From 1970 to 1973 Penny Standen spent a great deal of her time observing the behaviour of ducks. She became so fond of them – they were providing material for her PhD on ‘the organism in its natural environment’ – that they almost lured her away from an academic career in learning disabilities. She talked to Thelma Agnew

‘My ideal was to join the BBC wildlife unit, and I did some work for them. If I had pushed it I could probably have got a job but I was persuaded that it was not a good idea by my supervisor, because it would have been short term.’ Passing up the chance to be the next David Attenborough made her ‘quite sad’ she says, cheerfully.