FORMER The Hamilton and Alexandra College (THAAC) school teacher, Ann Scott recently had the opportunity to reconnect with her former student, Dr Bruce Webber, an esteemed ecologist with the CSIRO.

Dr Webber returned home to Hamilton to thank her for her legacy in STEM education over three decades and the breadth of Australia; he met up with Mrs Scott at a Scholars assembly earlier this month where he was the guest speaker.

He said he was excited to return to College and told students it was vital the students of today were considering the future of the planet.

As an Old Collegian from the Class of 1993 at THAAC, he returned to school this week to share this knowledge and wisdom in the field of global change ecology.

Now living in Perth, Western Australia, Dr Webber is the principal research scientist with the Ecosystem Change Ecology team at CSIRO in Perth, Western Australia and an adjunct associate professor at the University of Western Australia.

After graduating from College as School Captain, Dr Webber went on to complete a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours and a PhD at The University of Melbourne, focusing on the adversity of interactions between plants and animals in far north Queensland and Borneo.

He attributed Mrs Scott with inspiring his career in science, after she encouraged a young Bruce (then grade 4) to enter his observations of a local frog pond into a science contest.

He went on to build a career in environmental science studying the intersection of plants and animals in a changing climate.

“My time at Hamilton College, from Prep to Year 12, is where many formative experiences planted the seeds that have sustained and shaped my life journey since,” Dr Webber said.

“In Year 4, the initial flames of a career long passion were ignited for the first time.

“At this time, Mrs Ann Scott, my Year 4 and Year 5 teacher, supported me to methodically document the lifecycle of frogs.

“The opportunities presented by mathematics and science teachers at the Senior School provided many opportunities that kept my learning fires burning.

“I will be forever grateful to these teachers for going above and beyond to provide me with inspiration in my early years.”

Now retired, Ms Scott also showed Bruce how valuable encouraging students’ interests in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) subjects can be for influencing education outcomes.

He now regularly volunteers through CSIRO’s STEM Professionals in schools’ program to offer today’s students engaging and hands-on learning through nature-based activities and the opportunity to interact with and ask questions of a real scientist.

With his current program teacher partner in Perth, he has even helped the students to design, build, care for and monitor their own frog pond.

Dr Webber has travelled the world undertaking hands-on field trips in his career, and he attributed his time at the Hamilton College as the impetus for his lifelong passion for science and the environment.

 “It was in the jungle of Central Africa that I resolved to focus on the conservation of our most threatened biological diversity,” he said.

“This goal led to a return to Australia, working on global environmental change with CSIRO, Australia’s National Science Agency and delivering conservation impact to multiple organisations across Australia and overseas.

“It is very clear that we are going to be facing unprecedented challenges over the coming decades. My message to students is to choose careers that will contribute towards making our planet a more sustainable, resilient and tolerant place.”