William Norton Holsworth is an Australian

mammalogist In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part o ...

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, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 1958. During his

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

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

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the 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. The common ...

and buffalo in

Elk Island National Park Elk Island National Park is a 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" is east of Edmonton, alo ...

.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 The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

, Holsworth studied behaviour and population homeostasis in

quokkas The quokka (''Setonix brachyurus'', ) is a small Macropodidae, macropod about the size of a Cat, domestic cat. It is the Monotypic, only member of the genus ''Setonix''. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as kangaroos and Walla ...

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

, off the coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Bill and Carol Holsworth moved to

Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

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 p ...

). 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 is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

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, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

."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)