In 1981 he moved to Australia as a research ecologist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), becoming Chief of the Entomology Division in 1995.

Touring the world's fishing grounds, as well as Washington corridors, expensive Asian restaurants and dirt-poor coastal villages, a research ecologist finds dwindling catches, environmental damage and threatened species at every turn.

"We're trying to take an objective stance on marsh management," said A. Lee Foote, a research ecologist for the agency.

"It's flat; it's farmed; it's ruined," said Dr. Laura Jackson, a research ecologist at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix who is exploring how to restore these deserts.

An engrossing, illuminating, depressing journey, with a research ecologist, to the dwindling populations of wild edible creatures in the sea.

"As the climate is changing, these ecosystems are rearranging themselves," said Dr. Craig Allen, a research ecologist with the United States Geological Survey in New Mexico.

The guest speaker was Howard S. Ginsberg, a research ecologist with the National Biological Service and an adjunct professor of entomology at the University of Rhode Island.

It is awarded by the Ecology Institute, a non-profit organization of research ecologists dedicated to fostering ecological knowledge and awareness.

The important message," said Dr. Peter Turchin, a research ecologist at the Southern Forest Experiment Station in Pineville, La., "is that the transient behavior becomes the end point, so to speak.

In April 2007 research ecologists at Aberdeen University, led by Dr David Hetherington, made similar claims to those made by The Wild Beasts Trust.