Stella Turk MBE, a naturalist, author and wildlife recorder passed away recently, after a lifetime of work studying and assisting wildlife.
She sadly passed away at the age of 92 on April 3, 2017, but not before leaving a lasting impact on the county.
She was passionate about wildlife, and instrumental in setting up the Cornwall Biological Records Unit - and even oversaw digitising the paper record, something unheard of at the time.
Thanks to Stella's tireless work the database now holds over six million records, and provides vital information to scientists and researchers, managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
Stella first declared her love for wildlife after watching a small fish change colour in a rock pool when she was just seven years old.
Captivated by nature from an early age, Stella went on to pioneer biological recording and despite her gentle nature, campaign tirelessly for the protection of Cornwall's wildlife.
In her own words Stella worked "just for the love of studying wildlife."
In Shang-ri La, her small cottage near Camborne in West Cornwall, she was surrounded by boxes with labels such as “echinoderms, “brachiopods” and “flotsam & jetsam coelenterates".
In 1990 Stella assembled a team of volunteers to record in detail the dolphins stranding on the coast at that time.
This turned out to be as a result of accidental capture in fishing gear and the findings lead on to observers on fishing boats and changes in fishery regulations.
The team is now Cornwall Wildlife Trust's Marine Strandings Network, and is highly respected in the UK and Europe.
Nick Tregenza, Cornwall Wildlife Trust vice president, said: “Stella was an absolute gem. She did ground-breaking work, but she was totally unassuming, and had time for anyone.
"She inspired so many with her love of the natural world, and her careful recording of it.
"She will be greatly missed but we can be very glad that much of her work lives on.”
Stella was also a fan of poetry, and below is a poem she wrote in 2003 named Astonishment.
It can't be me
With an MBE
I don't recognize
Me in this guise.
My Stella Turk
Enjoys her work
And expects no award
As the work is reward.
Cornish natural history
Freshwater, land and sea
Fills my years and months and days
Yet still has mystery.
Each record has a written word, a human voice, a human face
Peopling my life through time as well as over space.
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