A genetics research company has celebrated its connection with “community exemplar” David Wingate, the conservationist who was part of the three-man team that rediscovered the cahow on a remote islet in Castle Harbour 74 years ago.

Carika Weldon, the founder of CariGenetics, said the naming of the business’s research lab after Mr Wingate in tandem with his 90th birthday tomorrow was fitting given its first environmental project, launched on his 87th birthday in 2022, had been the genetic sequencing of Bermuda’s endangered national bird.

Dr Weldon said Mr Wingate was “my Bermudian science mentor, and I am grateful to him for his work and the collaboration thus far”.

The endemic Bermuda petrel, or cahow — once an abundant seabird on the island — was thought extinct for centuries after human settlement pushed its population to the brink.

The team that rediscovered the cahow in January 1951 consisted of Mr Wingate, aged 15, with Louis Mowbray, a curator at the Bermuda Aquarium, and Robert Cushman Murphy, curator of birds from the American Museum of Natural History.

Mr Wingate went on to lead the cahow conservation programme, with grants from the New York Zoological Society and the Bermuda Government, and served as the government conservation officer from 1966 to 2000.

The tribute to his contributions was joined by the community group Imagine Bermuda, which called on the island to “join in celebrating this community exemplar, who has received recognition from home and abroad for his pioneering contribution”.

A statement added: “From early youth, David has accessed his personal agency, manifested his sense of wonder, regardless of peer pressure, and courageously overcome challenges.

“All this in tirelessly restoring an endangered species while laying an important foundation for us to sustain Bermuda’s delicate balance.”