It is with great pleasure that I announce that I am now officially finished my PhD. My thesis changes were accepted by the UQ reviewer, signed off by the dean of the Graduate School and the degree has been awarded by UQ’s Provost. In short, I am now Dr Bec (certificate shown). Technically, I have been awarded a Doctor of Philosophy. This has become quite a discussion point amongst some friends and family so I thought it might be something to blog about. To start - I didn’t change my mind at the end of my degree and change from a wildebeest study to a philosophical thesis. That is not how I ended up with the word philosophy on my certificate. Rather, the award of a Doctor of Philosophy is what all PhD students attain upon completion. There is no Doctor of Wildebeest or, perhaps more sensibly, Doctor of Zoology.  The use of the word philosophy doesn’t mean that the field of study was philosophy. Although for some lucky students, their field would possibly be philosophy. For them, the title, and perhaps life itself, would make more sense. But back to my original point – the reason it is called a Doctor of Philosophy is because of the Greek meaning of philosophy: love of wisdom. I like this term so much that I may not write ‘Rebecca Dannock (PhD)’, but rather ‘Rebecca Dannock (Lover of Wisdom)’ on official correspondence.

Since submitting my PhD in April I have also been working on something a little different in my spare time. I have created a photobook (photos below) of my best photos from Etosha. It has taken a lot of time. First, I selected the images, which involved hundreds of large photos being scattered over the floor of my mother’s house (my unit was not big enough) in an effort to select the best photos, match up photos that looked great together and select cropping options. Next, I compiled the photos and designed the introductory pages, colour scheme and cover with the help of the awesome team at Heaneys Performers in Print. Then finally, I wrote a description for each photo which I have included in the end of the book, this was by far the biggest time consumer, but well worth it. The descriptions have been designed to give the reader an insight into animal behaviour, describe the story behind some of the photos and provide an introduction to life in Etosha. I am selling the book through my website’s newly created ‘Shop’ page – check it out here: http://rdannock.wixsite.com/zoologist/shop. 10% of the profits from all book sales are going towards conservation work in Africa, through Game Rangers International (GRI). So, not only is it a perfect Christmas gift for the animal or travel lover in your life, but by purchasing it you are contributing to conservation! When I arrive in Zambia I’ll select which GRI project will receive the funds, based on which project will best benefit from the donations. Having spoken to a number of people in Zambia personally, and through colleagues, I know that GRI are a well-respected charity and have done so much with the money they have received since their inception. So, I look forward to adding to their funds and being involved as part of their team. There’ll be more updates to come from me once I am in Zambia.