Dr Keith Leggett, BSc (Hons) 1985; PhD 1989
I did Honours (1985) and a PhD (1989) in Chemistry at Sydney, on “Trace elements in marine waters” with Dr Jim Eckert as my supervisor. Jim says that supervising me was “never dull”. I think that’s a compliment. In search of “adventure’’, I took up a two year Research Fellowship at the University of Zimbabwe, studying the distribution of trace metals in Lake Kariba and its rivers; and followed that with three years as Chief Ecologist and Project Manager for Raleigh International in Southern Africa, working in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Much of my work at that time and since has involved the study of elephants – their movement, social behaviour and general ecology – first with Raleigh International, then as Conservation Officer of the Kalahari Conservation Society in Botswana and later, as Senior Scientist and Project Manager for the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia. I am presently the CEO and a Trustee of the Namibian Elephant and Giraffe Trust.
The desert-dwelling elephants of Northwestern Namibia are our special interest and we have now GPS-collared a number of them. But tracking the elephants is only one of the problems. Keeping the landrover running is another. And so is satisfying the locals that I’m not just another white out to abuse communal lands. On a recent field trip, the bush was very dry and the days were long and hot. I was sunburnt for the first time in seven years. The elephants were having to wander long distances (up to 25 km a day) in search of food but didn’t look too bad for it. They are truly amazing animals and every time I encounter them it gives me a fresh thrill.
What part has chemistry played in all this? Good question. I haven’t been in a chem lab since my first stint in Zimbabwe. Yet the biological implications of chemistry are all around me. Why is a particular species of grass dominant in one area of the veld and nowhere to be seen 100 m away? Or again, why do animals prefer to drink at one waterhole and not at others near by? Variations in water and soil chemistry are clearly at work. I’m sure of one thing: would-be environmental scientists do well to get themselves a good grounding in chemistry.