Born to a Scottish father and Chinese mother, and having lived in three different countries by the age of eight, Heather Fortune has always had a mission to see more of the world, especially its fauna and flora.
Beginning her career in wildlife conservation, in 2023 she graduated with a BSc(Hons) in Ecology and Conservation from the University of St Andrews. Here, combined with the opportunity to conduct ornithological field studies in Mexico and Honduras, a fascination with birds was unlocked.
Fight for Flight, a self-led ornithological research project into the anthropogenic threats faced by bird species, was her first solo expedition, spanning one year of international travel across Europe and Asia.
This involved collaborations with Birdlife International and local partners in seven different countries, where she aimed to inspire a wider diversity of people to get into birds and their conservation, using art as a tool. She has since spoken on this at the RGS, Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) and at Global Birdfair.
After a short-term contract as Species Policy Officer for RSPB, she is now undertaking an MRes at Imperial College London where she hopes to focus on tropical birds. She also works for the British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) as editor of #theBOUBlog alongside her degree.
