Julian Stanley "Jake" Kenny (January 27, 1930 – August 9, 2011) was a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...

, authorReverence for Orchids" (Trinidad & Tobago Express, 12 February, 2009)
and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

of Zoology at the

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

Campus of the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the ...

and an Independent Senator in the fifth (1995–2000) and sixth (2001)Hansard

Parliaments In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. He is best known for his work on

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels o ...

es and

anurans A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

, and for his contribution to the

conservation movement The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the ...

in Trinidad and Tobago. Kenny was born in Trinidad, and was educated at Belmont Intermediate School and then at St Mary's. After completing Grade 13 at Ridley College in St. Catharines, Canada, he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. After working at a fisheries laboratory in Canada, Kenny returned to Trinidad where he worked as a scientific officer in what would later become the Fisheries Division. After working there for nine years, he entered Birbeck College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, where he obtained a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

. After graduating he joined the Department of Biological Sciences at the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies. After retiring from the department, Kenny served as Chairman of the Trustees of the

Guardian Life The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America is one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in the world. Based in Manhattan, it has approximately 8,000 employees in the United States and a network of over 3,000 financial representativ ...

Wildlife Fund. Between 1995 and 2001 he served as an Independent Senator. He authored several books about Trinidad and Tobago's ecology, first with Macmillan and then with

Media and Editorial Projects Limited Media and Editorial Projects Limited (MEP or MEP Caribbean Publishers) is a private publishing company based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The company was established in 1991 by Jeremy TaylorVaneisa Baksh"Going to Ground Again" ''Trinida ...

book imprint, Prospect Press. His titles include: * ''Native Orchids of the Eastern Caribbean (Caribbean Pocket Natural History Series)'' (1998, ) * ''Views from the Ridge'' (2008 reprint, ) * ''Flowers of Trinidad & Tobago'' (2006, ) * ''Orchids of Trinidad & Tobago'' (2008, ) * ''A Naturalist's Notes: the Biological Diversity of Trinidad & Tobago'' (2008, ) Kenny also wrote a column for the ''

Trinidad and Tobago Express The ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'', better known as ''Daily Express'' (and the weekend editions ''Saturday Express'' and ''Sunday Express''), is one of three daily newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago. The ''Daily Express'' as per its masthead is p ...

'' newspaper. He died in Port of Spain, aged 81.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenny, Julian Stanley 1930 births 2011 deaths Trinidad and Tobago biologists Members of the Senate (Trinidad and Tobago) Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London People from Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago naturalists