Former EMA chairman Prof. Julian Kenny dies at 81

Prof. Julian Kenny 1930-2011

Environmentalist and Former Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Professor Julian Kenny, died Tuesday. He was 81.

Julian Stanley "Jake" Kenny was born in Woodbrook on January 27, 1930.

He was educated at Belmont Intermediate School and attended St Mary's college. He completed his secondary education at a Canadian boarding school and later attended the University of Toronto, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Kenny worked at a fisheries laboratory in Canada before returning home to Trinidad to take a position as a scientific officer in the government's Fisheries Division.

Nine years later he left for England where entered Birbeck College, University of London, where he graduated with a PhD.

He returned to Trinidad and he joined the Department of Biological Sciences at the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI). He remained at the university until his retirement.

He lectured at UWI on various aspects of Zoology, specialising in "zoogeography", a specialised branch of ecology which studies the factors influencing the distribution of animals.

He has worked extensively with research students at UWI developing ecological profiles of the Tamana Caves, the Caroni Swamp and the Aripo Savannas.

Kenny was know as one of the country's foremost environmentalists. The People's Partnership, headed by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, appointed him to chair the EMA. 

However Kenny resigned that position in May, saying he was unhappy with the state's commitment to the environment. His successor is a former energy minister, Kelvin Ramnath.

Kenny has also served as Chairman of the Trustees of the Guardian Life Wildlife Fund. Between 1995 and 2001 he was an Independent Senator in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament. Kenny was also a respected newspaper columnist.

Watch a speech by Prof. Kenny at an EMA "Green" conference in April 2011. He was speaking as Chairman of the EMA.