant Conservation Officer in March 2010. But he hopes his calm personality, enthusiasm and committed work ethic, combined with solid experience of managing a science-oriented reserve, will help him generate a positive impact on Aride’s protected habitat and everything that lives in it during – and beyond – his two-year stay. Any regrets? Only being too far from good sausages and – for a competitive character – the lack of board games currently available on site.

By Anna Faherty