Dr David Cottle, a former professor in Animal Science, School of Environmental and Rural Science, passed away peacefully at Armidale Private Hospital on 17 December 2022.
David was born and grew up in North Sydney and completed his B.Sc. (Hons 1) in the School of Wool and Pastoral Sciences, UNSW in 1975 and his PhD in the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, UNE in 1982. He then taught courses on livestock and wool science at Charles Sturt University, Lincoln University (NZ) and UNSW. Between 1999 and 2002, he was the General Manager at Wool Research Organisation New Zealand. He returned to Armidale in 2003 as a professor in Sheep and Wool Science, CRC for Australian Sheep Industry. In 2006, he was appointed as the Associate Dean Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Arts and Sciences at UNE and as Professor of Animal Science in 2008. During this time, he undertook the role of the Deputy Chair of the Academic Board and developed the new Bachelor of Livestock Science degree, eventually retiring from UNE in 2017.
Over the 36 years of his career, he was awarded numerous research grants, authored a large number of publications and edited Australian Sheep and Wool Handbook (1991), International Sheep and Wool Handbook (2010) and Beef cattle: Production and Trade (2014). He was also the editor of the International Journal of Sheep and Wool Science and the International Journal, Wool Technology and Sheep Breeding.
David had three children, Bronwen, Emma and Nicholas. Throughout his life, he had a passion for tennis and loved gardening. After his retirement, his interests included playing the guitar, exercising at Sport UNE, bike riding, bushwalking at national parks around Armidale, participating in trivia nights and musical gigs with his partner Kiyomi. His life was full of interesting and challenging activities.
A memorial for David was held at Murrulla in Armidale amongst his beautiful rose and Japanese zen gardens on Sunday 8 January 2023.
