Bequest Testimonial: Dr Chris Murray

^{Dr Chris Murray (left) and Dr Andrew Weeks, Senior Research Fellow, School of BioSciences. Photograph by Bec Walton}

“Dentistry has been a fantastic profession but I think, if there had been environmental science when I was at university, I probably would have chosen to study that. I’ve always been interested in the environment, and birds especially.

Loss of biodiversity is one of the great tragedies of our generation and our civilisation.

You look at the dwindling populations of endangered species around the globe… And it’s not just climate change; it’s the destruction of their habitats and the total lack of awareness from people of what they’re doing to the world. It's the environment that pays the price.

I’ve been really happy to contribute to dentistry through my professional career, but now I hope to make a difference by supporting restoration ecology and environmental research, because it’s an area I’ve always cared about.

My hope is that supporting a project or researcher at the University will make a difference by helping to arrest  the environmental decline of a number of species. I want my gift to be productive, both practically and in terms of improving the future.

There should be some passion involved in giving so that it is personal. I have been immersed in my working life as a prosthodontist, my chosen profession, for decades, but now preserving our natural environment for future generations is my dream for those who will follow. The University shares that passion, too.”