25 years of giving

The scale is remarkable. Over the course of the past 25 years, Dr Bill Holsworth has personally funded over 500 university students across Australia – including over 160 from the University of Melbourne – to undertake wildlife research projects. Despite having had such widespread influence, one of the University’s most consistent donors is also one of its most humble – and he isn’t done yet.

Few can lay claim to providing the levels of support demonstrated by Dr Holsworth. For the past 25 years he has channelled his passion for the environment, conservation and ecology into the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (HWRE) – a truly unique philanthropic fund delivering direct financial grants to an unprecedented number of student researchers. 

Dr Holsworth – a renowned ecologist, mammalogist and wildlife biologist – established the endowment fund in 1989. As a former university student and academic, he was all too aware of the number of quality projects and students missing out on funding. 

“The shortage of funds for conservation research often meant very good students moving to their second choice areas of study,” he says. 

“By providing funds for research I hoped that the best students would pursue their career choice and become leaders in the biological conservation field.”

Since that time, 164 students from the University of Melbourne have been awarded grants totaling $1.4 million. Across eligible universities, the number of students to benefit from the fund exceeds 500 – students whose research might have otherwise struggled to attract funding. 

Such vast numbers, clinically noted in Dr Holsworth’s handwritten records, demonstrate the extraordinary influence he has had on the lives of postgraduate students and research in Australia. Yet he remains incredibly humble, personally mulling over each individual grant application and conducting every assessment himself.

“Looking after graduate students has been the focus of my career,” he says. “I’m just doing what I’ve always done.”

While Dr Holsworth might be reluctant to sing his own praises, the many students to benefit from his philanthropy understand just how important his contributions have been.

Andrew Katsis recently completed his Masters degree having received funding from Dr Holsworth in 2012 and 2013. He says the support was “absolutely essential” to his research. 

“In my field of animal behaviour and evolution, there’s often no immediate benefit to humans, so it can be difficult to convince funding bodies that your research is worthwhile,” Mr Katsis says. 

“I think it’s fantastic that donors like the Holsworths can see the value in simply striving to understand the natural world, so we can appreciate its fragile complexity and protect it.”

For Dr Holsworth, hearing from HWRE recipients such as Mr Katsis is something he finds particularly rewarding.

“One of the things I find very satisfying is to know that the students are very dedicated to doing what they’re doing,” he says. 

“They’re good students, they’re working hard and they’re very committed.”

Ensuring these students are equipped with the requisite knowledge, skills and expertise to prosecute the case for sustainable environmental practices is also a key motivator for Dr Holsworth. 

“When I retired from university teaching I wanted to continue training the next generation of ecologists and promoting conservation,” he says. 

“Students undertaking research in these areas are extremely important in setting up an informed understanding of the environment.

“From that standpoint, they’re the ones who will really understand what the environment is doing and the consequences of certain policy decisions.” 

It is this rationale that helps to shape Dr Holsworth’s underlying philosophy for establishing the HWRE. 

“We live on the earth for a short time and should leave the world a better place. If we don’t manage it properly we’ve got a big problem for the human race,” he says. 

“Education, research and leadership are vital if we, and subsequent generations, are not to repeat past mistakes.”

It is a message that Dr Holsworth hopes will resonate with a greater audience as he expands the HWRE to all Australian universities in 2014. 

“To have started fairly small and continue to have built up the funds each year has proven very beneficial,” he says.

“I was able to start the HWRE early in my retirement, and now I hope to see it grow into a major Australia research grant source for the benefit of outstanding students for generations to come.”

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