Jiro Kikkawa championed the relationship between researchers and the bird watching community. The Jiro Kikkawa Research Award honours his memory and is given to a grant awardee whose research best supports and advances bird conservation.
Jiro Kikkawa (1929-2016) was a founding member and influential supporter of the Queensland Ornithological Society (Birds Queensland). He graduated from Tokyo University and completed his post-graduate studies at the Universities of Oxford and Otago before spending most of his working life at the University of Queensland.
Jiro was an enthusiastic birder both around Brisbane and beyond. He studied Silvereyes and specialised in the conservation of rainforest birds. Jiro was President of Queensland Ornithological Society from 1972-75 and was an Honorary Life Member.
Awardees
| Year | Awardee | Project |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Dr Gabriel Conroy | Glossy Black Cockatoo feed tree ecology: Do genetic factors or seed nutrient content influence feed tree preference? |
| 2018 | Nicholas Leseberg | The ecology and conservation biogeography of the Night Parrot |
| 2021 | Clancy Hall | The sexing of thick-shelled and heavily pigmented eggs in-ovo as a population management tool |
| 2023 | Vasilli Kasimov and Dr Martina Jelocnik | Viruses of a Feather: Investigating prevalence and genetic identity of Beak and Feather disease and Herpes viruses in birds from South-East Queensland. |
