I’m thrilled to have been accepted at the University of Cambridge, Earth Sciences Department, to undertake a PhD in bird evolution. To get here, I've followed my lifelong passion for birds on an eventful journey from art to science. The desire to study in depth, to observe, question, and follow these questions through to their conclusions, has been ever-present. As I’m committed to completing the new edition of my illustrated book The Unfeathered Bird  I’ll be doing the PhD part-time. I’m yearning to just immerse myself in birds and enjoy the synergy of working on book and PhD simultaneously! Unfortunately, I’ve been disappointed to discover there are virtually no funding opportunities for mature part-time students and, having come so far, I’m determined to try to raise the college fees myself rather than turn down my place. I'll be contributing myself, of course, and I’ve already received one generous donation, but still need to prove that I can pay an additional £16,000 by the end of July, in order to have my place confirmed for the 5+ years of study. Each year’s fees are £5306.  Why Cambridge? Cambridge fees are admittedly among the highest of any UK institution, and I didn’t choose this university for its kudos, or out of personal ambition. Daniel Field’s vertebrate palaeontology lab at Cambridge is THE place to study bird origins! There’s simply nowhere else where I would be able to gain so much, and where my knowledge would likewise be of greater value - Daniel and his team want me there nearly as much as I want to be there myself! The opportunity to study and discuss birds and their evolution in such an intellectually stimulating environment, and having access to state-of-the-art facilities, is really something worth fighting for. Below are before-and-after illustrations I produced reconstructing the skull of Asteriornis - nicknamed the 'wonderchicken' - the lab's groundbreaking discovery of the oldest known modern bird. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/57106725_162246455175323_r.jpeg" alt="57106725_162246455175323_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /><img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/57106725_1622464611595528_r.jpeg" alt="57106725_1622464611595528_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> What’s the subject? My PhD proposal is about an iconic group of extinct seabirds known as pelagornithids, or pseudo-toothed birds. They were unlike any bird before or since. Their huge bill was furnished with serrated bony ‘teeth’ like lobster claws, and some species had a wingspan of over 6m making them the largest flying birds the world has ever seen! They were the predominant seabirds worldwide for over 55 million years, yet we still don’t know exactly what they were or how they lived. Studying them won’t only reveal new information about these birds, but also about the modern bird groups I’ll be comparing them with, and may even shed light on the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems. (Temporary image Copyright of The Skullsite. One of my own illustrations to follow shortly...) <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/57106725_162247115514813_r.jpeg" alt="57106725_162247115514813_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> I hope to also research some other bird-related lines of enquiry while I’m there, and have many unanswered questions I’m itching to follow up on! Why me? Being self-taught in science, I’m anticipating a steep learning curve; especially initially as I get to grips with academic methods and terminology. However, it also has many advantages... Not knowing the ‘right’ questions to ask, I’ve had to learn directly from observations of nature and to think ‘outside the box’ . This can be a real asset; especially in palaeontology, where there are so many unknowns. Without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I'm probably a 'good investment': I have a vast amount of first-hand knowledge of the anatomy and behaviour of a wide variety of bird groups. I’m a former curator of bird collections at the British Natural History Museum, I’ve written and illustrated several books on anatomy and evolution (see book cover images below), and deliver lots of public engagement events. The new edition of The Unfeathered Bird will be published by Princeton University Press mid-way through my PhD. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/57106725_1622464765781773_r.jpeg" alt="57106725_1622464765781773_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> As an older woman with no formal scientific training, crossing the arts-science divide and reaching the threshold of Cambridge, I'm aware that my story is an inspirational one. I hope that this would demonstrate to others that anything is attainable through passion and hard work, and (with a nod to The Beatles) 'a little help from our friends'. Other ways to help Not everyone will be able to, or wish to, help financially, but there are other ways you can contribute too. Spreading the word to friends and relatives, through the media, or through specialist groups would all be invaluable, and very much appreciated. You could book me to give a talk to your society, or to contribute an article for your magazine. Finally I'd like you to know that I don't ask this lightly. I would have much preferred to have received funding through a university scholarship, simply because I hate to be a burden on my friends. This really is my last chance.  A million thanks.

Beth Windle

Jason Jong

Paul Barber

Anonymous

Peter Wilkinson

Martin Stephenson

Jason Samways

Giuseppe B Micali

Annette Groom

Andrew Howes

Fossil Birds @ Cambridge: help fund Katrina's PhD

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