Biography of Hugh Bamford Cott

Hugh Bamford Cott (1900 - 1987), born in Ashby Magna, Leicestershire, was a zoologist, an authority on natural and military camouflage, and a talented scientific illustrator and photographer. A graduate of Selwyn College, Cambridge University (BA 1925), he earned a Doctor of Science degree at the University of Glasgow in 1938 under the supervision of John Graham Kerr. Cott completed his thesis in 1935, entitled, "The Problem of Adaptive Coloration with Special Reference to the Anura," with a Carnegie Fellowship.

Cott served with the British Army from c.1919, and during WWII served on the Camouflage Advisory Panel, before undertaking camouflage training at the Camouflage Development and Training Centre (CD&TC) at Farnham Castle in 1940, thereafter he served in Egypt during the Desert War and was Chief Instructor at the Middle East Camouflage School, and subsequently taught camouflage at the Mountain Warfare Training Centre in Lebanon.

He undertook numerous scientific field trips from South America to Africa. As well as his work on adaptive coloration, Cott also became widely known for his work on the Nile crocodile. Cott worked as a lecturer in Zoology at Bristol University, 1928-1932; at the University of Glasgow, 1932-1938; and Cambridge University, 1938-1967, and was a founding member of the Society of Wildlife Artists, and a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. After his retirement, he became a lecturer on Swan’s Big Game and Bird Safaris to East Africa.

Summary

Hugh Bamford Cott
Zoologist
Born 6 July 1900, Ashby Magna, Leicestershire, UK.
Died 18 April 1987.
University Link: Alumnus
GU Degree: DSc, 1935;
Occupation categories: zoologists
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Record last updated: 3rd Jun 2015

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• Alumnus

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Hugh B. Cott