I was born in Montréal, Canada in 1943 and raised in Port of Spain, Trinidad. I am of English and French background with a dash of Beothuk, the natives of Newfoundland, who were hounded to "extinction" in the 1820s and 1830s.
- "Remember the Beothuk!".
I trained and qualified as a Field Assistant and Laboratory Technician in Virology at the Rockefeller Foundations' Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory. I started working in my school holidays when I was 9 years old as "mosquito bait" catching mosquitoes to be used in virus research from a tree platform 120 feet [37 metres] high in the jungle canopy. Over the next 11 years I was privileged to work and study with some of the world's top naturalists such as Drs. William Beebe, David Snow, Barbara Snow, and Wilbur Downs, on a variety of fascinating projects.
I worked in fisheries research in Alaska both at sea (for a full year) and ashore in Sandpoint, Alaska studying the habits and migrations of halibut through the seasons.
I first arrived Australia in January 1964. I graduated as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse in Sydney, Australia in 1967. I lived for three years in India (1979-83) doing research on Indian and Tibetan history, and have travelled extensively in Asia. I have worked for many years in remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia and Cape York Peninsula in Community Development and Nursing roles. I became an Australian citizen in 1986.
I am now retired living in the bush about 25 km west of Cooktown, Australia on Cape York Peninsula, more than 300 km from the nearest traffic lights.
