In 1986, I visited Iceland to study Greenland white-fronted geese, a declining Arctic-breeding goose with a global population then of c 16,000 birds. It nests in west Greenland and winters in Britain and Ireland. In the mid-1980s, how many passed through Iceland on spring and autumn migration was not clear, nor were the threats faced there. I went to find out.

I had been involved in bird surveying and conservation for years and worked for a wildlife trust in the UK. My interest in Greenland white-fronts came from university days at Aberystwyth, where I carried out my PhD research on peatlands (a habitat used by the geese). On my visit, I developed new links with Icelandic ornithologists and mapped the haunts of the geese on migration, noting that they faced wetland drainage and pressure from hunting.

The Fellowship led to action towards a hunting ban and protection internationally, and greatly stimulated my work on the geese. Our study group has organised a national census in the UK for 40 years and seen numbers rise, to around 21,000 now. I am Area Manager for North East Scotland and Shetland for the RSPB, and the Fellowship not only helped my career, but also, I believe, the geese.