Awards - Brian Cooper
The Euan P. McFarlane Environmental Leadership Award
Brian Cooper, Antigua: 2003
The recipient of the 2003 Euan P. McFarlane Award for Outstanding Environmental Leadership in the Insular Caribbean is Dr. Brian Cooper of Antigua.
Dr. Cooper joins a roster of a dozen other Caribbean environmentalists who have been similarly acknowledged since 1987 when the Award was first established. The nomination of Dr. Cooper was made by Antigua's Environmental Awareness Group (EAG), in recognition of Dr. Cooper's efforts over a three-decade period to promote environmental stewardship and balanced development in the wider Caribbean, especially in Antigua and Trinidad. What is perhaps most noteworthy about Dr. Cooper is that his contributions reflect both his vocation and avocation and span service in the public as well as the private sector.
Born in the United Kingdom, Dr. Cooper was educated in that country and later in the United States, where he was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1971. Shortly thereafter, he moved with his wife, Cleo, to her home island of Trinidad. There he joined the staff of the Caribbean Agricultural and Rural Development Institute (CARDI) and continued in that post in Trinidad and St. Vincent until he and his family relocated to Antigua in 1986.
In his professional capacity as a soil scientist, Dr. Cooper's labors have been both in the laboratory with fellow scientists and in the field with small-scale farmers. He has carried out bio-pesticide research to identify alternatives to synthetic agro-chemicals. He has developed a national watershed management strategy for Antigua and drafted the agricultural sector policy for Antigua's National Strategic Development Plan. Yet one of his most notable strengths in agricultural development has been his ability to transform theoretical knowledge into practical and viable implementation strategies -- turning "what do we need to do?" into "how are we going to do it?"
Impressive as his contributions in the public sector have been, perhaps even more impressive are Dr. Cooper's individual, community service contributions that extend well beyond his professional duties and merit his selection as the 2003 McFarlane Award recipient.
During his years in Trinidad, Dr. Cooper began to volunteer his time and skills for conservation causes, first at the internationally-renowned Asa Wright Nature Centre, serving on its board of directors and participating in its efforts to conserve that country's rainforests and wetlands. In the early 1970s, as a member of the Trinidad Field Naturalists Club, he joined other conservationists to achieve one of the region's first environmental successes, turning around a government decision that permitted the Shell Oil Co. to transport liquefied petroleum gas through the Caroni Swamp, an important wetland and home of the scarlet ibis.
Later, in Antigua, Cooper became involved with the Historical and Archaeological Society. In 1989, as a part of a small group of Society members, he was instrumental in establishing a new NGO whose mission was to raise environmental awareness in the country. That NGO—the Environmental Awareness Group—has grown from a small, volunteer-based advocacy group to a well-staffed non-government organization that has raised significant external funding for its program activities while continuing to serve as an independent voice for Antigua's environment.
This growth has occurred in no small measure due to the leadership provided by Brian Cooper. He has served continuously on the Executive Council, holding the office of both president and vice president. He has been instrumental in sourcing new funding and developing new projects, is actively engaged in the organization's community education activities, and has successfully expanded the group's civil society leadership role in the country. As the EAG wrote in its nomination, "It is a fact that every person involved in the Environmental Awareness Group has benefited from Brian's commitment in some way."
As a trained scientist and experienced conservation practitioner, Dr. Cooper is also known for his efforts to encourage stronger collaboration between government and its citizens. In Antigua, he has often served as a catalyst for networking and relationship-building between government agencies, NGOs, and the private sector. In this area in particular, Dr. Cooper's competence has had a profound impact on the ability of the EAG to establish more effective collaboration with various agencies of the Antiguan government.
The formal presentation of the 2003 McFarlane Award to Dr. Brian Cooper was made by Island Resources Foundation's president Bruce Potter at the Annual General Meeting of the Caribbean Conservation Association in Barbados on November 21, 2003.
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