John Lawton (biologist)

Sir John Hartley Lawton CBE FRS (born 24 September 1943) is a British ecologist, RSPB Vice President, President (former Chair) of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust,[1] President of The Institution of Environmental Sciences,[2] Chairman of York Museums Trust[3] and President of the York Ornithological Club.

Sir

John Lawton
Born (1943-09-24) 24 September 1943
CitizenshipBritish
Alma materUniversity of Durham
AwardsKempe Award for Distinguished Ecologists (1998)
Frink Medal (1998)
Marsh Ecology Award (1996)
Japan Prize (2004)
RSPB Medal
Scientific career
FieldsZoology/Ecology
InstitutionsUniversity of York
York Museums Trust

He has previously been a trustee of WWF UK[1] and head of Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and was the last chair of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.[1][4] In October 2011, he was awarded the RSPB Medal.[1]

Early life

As a child, Lawton was a member of the Young Ornithologists’ Club,[1] and later helped run the RSPB Members’ Group in York.[1] In his youth, he volunteered for the RSPB's Operation Osprey at Loch Garten.[1]

Career

Lawton studied at the University of Durham, completing a Bachelor of Science in Zoology[5] followed by a PhD in 1969.[6] He belonged to University College.[5] Lawton was Demonstrator in Ecology in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford from 1968, moving to the University of York in 1971.[4] He was awarded a Personal Chair at York in 1985. He founded, and was the first Director of, the NERC Centre for Population Biology at Imperial College, Silwood Park.

In October 1999, he was appointed the Chief Executive of NERC, retaining an honorary professorship at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. Following his retirement from NERC in March 2005, he was appointed Chairman of the Royal Commission on Environment Pollution from 1 April 2005,[7] and was reappointed for a second three-year term in 2008.

His interests have focused on the population dynamics and biodiversity of birds and insects, with emphasis over the last decade on the impacts of global environmental change on wild plants and animals. He was instrumental in establishing The Royal Society for the Protection of Bird's strategy for protecting landscapes. He has made major contributions to environmental NGOs, including a five-year period as Chairman of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and a trustee of WWF-UK.[4]

He shared the Japan Prize for Science and Technology for Conservation of Biodiversity in 2004 "for observational, experimental and theoretical achievements for the scientific understanding and conservation of Biodiversity".

In 2009 he published an official review of the Meteorological Office's Hadley Centre.

In 2010 he reported an official review of England's protected areas, published as Making Space for Nature.[8]

Lawton has been outspoken on the issue of global warming and is reported to have said, in the context of Hurricane Katrina:

The increased intensity of these kinds of extreme storms is very likely to be due to global warming… If this makes the climate loonies in the States realize we've got a problem, some good will come out of a truly awful situation.[9]

On 2 November 2019, he appeared on the podcast Trees A Crowd with David Oakes.[10]

Honours and awards
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References
  1. Avery, Mark (10 October 2011). "Top scientist slams government". Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  3. "Trustees". York Museums Trust. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  4. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) website Archived 23 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Lawton, Sir John (Hartley), (born 24 Sept. 1943)". UK Who's Who. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  6. Profile at Advanced Biology Archived 30 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution Archived 24 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Making Space for Nature" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  9. Clover, Charles; Highfield, Roger (23 September 2005). "Wake-up call for US 'climate loonies'". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  10. Trees A Crowd
  11. "2006. John Lawton".
  12. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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