Vale: Dr Richard Zann
27 November 1944 — 7 February 2009
Dr Richard Zann.
Richard Zann, an Associate Professor and member of the University’s Department of Zoology since 1972, died tragically with his wife Eileen and daughter Eva in the Kinglake fire.
Dr Zann was a teacher highly respected by his students and an ornithologist with an international reputation for his research on bird behaviour. He was a leading authority on Zebra Finches, one of the most popular birds in aviculture. However, little was known about how these birds lived in the wild.
To overcome this signifi cant gap in knowledge about our wildlife, he initiated long-term field studies which resulted in a string of research papers in leading journals. These led to a major work, a 335 page book on the Zebra Finch, published by Oxford University Press, and which has become a classic in its field.
Eileen and Eva Zann.
Dr Zann’s particular interest was in bird song which in recent years he extended to another amazing Australian bird, the lyre bird.
With his expertise in field work, in the early 1980s he was invited to join the first major international zoological research expedition for more than half a century to study how wildlife re-established itself after one of history’s most devastating volcanic eruptions – on Indonesia’s still active volcanic Krakatau archipelago.
The expedition was organised and led by La Trobe zoologists. Colleague and former Department Head, Professor Tim New says Dr Zann was a ‘natural’ to lead investigations on the birds, and later to coordinate the vertebrate data from this important research exercise in biogeography. In 1998 he was awarded Australia’s most prestigious accolade for ornithologists, the D.L. Serventy Medal of Birds Australia. The citation for this paid tribute to his signifi cant contributions toward knowledge of Zebra Finches and his work on Krakatau.
‘Richard Zann’s work has been characterised by a long-term outlook, careful planning and a devotion to a central theme – the ecology of wild birds,’ the citation said. Commenting on his Krakatau work, it added: ‘These studies have placed Krakatau alongside the Galapagos Islands in the annals of island biogeography.’
Dr Zann was also a main player in setting up and developing the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary, a key teaching and research facility for the University and environmental resource for the wider community. He chaired the Academic Board’s Wildlife Reserves Management Committee throughout most of the 1970s and ’80s, until 1994.
Dr Zann viewed native birds thriving in their natural habitats as vital indicators of the health of the Australian environment, and the study of birds as an important science with significant practical outcomes at this time of rapid ecological change. And they were also an important part of his domestic environment, which so tragically was to claim his life.
Widely respected as a teacher and scientist, Dr Zann first and foremost was a dedicated family man, devoted to his wife Eileen, son Christopher and daughter Eva, who was also well-known to many at the University, as a part-time employee of the then University Union and marketing and public affairs office.