Julie Fossitt obituary: Ecologist and staunch defender of Ireland’s natural heritage

Born: November 15, 1964

Died: August 7,2022

Dr Julie Fossitt, who has died following a long illness, was a highly respected expert in and passionate advocate for Ireland’s natural heritage. In her work as an ecologist for the National Parks and Wildlife Service in the west of Ireland, she fought ardently for the protection of nature, often using European legislation to back her case against strong vested interests for proposed developments. In 2021, she was made a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management in recognition of her contribution to ecology.

Dr Fossitt was the author of the landmark publication, A Guide to Habitats in Ireland (The Heritage Council, 2000) which transformed the approach used to identify, describe and classify Irish habitats by offering clear definitions and codes which became the standard references points in public inquiries and planning decisions for infrastructural or building developments. The book continues to be widely used in education, nature conservation and environmental assessment.

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Dr Fossitt was also an acclaimed palaeobotanist whose academic focus was the ancient timbers preserved in peat bogs. This investigative work into the composition of ancient vegetation was the subject of her doctorate at St John’s College, Cambridge University, and subsequent postdoctoral research with Professor Keith Bennett. She published several key papers on the vegetation history of Britain and Ireland

These include The Late Quarternary Vegetation History of the Western Isles of Scotland (New Phytologist, 1996) and The Late Glacial and Holocene Vegetation History of Western Donegal (1994, Royal Irish Academy).

The second of three children of farmer Roy and primary school teacher Lila Fossitt, Julie grew up in Walsh Island, Co Offaly where she had the freedom to explore the family farm and the adjacent Bog of Allen, Co Kildare. As an adult, she often returned to her family home and loved walking the bog, describing it as her favourite habitat.

Following her secondary school education at Drogheda Grammar School and Newtown School in Waterford City, Julie Fossitt went to Trinity College Dublin (TCD) to study natural sciences, specialising in botany. She graduated in 1987. From there, she went to St John’s College, Cambridge, for postgraduate studies and completed her doctorate and post-doctorate research there with Prof Keith Bennett in the Department of Geography.

Throughout both her secondary and third level education, she was a keen hockey player. Having been on the team at Newtown School to win the Kate Russell Cup (the All Ireland Schoolgirls Hockey Championships) in 1981, she went on to play hockey at TCD and was awarded a Cambridge Blue for competing at the highest level of hockey at that university.

‘Lone voice’

Following her return to Ireland, she worked for a time as an ecologist for Tipperary Co Council and was contracted by the Heritage Council to write A Guide to Habitats in Ireland.

Dr Fossitt then worked for Natura Consultants for a couple of years before taking up a position as an ecologist for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) based in Galway. She was happier protecting natural heritage sites than defending developers whose work might encroach on them.

She often represented the NPWS at oral hearings (public inquiries) into planning applications. And she was the key expert whose advice resulted in the refusal of the Galway City Outer Bypass following a European Court of Justice case in 2013.

“She was often a brave, lone voice to protect Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas under threat to public or private developments,” said one long-time associate.

Popular among her colleagues, she was rigorous and tenacious in her work, yet generous in sharing her deep understanding of environmental and planning legislation with voluntary naturalist groups, students and other ecologists.

She was an inveterate field worker at home in all landscapes and weathers. She walked many miles across some of the wildest landscapes on these islands, searching for suitable lochs and tree remains.

“She was very sociable and had a wicked sense of humour. She kept us all entertained and prevented us from taking ourselves too seriously,” said a colleague who accompanied her on many field trips. “She was an absolute legend – a force for nature and an inspiration to all her colleagues,” said another.

Outside of her work, Fossitt loved to travel, going on cycling trips around Ireland and Scotland and travelling to Zimbabwe, Canada, Alaska, South Africa and Chile, always exploring natural environments wherever she went.

Julie Fossitt is survived by her mother, Lila; her siblings, Sally and Andrew; her nieces and nephews, Sophie, Adam, Sam, Holly, Rachel, Matthew; her brother-in-law Hugh, sister-in-law Trish and her many friends and colleagues. Her father Roy predeceased her in 2021.