Mearns, Barbara 1955–

(Barbara Crawford Mearns)

PERSONAL: Born May 12, 1955, in Greenock, Scotland; daughter of George (a teacher) and Jean (Crawford) Kinloch; married Richard Mearns (a countryside ranger), April 4, 1981. Ethnicity: "Scottish." Education: Attended Astley Ainslie College of Occupational Therapy, 1973–75, and Bible Training Institute of Glasgow, 1980–81. Religion: Baptist.

ADDRESSES: Home—Connansknowe, Kirkton, Dumfries DG1 1SX, Scotland.

CAREER: Crichton Royal Hospital, Dumfries, Scotland, occupational therapist in child psychiatry department, 1976–80; Carnsalloch Cheshire Home, Dumfries, occupational therapist, 1982–83; Crichton Royal Hospital, occupational therapist, 1984–85; bio-historical researcher and writer, 1985–. A Rocha Trust (Christians in Conservation), British administrator, 1997–2002, international administrator, 2002–.

WRITINGS:

(With husband, Richard Mearns) Biographies for Birdwatchers: The Lives of Those Commemorated in Western Palearctic Bird Names, Academic Press (San Diego, CA), 1988.

(With Richard Mearns) Audubon to X'antus: The Lives of Those Commemorated in North American Bird Names, Academic Press (San Diego, CA), 1992.

(With Richard Mearns) The Bird Collectors, Academic Press (San Diego, CA), 1998.

Contributor to Traveller and Biologist.

WORK IN PROGRESS: John Kirk Townsend: Collector of Audubon's Western Birds and Mammals, a biography of naturalist John Kirk Townsend, 1809–1851, with Richard Mearns.

SIDELIGHTS: Barbara Mearns once told CA: "The twelve-year period up to 1997 was dominated by bio-historical research and writing for the three books my husband Richard and I wrote on early naturalists. By the time The Bird Collectors was finished, I was ready for a change of direction and was fortunate to be asked to work for the A Rocha Trust."

Recently, Mearns wrote: "A Rocha projects are frequently cross-cultural in character, and share a community emphasis, with a focus on science and research, practical conservation, and environmental education. We are now working on five continents, and my work involves the production of regular newsletters and other publicity materials, as well as the development of our Web site. The role brings together my lifelong interest in wildlife, my desire as a Christian to care for God's world, my experience in writing and photography, and my love for travel.

"During several vacations, Richard and I have followed in the footsteps of John Kirk Townsend, one of the first American naturalists to cross the Rocky Mountains and to collect birds in the Hawaiian Islands."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Book Review Annual, 1990, review of Biographies for Birdwatchers: The Lives of Those Commemorated in Western Palearctic Bird Names, p. 650.

Auk, January, 1994, C. Stuart Houston, review of Audubon to X'antus: The Lives of Those Commemorated in North American Bird Names, p. 245; October, 1998, Jeffrey S. Marks and C. Stuart Houston, review of The Bird Collectors, p. 1088.

Choice, June, 1998, C. Leck, review of The Bird Collectors, p. 1736.

Condor, August, 1999, William E. Davis, Jr., review of The Bird Collectors, p. 724.

Economist, December 24, 1988, review of Biographies for Birdwatchers, p. 118.

History Today, October, 1988, review of Biographies for Birdwatchers, p. 57.

Nature, November 17, 1988, Richard Mabey, review of Biographies for Birdwatchers, p. 273.

New Scientist, December 3, 1988, Bill Oddie, review of Biographies for Birdwatchers, p. 72; November 21, 1992, Michael Walters, review of Audubon to X'antus, p. 42; December 13, 1997, review of The Bird Collectors, p. 51.

Quarterly Review of Biology, March, 1990, Dennis Puleston, review of Biographies for Birdwatchers, p. 61.

Science Books and Films, November, 1998, review of The Bird Collectors, p. 233; May, 2000, review of The Bird Collectors, p. 101.

Times Literary Supplement, April 28, 1989, Mark Ridley, review of Biographies for Birdwatchers, p. 469; February 26, 1993, Mark Ridley, review of Audubon to X'antus, p. 5; August 4, 2000, Stephen Mills, review of The Bird Collectors, p. 10.

Wilson Bulletin, Volume 101, 1989; December, 1993, Kenneth C. Parkes, review of Audubon to X'antus, p. 700; March, 1999, Kenneth C. Parkes, review of The Bird Collectors, p. 144.

ONLINE

A Rocha: International Conservation Organisation Working to Care for God's World, http://www.arocha.org/ (February 25, 2006).