Obituary, Lionel Wayne Braithwaite, Ph.D.

Abstract

ON Friday 4th March, 2011, Australia lost in Wayne Braithwaite one of its most pragmatic, lateral-thinking and influential conservation ecologists at the premature age of 69. He died after a long and brave battle with pulmonary fibrosis. Wayne was born and raised on a small property just west of Griffith, New South Wales, the eldest of three siblings. From the earliest age he was engrossed in the natural world, and particularly in birds: he had the largest and most comprehensive collection of birds’ eggs in the district, all properly data-based. During his secondary schooling as a boarder at Canberra Boys Grammar, he added to his egg collection with long series from Red Hill. He then went on to take his B.Sc. at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1962 and landing a job immediately as a biochemical analyst at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.