Joseph Bryan Nelson MBE FRSE (14 March 1932 – 29 June 2015)[1] was a British ornithologist, environmental activist and academic.
[1] Thereafter, he began a DPhil in ecology at Oxford University, entitled The breeding biology of the gannet (Sula bassana) with particular reference to behaviour, under the supervision of the Nobel Prize-winning Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen.
Without insulation and held down against the wind by hawsers, the shed was erected with the aid of local lighthouse keepers, and "sat eerily within the ruins of the sixth-century St Baldred's chapel.
"[6] They endured harsh coastal weather and regularly climbed down steep cliffs without safety equipment to study birds' nests.
[2][3] In 1968, Nelson and his wife travelled to Jordan, where he served as the director of the Azraq Desert Research Station and studied the migratory birds of the region.
[2] He published a number of highly regarded ornithological monographs and textbooks, appeared on numerous television and radio programmes, made several nature documentaries and helped pioneer high-speed photography techniques for imaging birds in flight.
[2][6] Nelson spent most of his later years in Scotland, latterly in the town of Kirkcudbright, and enjoyed boating, hill walking and birdwatching in his spare time.