Blue Planet Prize Story : 2018 winner Prof. Brian Walker : 1. Interest in unknown nature

1. Interest in unknown nature

A childhood spent in the nature of Africa

Brian Walker was born in 1940 in Salisbury, the Republic of Rhodesia, a country located in southern Africa (currently Harare, Zimbabwe). He was raised with his elder sister by his father, who was a manufacturer, and his mother, who was a gentle housewife.
His father always told him that he should always do things that he believed in, and to always test himself to whether he thinks he did right or not. His mother told him to always look for the good in others.

He liked rugby, swimming, water polo and other sports as well as English and Science. Especially in science, he was very attracted to the mysteries of nature that were beyond his understanding.
Salisbury was surrounded by rich nature. Brian went camping with his friends in the savanna and forests, where they enjoyed following and observing animals. He once went panther hunting with farmers at night.

Brian at about the age of 8 (front, far right)
and his parents (back, far left)

Growing in an enjoyable environment like this created a desire to understand more about nature in Africa and the vegetation of the savanna.

The path to becoming an ecologist

Before entering university, Brian was interested in agriculture. He joined a local young farmers club. He learned about farm work as he looked after pigs and cows and helped farmers.

With members of the young farmers club. Brian is holding the cow (1955)

He entered the University of Natal in South Africa to study agriculture. After graduating in 1961, he returned to Rhodesia to work in farmland development, where he sought to increase farmland productivity and improve the life of farmers.

Outdoor agricultural training (1962)

However, as he engaged in the work, he had many questions about the ecosystem of the surrounding nature. "Why are animals located in specific areas only?" "Why do plants grow like this?" "How do plants and animals affect each other?" Interested in many things, he decided to return to college to study ecology.

Brian went to Canada for four years to take his doctorate in ecology at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1969, he returned to Rhodesia to lecture ecology at the University of Rhodesia.

There he supervised research projects on the ecosystem in savannas and the ecosystems in which wild animals participated. He sent students to national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, valleys and mountains in Rhodesia; and he sometimes visited them.
At that time, roads were largely underdeveloped, so he acquired a private pilot's license so he could fly to where his students were. This also showed him an unexpected perspective.
The view of nature from 1,000 feet (approx. 305 meters) in the air was completely different from the view he had on the ground. He could clearly observe the changes in ecosystems on a large scale. This experience greatly expanded his horizons.

From Rhodesia to South Africa and Australia

Brian was enjoying his work as an ecologist. However, Rhodesia in the 1960s and 1970s was quite different from what it had been in his youth.
Southern Rhodesia, which was a British colony, the black population was against the white government becoming independent. This led to civil war. Brian's family was white, which put them in a difficult position and made it difficult for him to visit places for research that he had visited with students.
Under these circumstances, Brain accepted a position as professor at the Department of Botany, University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa in 1975. He left Rhodesia and for the next 10 years took the initiative in the savanna ecosystems preservation program in South Africa. This was the time that he became involved in international projects by, among other things, organizing international conferences for countries with savannas.

However, Professor Walker was again tossed about by racial discrimination between the blacks and whites in South Africa. It was apartheid. He did not want to raise his two children under such circumstances.
Then, in 1985, the Division of Wildlife and Ecology, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organization (CSIRO), Australia, offered him a position as professor. He decided to move to Canberra, Australia, where he still lives.

Soil survey conducted by CSIRO scientists
Professor Walker is digging the soil. (1991)

Professor Walker said, "I have been involved in some great projects up to now." He took the initiative in Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) as the core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), where his research made great strides.

2. Resilience of ecosystems