William Roy Branch | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 May 1946 |
| Died | 14 October 2018 (aged 72) Port Elizabeth |
| Nationality | English |
| Alma mater | University of Southampton |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | herpetology |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | Branch |
William Roy "Bill" Branch (12 May 1946, London, England – 14 October 2018, Port Elizabeth, South Africa) was a British-South-African herpetologist.
Branch studied at the University of Southampton where he remained until completing his Ph.D. degree (Studies on a foetal-specific alpha-globulin [AFP] in the rabbit ). From 1972 he worked as a scientist in the Life Sciences Division of the Atomic Energy Board in Pretoria doing research on, inter alia, liver cancer, but returned to the University of Southampton in 1976 to take up a post-doctoral research fellowship in the Department of Biology studying the synthesis of chemicals in the liver of foetal rabbits.[1]
He started working at Port Elizabeth Museum in 1979 and retired in 2011, when he was appointed as Research Associate and Curator Emeritus. Over a period of almost 40 years he conducted field work in about 20 African countries and played a major role in building up the large reptile and amphibian collections at the Museum.