Tristan's Director of Fisheries James Glass has been awarded an MSc by Cape Peninsula University of Technology, becoming the first islander to be awarded a university degree.

James Glass awarded M.Sc., 2014

First Resident Tristan Islander to be awarded a University Degree: and it’s a Masters!

Report from Iris Green

M.Sc on the subject of :
The Fishery and Biology of the Rock Lobster Jasus Tristani at the Tristan da Cunha Island Group.

We are delighted to announce that Tristan's Director of Fisheries James Glass has achieved an M.Sc (Master of Science) awarded by the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa.

The community of Tristan is very proud of this great achievement by a fellow islander.

 
Tristan Administrator Alex Mitham said:

'It gives me immense pleasure to congratulate James Glass on the successful completion of his MSc degree,
which is an excellent achievement.

While the Island Council Chamber holds many different awards and documents about Tristan from people around the world,
it will be great to see James’s thesis sitting proudly in that room.
A real Tristanian achievement, detailing such an important Tristan subject - the local Tristan Rock Lobster,
which is so vital to the community’s existence.

It is a cliché but the best of all things is to learn: money can be stolen, strength may fail,
but what you have learned (and achieved) is yours forever. Congratulations James!'

James with Tristan's MSC Certificate awarded in 2011

 

James at a MSC Exhibition
in Cape Town
2010

For more
on James' involvement
with Tristan's MSC
application see
MSC Award Page

James first went to sea on the 5th September 1976 as a fishery observer, and has been working with fisheries for the past 37 years. He trained at the Sea Fisheries Research Institute in South Africa in 1984, worked for the Fisheries Department in the Falklands between 1991-1993, and went to the North Atlantic Fisheries College, Scalloway, Shetland Islands in 1997 -1998, where he received a HNC in Fisheries Science and Technology. In 2007 as part of a OTEP Marine project on Tristan he was asked if he would submit all his fisheries data to a student at the University of Cape Town, for him to study for a M.Sc, which he was reluctant to do, as so much of his data has been written into scientific papers to which he has not been acknowledge, so decided to do it himself.

James graduated on Friday 19th September but unfortunately he couldn't be in South Africa to attend the graduation celebration due to shipping and other commitments, so he arranged for it to be collected by his supervisor Dr Conrad Sparks. James will receive his certificate and copies of his Thesis in November, when the next vessel arrives from Cape Town.

James is also a Lay Minister at St Joseph's Catholic Church
Photos show him performing duties at a Mothering Sunday service in 2012 and at a 2008 wedding.

James Glass Chief Islander
James Glass was elected as Chief Islander for three consecutive terms
1994-1997, 1997-2000 and 2000-2003