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Tributes to birder in university exhibition

Jonathan Dean A photo of a redpoll: a bird with a white chest, brown back, with a small crest of pink on its head. It perches on a branch. The photo is zoomed in so the bird takes up most of the picture, framed by a blue sky and branches with small pinecones on.Jonathan Dean
Several of Jonathan Dean's photographs of birds are on display in the exhibition, including this one of a redpoll

A nature exhibition at the University of Warwick is paying tribute to a local bird watcher who died suddenly last year at the age of 41.

Jonathan Dean was a dedicated birder and frequently went to the campus, where his partner works as a professor, to watch birds.

Some of the photos he took of birds have been included in the Wild Warwick exhibition, a collection of photos and artwork from students and staff which celebrate nature on campus.

The exhibition is open at the university until Friday 24 January.

Handout A photo of a man with blond hair, wearing a dark cardigan with a pair of binoculars around his neck. He looks to the right of the camera. He is at the University of Warwick, with grass and a lake behind him. Redbrick buildings are on the other side of the lake.Handout
Jonathan Dean was a keen birder who was often at the University of Warwick campus

Prof Dean lived in Coventry with his partner and young children, leading birding walks for staff and students at the University of Warwick and offering his time and expertise to the university's sustainability team.

Throughout Prof Dean's life, he regularly travelled across the UK and to several countries in Europe, Africa and America to see birds.

But over the past decade, he became increasingly concerned about the environmental impacts of birding travel.

He decided, therefore, to commit himself to low-carbon birding, and turned his primary attention to his local patch, going to birding locations he could reach by foot.

Before he died, he was writing a book entitled The Future of Birding: Making Birdwatching Popular, Ethical and Inclusive.

He was also a political theorist and an associate professor of politics at the University of Leeds.

University of Warwick A series of pictures and artwork are pinned to two white boards. Four photos of wildflowers are on the board on the left. Three pieces of art are on the right, including a piece of crochet showing flowers. Small white pieces of card are also pinned up with details about the works and the artists.University of Warwick
Wild Warwick celebrates the nature on campus at the university

His partner, Maria do Mar Pereira, works at the university as a professor of sociology and gender studies, and visited the exhibition on the day it opened.

Prof Pereira said: "As an academic, Jonathan was an inspirational teacher who could transform the way students saw the world around them.

"As a birder, he was committed to encouraging people to pay more curious attention to the wildlife they encountered every day.

"This makes it especially fitting and moving to see him celebrated in an exhibition that invites students, staff and the public to look differently at the Warwick campus and the many amazing plant and animal species we share it with."

The pieces on display in the Wild Warwick exhibition include photographs, drawings, poetry, and crochet.

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