Sarah Lewis wins Patrick Niven Conservation Biology Award

 In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute in 2010, the Johnson Family Trust has offered an award to recognize the achievements of the top student in the Anniversary year Conservation Biology MSc Class. The award is in memory of Patrick Niven, long standing Board member of the PFIAO and son of Cecily Niven, who herself was the driving force behind the establishment of the Fitztitute. 

The Patrick Niven Conservation Biology Award was presented to Sarah Lewis at a special event in the FitzPatrick Institute’s Niven Library on Tuesday 23 August. Sarah is one of four students that completed the CB course with distinction this year. Her course project was on ‘valuing an ecotourism resource: a case study of the Boulders Beach African Penguin Spheniscus demersus colony’ supervised by Associate Professor Peter Ryan. Sarah was born and educated in England. Her BSc Honours dissertation at the University of Nottingham in June 2009 focussed on how supplementary food affects the reproductive success of Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus. Prior to her university career, Sarah travelled to various parts of Africa, volunteering at wildlife rehabilitation centres in Limpopo Province and KwaZulu-Natal. It was here that she discovered her passion for African wildlife, and experienced first-hand many of the problems that it faces. Sarah anticipates developing a career in African conservation, so the CB programme provided the perfect opportunity to develop her skills in this area.

“We are extremely grateful to the Johnson Family Trust for this generous award which will further stimulate the Conservation Biology MSc class to achieve excellence”, says Prof. Phil Hockey, Director of the FitzPatrick Institute. 

IMAGE: Award winner Sarah Lewis with Peter Johnson (right) and Prof. Phil Hockey (left). Photo by Rob Little.