The J.N. Hobbs medal was once a medal awarded by the NSW regional groups of Birds Australia, but since 1999 has been a national award which is conferred for outstanding contributions to Australasian ornithology by an amateur ornithologist. Nominations are made by Birds Australia members and the winner is selected by a committee that includes representatives from Regional and Special Interest Groups and the Research and Conservation Committee (RACC). The committee operates under a set of Guidelines.
J.N. Hobbs Memorial Medal 2008
Kevin Alan Wood
Kevin Wood has spent his working life as an electrical engineer after his graduation in 1963. Kevin's main contribution to Australian ornithology is his 29 major papers and a further 10 shorter notes - all of them published in mainstream refereed literature. The quality of his work can be gauged by the fact that some of his papers have been accepted by journals often associated with the work of professional ornithologists: Wildlife Research, Emu - Austral Ornithology, and Notornis. Nevertheless, it has been more important to Kevin to have the information published rather than show concern about 'prestige' attached to any particular journal. By any measure, this body of work is a significant contribution to Australian ornithology and bird conservation.
Kevin has ben active in landscape conservation with an emphasis on birds and has contributed to campaigns which resulted in several areas in his home town of Wollongong being spared urban development. His activities in this area were based on careful research and helped to inform public opionion by publishing his survey results in Australian Birds (1985), Landscape and Urban Planning (1993), Emu (1993), Corella (1995, 1996), and Wildlife Research (1996).
He has been an active participant in seabirding trips out from Wollongong and his emphasis on the importance of quantifying his observations gave rise to nine papers on seabirds between 1989 and 1996, published in Corella (1989, 1990, 1991, 1996), Australian Wildlife Research (1990), Notornis (1990, 1993), and Australian Bird Watcher (1996).
A licensed bird bander since 1987, he has used this skill to enhance his observational studies of various species and to add to the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme database. To hone his skills in this area, he participated in banding studies at several overseas biological research stations.
Kevin has contributed to the NSW bird atlas project and has assisted with national atlas data collection. He has also photographed birds and recorded their calls, several of which have been published.
He has been a member of Birds Australia since 1982, as well as belonging to other major birding clubs. In 1995 the Gould League of NSW granted him the Cayley Memorial Scholarship.
J.N. Hobbs Memorial Medal 2005
Graham Pizzey (1930-2001)
Graham Pizzey grew up in Melbourne and forsook an assured career in the family business to become a freelance natural history writer and photographer. He travelled extensively in Australia, observing, writing about, photographing and filming wildlife and its habitats. He wrote for the Melbourne Age (1954-64) and then for the Melbourne Herald (1965-83), and became a household name, a voice for conservation that thousands of people heard and trusted. He also wrote for many overseas journals, including National Geographic, and took part in some early ABC television natural history documentaries.
Graham's contributions to Australian natural history have been widely recognised. He was a member of the Order of Australia and a recipient of the Australian Natural History Medallion. In 200, RMIT University awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Applied Science. An Honorary Associate in Ornithology at the Museum of Victoria, he served on many boards and councils including stints as a Council member of Birds Australia and the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Graham's legacy is a better-informed public and a swag of award-winning books that includes the Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. The result of 15 years of research and travels to witness every Australian species himself, the Field Guide to the Birds of Australia was first published in1980 and has been reprinted 15 times, most recently in 2003. Among his other best-sellers are Australian Bird-Garden: Creating Havens for Native Birds (2000), and nature memoirs A Garden of Birds (1988) and Journey of a Lifetime (2000).
It is difficult to think of a more worthy candidate for the John Hobbs Medal. Few have done more to popularise birds, nature and conservation issues. Few have managed a more articulate and accurate description of our birds, informed by a broad yet intimate experience of them. The posthumous award of the Hobbs Medal to Graham confirms Birds Australia's recognition of his outstanding contribution to Australian ornithology.
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Kevin Wood with BA president Alison Russell-French
J.N. Hobbs Memorial Medallists
2008 Kevin Alan Wood
2005 Dr. Graham Pizzey AM
2004 Graeme Chapman
2003 Brian Coates
2001 Pauline Reilly OAM
2000 Dr Clive Minton AM
1999 John Courtney
1998 Alan Leishman
1997 Stephen Marchant AM
1996 Dr Durno Murray
1995 Bill Lane
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