In Memoriam

Alan Martin Wilson (1964 – 2026)

Neil Thomas Oakman (1963 – 2026)

It is with heavy hearts that we remember and honour two remarkable Gobabeb associates and friends who tragically lost their lives last week while conducting aerial observations of oryx in the Namib Sand Sea.

• Professor Alan Wilson was a veterinarian and Professor of Locomotor Biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), University of London, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. A leading academic, he was globally renowned for his contributions to biomechanics and high-performance locomotion in both animals and humans. His current research interest in the Namib was a continuation of previous work in Botswana on locomotion, hunting and habitat use in large African carnivores and their prey. 
  
  
• Neil Oakman was an accomplished airline pilot and trainer of commercial pilots for Ryanair in the United Kingdom. As a Light Aircraft Association Inspector in the UK, Neil complied to the highest standards of safety, airworthiness and reliability. When not offering his flying skills for the benefit of science and conservation, Neil’s passion was flying vintage aircraft, including WWII Hurricanes and Spitfires.
  
  

Alan was leading a collaborative research project between RVC, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, and Gobabeb. The project sought to better understand the complex anatomy, physiology, and behaviour of dune-dwelling oryx. These animals are uniquely adapted to survive with limited resources in one of the world’s most extreme environments.

The team was recording the detailed movements of wild, free-ranging animals without disturbing them, using a specially modified research aircraft for aerial surveys and data acquisition. Together with electronics and software engineer John Lowe, they had developed and deployed novel wildlife collars equipped with GPS and on-board sensor systems to provide new insights into oryx locomotion, movement patterns, and behaviour.

Alan and Neil were not only leaders in their respective fields, but also passionate explorers who cared deeply about the landscapes and wildlife they worked so hard to understand. Field research in places like the Namib calls for courage, patience, and an enduring sense of wonder -qualities they embodied in abundance, and that made us admire and appreciate them all the more.

Gobabeb staff who had the privilege of working alongside them will remember their warmth, their quirky sense of humour, their curiosity, their generosity in sharing knowledge, and their infectious excitement that accompanied discovery. Their work mattered, and so did the way they approached it - with humility, determination, respect, and a great sense of fun.

The loss of these two lives is profound, and they leave behind a void that cannot easily be filled. Our thoughts are with their families, loved ones, and all members of the research, academic, and aviation communities who are grieving this tragedy.

Gobabeb will never forget you, Alan and Neil. We shall speak your names often. We shall see you always in the wide, open, blue skies of the Namib that you loved so much.

Alan Wilson and Neil Oakman