William Norton Holsworth is an Australian mammalogist and philanthropist. Since 1989, he and his wife Carol Holsworth have managed the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment to fund wildlife research by Australian postgraduate researchers.Joe Fennessy (2014
"25 years of giving"
''The Voice'', 10(5): May 12-June 8, 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2016.

Research career

Holsworth earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

in 1958. During his

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

, completed at the University of British Columbia in April 1960, he studied the interactions between

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

and buffalo in

Elk Island National Park Elk Island National Park is a National Parks of Canada, national park in Alberta, Canada, that played an important part in the conservation of the plains bison. The park is administered by the Parks Canada Agency. This "island of conservation" ...

.William N. Holsworth (1960
Interactions between moose, elk and buffalo in Elk Island National Park, Alberta
MSc thesis,

. For his PhD research, conducted at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, Holsworth studied behaviour and population homeostasis in quokkas on

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island (), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a Islands of Perth, Western Australia, island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, ...

, off the coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Bill and Carol Holsworth moved to

Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, ...

in 1976.Hayley Sorensen (2015
"Bendigo couple make remarkable contribution"
''Bendigo Advertiser'', 1 March 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016. In 1979, Holsworth was voted a representative of the Conservation Council of Victoria (now

Environment Victoria Environment Victoria, formerly the Conservation Council of Victoria, is an Australian not-for-profit, charitable group and Victoria's peak non-government environment organisation. It works in collaboration with over 150 groups Australia-wide to ...

). In 2004, he was granted honorary life membership by the Australian Mammal Society for providing "long standing service to the Society and to the advancement of substantive knowledge of Australasian mammals."

Philanthropy

Holsworth and his wife Carol founded the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment in 1989.Stephanie Chenoweth (2008
"A solid base for your philanthropic dreams"
''The Australian'', 4 June 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2016. According to Holsworth in 2014, “When I retired from university teaching I wanted to continue training the next generation of ecologists and promoting conservation." In its first year, the endowment provided $15,000 to fund three wildlife research projects by Australian postgraduate students. In 1991, Bill and Carol Holsworth received an inheritance from Carol's father, a substantial proportion of which went towards the endowment. By 2006, the endowment had provided over $1 million for 180 student projects. By 2014, it had funded 164 students from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

alone, with grants totaling $1.4 million. In 2014, the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment was extended to all Australian universities. Holsworth's philanthropy has been recognised by both the University of Melbourne and

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

."If you are planning for a lifetime, educate people"

. Accessed 9 April 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holsworth, Bill Living people Australian biologists Australian mammalogists Australian zoologists Australian philanthropists Year of birth missing (living people) University of British Columbia alumni