Paul was on a private tour in Far North Queensland in August 2019 when an accident resulted in his passing. Through the tears, anguish and grief, I wanted to have a legacy for Paul and his incredible love for Australia’s wildlife. So I started the Paul Hackett Memorial Scholarship for Bird Research, not only for his legacy but also to encourage others to either set up their own scholarships or donate to the conservation sector.
I’m not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. This is not a scholarship worth hundreds of thousands, but it IS enough for a student to get started on that project they are passionate about.
I would love this scholarship to be a conversation starter for anyone to thinking of setting up their own scholarship. It could be $500 a year towards a student’s text books, $1000 a year towards a nest boxes or $2000 towards camera traps. I’d love Paul’s legacy to be the start of a movement to donate more to the conservation sector, because if we’ve learnt anything in the last few months, it’s how important our natural places are.
The first recipient of the scholarship is Aline Gibson Vega, from the University of Western Australia, who will be studying the ecology of the Western Grasswren at Bush Heritage’s Hamelin Station Reserve in Western Australia.