A childhood bird-watching excursion in the Bronx - one of New York's most densely populated suburbs - was an epiphany that set Professor Scott Edwards on the path to an international career in conservation genetics.
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''We lived near the Hudson River, and a neighbour got me interested in birds. I remember looking at a field guide, thinking I probably wouldn't see such beautiful, colourful birds. But I discovered they were right there, literally in my own backyard - they weren't just something in a book.
''It was an incredible experience and I became hooked on knowing more about the natural world,'' he says.
The child enthralled by Bronx birdlife is now one of the world's leading authorities on the evolutionary biology of birds and heads a science laboratory at Harvard University that's at the forefront of avian genetics research. He's also ornithology curator at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology and on the editorial board of several influential academic journals.
But he's also among a minority of African-Americans involved in environmental science research.
''There's an under-representation generally of African-Americans in science. We've made good advances toward more diversity in law and medicine, but the current lack of diversity in the environmental sciences can be disheartening.
''Good role models are critical'', he says. His father was a doctor, ''which probably helped steer me toward biology as a potential career, and also demonstrated science was an option to pursue''.
He's recently established a mentoring program at Harvard to encourage African-American students.
''There are some very bright students, and it's a joy to help them, not only with research but in learning to navigate a larger landscape of science opportunities,'' he says.
On a visit to Canberra last week, Professor Edwards gave a series of workshops at the University of Canberra and caught up with an old friend, Leo Joseph, director of the Australian National Wildlife Collection at CSIRO.
Professor Edwards is passionate about the need to preserve specimen collections as invaluable repositories of genetic data. He has co-authored a paper tracking mercury pollution in seabirds, using museum specimens dating over a 100-year period.
''All science institutions are being squeezed for funds and space, and it's easy to point the finger at museum collections and say, 'Let's get rid of this lifeless stuff to free up more space and cut costs.'
''But institutions that have done that have had cause to regret it.''
Professor Edwards has been a regular visitor to Australia since the mid-1980s, studying bird populations across the Top End.
''Science is being cut back everywhere, and it's a worry … that means fewer opportunities for a younger generation of scientists.''