Liverpool Hope University mourns the loss of a ‘gracious’ and ‘kind’ former colleague in Dr James Chubb, who has passed away this month.
Dr Chubb, known as ‘Jimmy’ to most, earned an international reputation for his work on the ecology of fish parasites, a subject which he helped to pioneer.
His field work centred on Llyn Tegid (the lake at Bala, North Wales, pictured above) and he was a highly-active researcher, publishing countless papers and particularly on the evolution of complex life cycles in ‘helminths’, or parasitic worms.
Dr Chubb was a fixture of zoological sciences at the University of Liverpool, where he taught parasitology to biology students and also tutored Zoology honours students in parasitology until his retirement in 2003.
He remained as a Research Associate at the University of Liverpool up until his death.
And for many years Dr Chubb was also a valued member of the Council of Liverpool Hope University, until he retired at age 80 some six years ago.
Professor Gerald Pillay, Vice-Chancellor and Rector at Hope, said: “Dr Chubb was a member of our University Council for many years - gracious, kind and always supportive during the early years of my vice-chancellorship.
“There are many who served on Council with him who will remember him fondly.”
Emeritus Professor Geoff Parker, of the University of Liverpool’s Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, described Dr Chubb as an ‘excellent colleague and friend’.
He said: “Many of his former colleagues will remember his calm, genial professionalism and meticulous care and reliability in everything he did, both in science and university administration. He will be very much missed by his family, friends, and former academic colleagues.
Professor Parker also added: “He was always very interested in - and very committed to - his work with Liverpool Hope University.”
Dr Chubb completed his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the former Zoology Department, Liverpool University, joining the staff in the late 1950s.
He became Head of Zoology in 1987, and after departmental restructuring, continued as Head of the former Department of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology in 1988-1990.