Toby Keswick's Curriculum Vitae

Toby Keswick

Born

2nd September 1968

Passport

British

E-mail

Toby Keswick began his white shark research career in 2000 when he travelled to the Farallon Islands to assist in satellite tracking white sharks under the guidance of Peter Pyle. Continuing his shark research in South Africa, Toby teamed up with Ryan Johnson at Gansbaai in 2002 to conduct observations on commercial cage diving operators, investigating the impact of cage diving on the behaviour of white sharks. His research career continued to involve white sharks, whilst simultaneously diversifying into reptile research for his masters and doctorate degrees where he is honing his ability to track animals using the latest technologies and analytical techniques.

Education

  • Eton College, Windsor, UK
  • University of Western Cape, RSA

Qualifications

  • 9 'O' Levels
  • 3 'A' Levels (‘D’ English Literature, ‘C’ Theology, ‘C’ History of Art)
  • SFA Registered Securities Representative
  • BSc (Hons) cum laude, Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

Career

January 2006

MSc at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Thesis entitled “The morphology and ecology of the Kalahari Tent Tortoise (Psammobate oculiferus)

February – May 2005

Carried out fieldwork for the Below Ground Processes Experiment (University of Minnesota, affiliated with University of Cape Town). Involved taking soil and grass samples in Kruger National and Huhluwe & Imfolozi Parks (South Africa) for nutrient analysis. Volunteer work on Cheetah photographic census in Kruger (for the Endangered Wild Life Trust and Scientific Services) identifying and cataloguing cheetah photographs.

January 2005

Writing up my honours project (first author) on sexual disparity in activity patterns of the angulate tortoise on Dassen Island, submitted to African Zoology.

January – December 2004

Completed (cum laude) a BSc (hons.) degree in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at University of the Western Cape.

March – December 2003

Worked in Gansbaai with Ryan Johnson on a white shark observer programme conducted from the commercial dive operators’ boats. Work involved recording: daily environmental conditions, approximate shark length, identification of individual sharks as they appeared at the boat and temporal behaviour of shark around dive boats. I also ran the programme for two months when Ryan Johnson was absent.

Participated in an expedition to Port Elizabeth run by Ryan Johnson and Nick Coetzee (a private yacht owner) as part of a feasibility study on the possibility of starting commercial (white shark) cage diving operations off Bird Island.

Worked as a volunteer on the MCM boat, ‘Algoa’ in Mossel Bay. MCM (Mike Meyer) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (Dr Ramon Bonfil) ran the expedition. The primary purpose was to catch white sharks in order to attach satellite receivers to their dorsal fins to facilitate tracking of individuals. My main task was to identify and record the sharks appearing at the boat and to assist in the catching of the sharks. Acknowledged in resulting paper in the journal, Science: Transoceanic Migration, Spatial Dynamics and Population Linkages of White Sharks. 2005. Bonfil et al

January 2003

Worked on a project analysing the effects of different burning regimes on trees in Kruger National Park. Included identifying, measuring and counting different tree species within specific plots. This is an ongoing project governed by Professor William Bond at UCT.

February 2001 to December 2002

BSc (Occasional) Zoology at University of Cape Town.

Subjects passed: BIO100F, BIO104F, ZOO200F, BIO200F, BOT206F, and BOT207S

April 2000 to January 2001

Financed the satellite tagging of a white shark and helped with ongoing studies (which started in 1968) with Peter Pyle on the Farallon Islands off California.

Wrote feature article on the Farallon Islands trip for Shark Focus (the monthly magazine of the UK based charity, The Shark Trust who are affiliated to the European Elasmobranch Association).

February 1994 to April 2000

Worked in Shipping Division (Manager, November 1995) at Hambros Bank Limited (Societe Generale as from 28th February, 1998)

September 1991 to February 1994

Worked at Stillwater Marine as part of a team of three people commercially operating 5 panamax bulkcarriers on behalf of Ermis Maritime (part of the Alafouzos Group) in Greece.

January 1989 to September 1991

Worked in the box office at Arsenal Football Club as part of a ticket sales/administration team.

Other Interests

Country pursuits fly fishing, the natural world, diving (NAUI advanced), reading, cinema, football.