Wild_About_Fishing_About, Biography, Robert MacDougall-Davis

About me...

Amongst other things I am an angling writer, photographer and adventure fly fisherman. I have an unwavering passion for wildlife and angling and spend most of my free time on the water. I have always had a deep rooted interest in wildlife and the natural world which is reflected through my academic and creative writing and my recent work as a story developer on BBC Springwatch. Above all I love to share this enthusiasm and passion for angling and the natural world with other people which is why this website came to fruition.

Scientific and academic background

In June 2007 I graduated with a degree in Environmental Biology (BSc First Class Honours)) from Oxford Brookes University, winning the national ‘Institute of Biology Top Bioscience Student Award’ as well as the ‘Best Undergraduate Piece of Independent Research Award’. My first books on wildlife, the environment and fly fishing are underway.

Combining my scientific knowledge with writing

My scientific and ecological background, combined with my extensive knowledge of natural history, have given me a concrete understanding of the science that underpins the natural world and the current environmental context of life on earth. I love combining my scientific knowledge with creative writing and storytelling. I am a regular contributor to the angling press and have numerous feature articles published in major consumer magazines such as Fly Fishing and Fly Tying, Trout and Salmon and Fish Wild online for whom I write about wildlife, ecology and wilderness fly fishing adventures. Many of my angling and wildlife photographs are published alongside my writing and I have exhibited my photographs in Oxford, UK.

Travel and inspiration

I have been lucky enough to travel all over the world visiting many wonderful places including Peru, Chile, North America and Australasia. My travels, combined with the people I have met along the way have provided me with an abundance of inspiration for my writing. In 2007 I was short-listed in the ‘BBC Wildlife Travel Writing Awards’ for a piece I wrote on Hebridean otters.

Future

My current objective is to pursue a career that combines my unbridled passion for the natural world with my scientific knowledge, story telling ability and love of writing. At present I am focussing on wildlife photography and two angling books called Trout Diaries and Fishing in Paradise. I'm also writing a children's wildlife story, inspired by Kenneth Graham's Wind in the Willows, titled, The Wind in the Rushes.