After a resolute fight against cancer, David Mackay, a respected world leader in environmental conservation and protection, has died at the age of 86.
He was north region director of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) from the start of the agency in 1996 until his retiral, based in Dingwall.
Prior to that he was the director of the North East River Purification Board in Aberdeen. He also had a farm in the Huntly area.
After retiring as an officer of SEPA he became a board member of Scottish Natural Heritage and a member of the SEPA north regional board.
In addition, he was advising, and in some instances chairing, numerous influential environmental bodies including Moray Firth Partnership, the Scottish Association for Marine Science, the Scottish Coastal Forum and the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Forum.
National Service
David was born in Stirling in 1936 and after attending the local high school went on to university, studying chemistry, biology and civil engineering, with obligatory National Service in Germany with the Royal Air Force, necessitating a short career break.
He began his career as a fresh water biologist at Pitlochry, where he also met Maureen. It was here that he also recognised his love for biology.
He furthered his career with the Clyde River Purification Board (Clyde RPB), as a fresh water biologist, going on to develop expertise in the marine environment and heading up a multidisciplinary team to study the complex and heavily polluted waters of the River Clyde estuary.
Award
In 1970 he was awarded the prestigious Churchill Fellowship where he chose to study marine pollution issues and the regulatory regimes in the United States of America and Canada, which were to be the foundation for his subsequent international career.
Under the auspices of the World Health Organisation and various national governments, he spent the next few years conducting studies and presenting scientific papers all over the world, including, in Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Turkey, Thailand, Japan, India, Spain and Portugal.
Far East
David was promoted to depute director of the Clyde RPB in 1976. During that period he was permitted to take a three-year sabbatical to work for the Hong Kong government as to set up the colony’s new environment protection agency.
He returned to his native Scotland and Clyde RPB in 1981 but was lured back to Hong Kong to head up environmental services of the international consultancy of Ove Arup & Partners.
With his extensive experience in Scottish river authorities he was appointed to the position of director and river inspector at the North East River Purification Board in 1990.
Although outwardly an unpretentious person, his sincere, charismatic style, working with the staff and board members transformed the culture and made the organisation ready for a smooth change with the forthcoming establishment of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in 1996.
Aberdeenshire
In the early 1990s he purchased a hill farm in Aberdeenshire, which he developed with his wife, Maureen, to whom he was happily married for 43 years until her death in 2004.
They renovated the buildings and planted thousands of native tree species, turning it into a haven for wildlife.
During his time with SEPA, David’s experience and expertise in fish farming made him an obvious candidate to become visiting professor of aquatic environmental management at Stirling University.
Honoured with OBE by the Queen
Later in life he received a doctorate from Paisley University and was presented with an OBE by the Queen.
He was by no means merely a scientist; David was a keen angler, scuba diver, golfer, Rotarian as well as a farmer.
In assessing his own life, David would say he had been lucky to have led such a full and rich life but this belied his own enthusiastic and dynamic nature, always looking to the horizon and readying himself for the next challenge which he would meet with flair and determination.
His professional and private life touched many people who benefitted from his warmth and courtesy. He will be sadly missed by those who had the pleasure to have known him. David is survived by his second wife, Felicity, whom he married in 2016 and stepson Jay.
Conversation