Dr. Colin Hudson was a British-born environmentalist and innovative scientist, who lived in Barbados. His acknowledgements were not only local but also international.

After studying agronomy at Cambridge University, he came to Barbados in 1961 to work in sugar cane agronomy. In 1968, he assumed permanent residence in Barbados and completed a prize-winning doctorate at the University of the West Indies, while working with Barbados’ highly acclaimed agriculturalist and biologist, the late Graham Gooding.

One of Hudson’s passions was hiking.  Dr. Colin Hudson died unexpectedly in 2004 aged 66 while preparing to lead his weekly “Stop ‘n’ Stare” early-morning hikes around Barbados to educate dozens of Bajans and visitors on local culture and environment.

The Great Train Hike was renamed The Colin Hudson Great Train Hike in 2004 to mark the valuable contribution Dr. Hudson made to thousands of people in Barbados and the world.

Among his many honours, Colin Hudson was presented with the Sir James Curry Memorial and Texaco Prize of the University of the West Indies.  He was one of the advisors to the United Nation’s environmental project, Greening Barbados and also Green Expo 2003.  From 1997 to 2004, he served on the National Commission on Sustainable Development, the body that supervised the production of the Barbados Sustainable Development Policy.

Through his innovations, Colin Hudson demonstrated that conservation and sustainable development were everyone’s responsibility and not just in the hand of an elite minority. He encouraged creativity in conservation and highlighted that it could often be achieved by simple means.