Botanist receives Christopher Cadbury Medal
Monday 17th December 2012
Professor Ian Trueman, credit: Allan Price
Prominent botanist Professor Ian Trueman has received The Wildlife Trusts’ Christopher Cadbury medal for his services to nature conservation.
Described as a charismatic and entertaining lecturer of ecology, Professor Trueman has played a leading role in botanical conservation across the West Midlands and Welsh borders.
As Professor of Botany at Wolverhampton University, Ian Trueman has inspired thousands of students, opening their eyes to the pleasure of knowing and identifying sedges, grasses and every branch of botany. His energy and enthusiasm have been the driving force behind a great many people deciding to pursue nature conservation in a professional capacity.
After holding a variety of voluntary roles within Shropshire, Staffordshire and Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trusts, Professor Trueman has developed considerable expertise in the area of creative conservation.
Of particular note are his successful methods for habitat enrichment of grasslands and woodlands and his pioneering efforts to bring the Dutch green hay strewing technique to Britain, which resulted in the establishment of a number of hay meadows around Wolverhampton and Staffordshire. The meadows at Venus Pool in Shropshire, one of the best sites in the county for green winged orchids, are a wonderful example of this.
Professor Trueman's devotion to the improvement of recording species and habitats is evident from the 35 years he has spent scouring the environment for plants
Professor Trueman’s devotion to the improvement of recording species and habitats is evident from the 35 years he has spent scouring the environment for plants, spotting everything that grows from the paving stones of Birmingham to the wild woods of Wales. He has been instrumental in numerous working groups and committees, driving forward plans and ideas to give those plants a future.
Professor Trueman was presented with the Christopher Cadbury medal by Simon King OBE, President of The Wildlife Trusts.
Simon said: “I am delighted to present this medal to Professor Trueman. His efforts in mentoring young botanists both through his professional and voluntary work have been phenomenal and there’s absolutely no doubt that many professional ecologists owe their training and enthusiasm to him.”
Upon receiving the medal, Ian said: “I am very grateful to The Wildlife Trusts, both for this and for turning me into a conservationist by introducing me to the mystery and beauty of diversity and the tragedy of its loss.”
Contact information:
Anna Guthrie, Media & PR Manager on 01636 670075 or aguthrie@wildlifetrusts.org
Images are available for use with this news release. They are granted on a one-time use basis, in association with this release and the photographer must be credited.
Notes for editors:
This year’s Christopher Cadbury Medal was presented at The Wildlife Trusts’ Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 28 November 2012.
The Christopher Cadbury Medal
The Christopher Cadbury Medal for services to nature conservation was instituted in recognition of the outstanding contribution to this work and to the Royal Society for Wildlife Trusts by the late Mr J Christopher Cadbury CBE MA (President 1962-1968). Past winners include Prof. WS Lacey PhD, Sir William Wilkinson, Mr RSR Fitter and Dr Francis Rose.
The Wildlife Trusts (TWT) wildlifetrusts.org
There are 47 individual Wildlife Trusts covering the whole of the UK. All are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone. We have more than 800,000 members including 150,000 members of our junior branch Wildlife Watch. Our vision is to create A Living Landscape and secure Living Seas. We manage around 2,300 nature reserves and every year we advise thousands of landowners and organisations on how to manage their land for wildlife. We also run marine conservation projects around the UK, collecting vital data on the state of our seas and celebrating our amazing marine wildlife. Every year we work with thousands of schools and our nature reserves and visitor centres receive millions of visitors. Each Wildlife Trust is working within its local communities to inspire people about the future of their area: their own Living Landscapes and Living Seas.