Conservation philanthropy often favors urgency: campaigns, deadlines, the language of crisis. A smaller group of donors has worked differently, treating environmental protection as a problem of capacity and continuity. They funded people more than projects, institutions more than moments. Their influence is easier to trace over decades than in headlines. That approach shaped parts of Canadian conservation research from the late 20th century onward. At several universities, sustained support expanded research in fisheries, coastal systems, and ecosystems beyond the demands of any single problem. Fellowships were designed to steady young scientists at a point when many left the field. Land was conserved with an eye to permanence, a practical concern in ecology. Richard Frederick Bradshaw, known as Dick Bradshaw, who died in December 2025, belonged firmly to that tradition. His public career began in finance. After joining the founding team of Phillips, Hager & North in the 1960s, he spent decades helping build one of Canada’s most respected investment firms, eventually serving as its president, chief executive, and board chair. That background gave him resources and credibility, but it did not dictate how he used them. Bradshaw’s interest in conservation was practical and persistent. An avid fisherman, he paid close attention to the decline of salmon runs that had once seemed inexhaustible. With his wife, Val, he began funding environmental research at universities, endowing chairs at McGill, the University of Victoria, and Simon Fraser University. The gifts were not tied to single outcomes or short funding cycles. They were meant…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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