Dr. Fred Ming has been appointed Director of the Department for Environmental Protection.

The former environmental campaigner has returned to his native Bermuda after years of academic work in the US, where he taught Environmental Impacts and Biological Methods as Assistant Professor at Mercer University, Atlanta.

Dr. Ming achieved his Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree from the University of Ottawa and his Master's degree in fish ecology (1977) at the University of Guelph. He then went on to study for a PhD at the University of British Columbia, where he worked with the Faculty of Agriculture and Department of Biology. Dr. Ming was also Vice President for Development and Resources at the Bermuda College in the 1990s before his departure for the US in 1998.

Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield said: "Along with his academic qualifications, Dr. Ming brings a wealth of experience both locally and internationally. Dr. Ming is a Sir John Cox scholar and worked as an American Friends Fellow at what was then known as the Bermuda Biological Station for Research.

"He worked with the Prince Rupert Fisheries Cooperative Association as well as Euros Canada, a Swedish company which took him to Latin America, North America and Western Europe."

Ms Butterfield said: "We are very fortunate to have a man with Dr. Ming's academic qualifications and experience at the helm of this important Department, and I want to take this opportunity to welcome him home and wish him every success in his new post."

Dr. Ming told a press conference yesterday: "It is great to be back home. In Atlanta I was surrounded by a sea of people rather than a sea of fish. I missed the ocean. My first love is the ocean.

"The work of the Department covers everything from the control of dogs and other feral animals, through to environmental hazards such as heavy metals, and other threats which are part of everyday life, and which we progressively need to get more of a handle on and channel into the right places, so they are no longer a threat to the environment and to our children and grandchildren.

"I think I've got a very good team, and we also work with BIOS quite closely.

"I've been trying to restore that relationship to make it the most productive it can be for the people of Bermuda.

"My approach is to manage the processes and to bring in knowledge and skills, whether this is from outside consultants or from our own staff."

Years ago, Dr. Ming played his own personal role in Bermuda's environmental movement — joining Stuart Hayward in protesting the construction of a brewery by a European company on the Island.

"Part of it was to let the effluent water go into the Great Sound," he said.

"I was part of the 'No Brewery Coalition' which combined forces with temperance societies and stopped the construction.

"I did however pay a price for that and the office (as Director) today reminds me of the price I paid. In those early days, this kind of activism for the environment was not such a good thing, so I'm happy to see we have gone beyond that now and that activism is a good thing, done in the right way of course."

Dr. Ming says one of his immediate challenges will be waste management, with the goal of creating "a comprehensive waste management plan for Bermuda".

"But we are working on a number of projects, such as the expansion of Belco, Tynes Bay, and the challenges at the airport dump," he said.

"Then there's legislative changes, such as control of dogs and the Veterinary Practitioners' Act, and so on."

It is estimated that for every resident in Bermuda, a tonne of garbage is disposed of each year, making the Island one of the world's highest producers of trash, with a higher per capita rate than even New York.

Speaking on the issue of waste control, Dr. Ming said: "I think education is a big part of it.

"I don't think a department such as ours can do it alone.

"I think part of our job is to engage our community, in particular the children.

"They're the next generation who will inherit what we are doing right now.

"I think we all have a responsibility to educate young people about their environment.

"We need to personalise it — to show people how their actions will ultimately impact on them and on their family."