Back in the Day

Winston David Emmerson was born in Bulawayo, Matabeleland, during colonial British Southern Rhodesia, where he went to school. He later went on to do a biology degree at Rhodes University in Grahamstown (Makhanda), Eastern Cape, when South Africa was under strict Apartheid rule. This led to a career in marine biology, first cultivating prawns in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) and KwaZulu-Natal, before returning to Port Elizabeth to monitor estuarine pollution and read for his doctorate at the University of Port Elizabeth, now renamed Nelson Mandela University. He then moved to the University of Transkei, Eastern Cape, now renamed Walter Sisulu University, as a research associate, senior lecturer and professor researching mangrove fauna, before emigrating to Scotland.