View Full Version : New UR.com Team member - Wombat
We are pleased to announce that Wombat has joined the UR.com Team as Fish Health Advisor.
Wombat has for some time been providing excellent advice in the Fish Health forum, drawing on his considerable knowledge and experience of fish disease and treatment to help our members, and will continue to do so in his new role.
So please join us in welcoming Wombat on board. We think everyone will agree that he is a perfect addition the team and a great asset to the board and our hobby.
congratulations :dance:
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Tony
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Great to have you on board Wombat. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful asset to the board and its members.
Congrats wombat - you deserve it :)
Congratulations Wombat! :thumbsup:
Dave
well done wombat
keep up the good work:thumbsup:
dark_stranger
25-05-07, 08:27
Just one question and a rather topical one, but what gender is Wombat? :D
Just one question and a rather topical one, but what gender is Wombat? :D
does it matter as i never ask and i am sure others do not ask when getting any advice, welcome Wombat. :applause:
An excellent addition to the team and well deserved.
Just one question and a rather topical one, but what gender is Wombat? :D
LMAO:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
A great choice. :) :)
ATB
great to have you official and all that :)
a true asset to the board if ever there was one, great stuff!
Great addition to the team.
well done wombat and thanks for all your help, are you northern?
gary smith
25-05-07, 12:23
i am pleased to hear this a very valuable member of the team :thumbsup: gary
:o Thank you all for your kind words I'm very flattered, and honoured, to have been asked
Great news wombat,can you tell us abit about you and your work?
Kev
Very good news - excellent addition to the board's team!!
Congrats wombat :thumbsup: :worship: :applause:
John
Wombat,
You say your moving to the states in September so does this mean then that your UR days will be over or are you going to log on and do the fish health from there, shame to lose you with all that experience. :confused: only problem i could see is the time difference.
instantsquid
25-05-07, 21:47
only problem i could see is the time difference.Fortunately, the internet carries on working when we go to bed.
Fortunately, the internet carries on working when we go to bed.
True but when people have sick fish they tend to want to get a quick answer all i mean by it is that any questions or answers could take over night as opposed to being relative quickly thats all. :thumbsup:
Most urgent questions tend to come to a head in the evening or late a night, so that would fit in well with US time. :)
Great news wombat,can you tell us a bit about you and your work?
Hi sure can
I’m 45, married, 2 dogs 3 cats and live in a small village in Aberdeenshire (Originally I’m from the London area). I had my first fish when I was 10 (goldfish from the fair of course), my first tropical’s when I was 14 and my first marines when I was 17. I’ve always been interested in fish diseases (I had a Saturday job at a tropical fish shop in the 70’s and we used to consolidate fish with other importers) I got good at looking after ill fish in the quarantine building and the rest is history, well not quite.
Originally I worked as a Med Lab Technical (MLSO) but went to university when I was 22 and read zoology (avoided marine biology like the plague, full of tree hugging bearded people with rucksacks who wanted to work with whales and dolphins, and that was just the girls!) did quite well so took a PhD in the physiology of freshwater animals in rivers affected by acid rain pollution in the lake district (more animal disease!). Then I had to get a job.
Fortunately I saw an advert for a fish health inspector in Aberdeen applied for it and didn’t get the post but somehow impressed the panel so much that a couple of months later the institute offered me a job as a research scientist on fish immunology. Now some 18 years later I’ve written about 115 scientific papers on fish health and disease contributed to two books in the field and numerous reports (sadly all specialised articles rather than reef targeted). I’m now head of the department looking after a team of 8 scientists and 4 PhD students researching fish diseases in Scotland. That will change this September as I’m going to take up a post in the USA as professor of aquaculture biology. So that will be a big change.
I’ve only the one reef tank at the moment which is pretty much in stasis at the moment pending its move to a chum’s down in Stirling later in the year. I spend my spare time worrying about my fish (sometimes you can know too much!), the state of English cricket and how we are going to move the contents of the house to the states!
Wombat,
You say your moving to the states in September so does this mean then that your UR days will be over or are you going to log on and do the fish health from there, shame to lose you with all that experience. :confused: only problem i could see is the time difference.
Nope I travel a lot anyway (I've posted on UR from Chile, Argentina, Africa, Texas and Canada in the last year) so all being well I shall contribute to UR from U Maine. It's only 5 hours difference where I'm going so it just means I'll log on at 13:00 rather than 09:30
Nope I travel a lot anyway (I've posted on UR from Chile, Argentina, Africa, Texas and Canada in the last year) so all being well I shall contribute to UR from U Maine. It's only 5 hours difference where I'm going so it just means I'll log on at 13:00 rather than 09:30
ok cool, as long as one of those Americans don't bribe you into there forums :p
ok cool, as long as one of those Americans don't bribe you into there forums :p
Don't worry they won't (I can't get my head around US gallons, ounces or fahrenheit any more, so I'd never get my doses right :laugh:)
urban_hippie
26-05-07, 15:59
[SIZE=2]
[SIZE=2] went to university when I was 22 and read zoology (avoided marine biology like the plague, full of tree hugging bearded people with rucksacks who wanted to work with whales and dolphins, and that was just the girls!)
Cheeky git:
A. I don't hug trees, i used to but they never give the love back, gets demoralising after a while.
B. I do have a beard and rucksacks ARE a very useful type of bag(keeps both arms free for hugging trees!)
C. I'd prefer to work with reef inhabitants, whales and dolphins get all the good press(just like Chelsea).
D. True the girls do have beards, but given my dwarven DNA, i kinda like it!
Any way, congrats for both getting on the board and your new post Stateside. (Wonder how you got the post, don't supposed you happen to know someone on the inside:p :p)
Anyway, i'm sure we will now have alot of the guess work of diagnosing our finned friends removed.
Cheers
P.S when you get stateside please remember that the rest of the world use proper measurements, normal, east to understand SI units, none of this inches/pounds/Fahrenheit folk lore!:laugh: :laugh:
whiterabbit93307
26-05-07, 22:30
A real asset to the UR team & never to busy to help. I thought he was a mod anyway :worship: :worship: :worship:
Just don't mention itch or garlic and everything will be fine :D
urban_hippie
26-05-07, 23:28
Just don't mention itch or garlic and everything will be fine :D
Tee hee, too true!
Just don't mention itch or garlic and everything will be fine :D
the red mist, the red mist............... must reach tablets......
oh great, official advisor for 5 minutes and you buggers have killed him, ah well, who's next :D
urban_hippie
27-05-07, 22:12
oh great, official advisor for 5 minutes and you buggers have killed him, ah well, who's next :D
Need to keep him on his toes!!
C. I'd prefer to work with reef inhabitants, whales and dolphins get all the good press(just like Chelsea).
I wanted to work with bats once but with Dracula as their PR man it was never going to work
Snowsurfer
29-05-07, 11:59
Congrats.... But no offense just hope i dont ever need your advice :)
Congrats.... But no offense just hope i dont ever need your advice :)
None taken, I know where you are coming from
triggerhappy
29-05-07, 14:57
Hi Wombat,
You helped me save my Raccoon Butterfly a while ago, the trouble is he went on to decimate my corals! He still is one of my favourite fish, and my main reason for changing my big tank to fish-only...you have a lot to answer for!!!
...seriously, thanks again for your help, and you are a great addition to to the UR Team.
Trig ;)
Good stuff, defo a credit to the site!
Hi Wombat,
You helped me save my Raccoon Butterfly a while ago, the trouble is he went on to decimate my corals! He still is one of my favourite fish, and my main reason for changing my big tank to fish-only...you have a lot to answer for!!!
...seriously, thanks again for your help, and you are a great addition to to the UR Team.
Trig ;)
Thanks for your kind comments and I'm glad the raccoon went from strength to strength (good to see the extra effort too in providing a natural diet!)
ChrisBFish
04-06-07, 08:47
Excellent news - congrats Wombat! And good on the team too for formalising what I'm sure many of us have looked on as an unofficial position! ;)
mattsilvester
25-06-07, 21:58
suffice to say you know a thing or two about fish disease then.......
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