Connections Archive

Adrian Jackson
Editorial intern

Retired Avondale lecturer Professor Brian Timms has named a new species of fairy shrimp to honour his field trip mate and former college colleague John Vosper.

Brian named the shrimp branchinella vosperi to recognise John's "major" contribution to his research. John found the shrimp while netting in a pool a few hundred kilometres from Esperance, Western Australia. He has joined Brian on field studies for 19 years.

"Not too many people get an animal named after them," says Brian, a conjoint professor at The University of Newcastle, an honorary research fellow at the Australian Museum and an internationally recognised limnologist and a lake geomorphologist. He lectured at Avondale for 22 years and continues to serve as a sessional. "It's an honour because it's in perpetuity."

John retired this past month after 39 years as the plumber at Avondale. He says he feels "privileged" to have the shrimp named after him.

Brian and John enjoy their so-called "adventures." "We take a tent each, a four-wheel drive," says Brian. "We have a plastic tracking system made out of old bread trays that gets us out if we get bogged."

Dr Lynden Rogers, dean of the Faculty of Science and Mathematics, says while John is not "technically scientifically trained, he has doubtless helped with a lot of valuable scientific work over the years."

Caption: Brian Timms (left) examines a new species of fairy shrimp he has named after his mate John Vosper (right).
Credit: Ann Stafford