John Beddington

Sir John Rex Beddington CMG FRS FRSE HonFREng[2] (born 13 October 1945)[1] is a British population biologist and Senior Adviser at the Oxford Martin School, and was previously Professor of Applied Population Biology at Imperial College London, and the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2008 until 2013.[3][4][5]

Sir

John Beddington
Born
John Rex Beddington

(1945-10-13) 13 October 1945[1]
NationalityBritish
Alma materLondon School of Economics (undergraduate)
University of Edinburgh (postgraduate)
Known forSustainable management of renewable resources
Government Chief Scientific Adviser (2008–2013)
Spouses
Sarah West
​
​
(m. 1968; div. 1972)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1973; div. 1979)​
      Caroline Hiller
      ​
      (m. 1990)​
      AwardsFellow of the Royal Society (2001)
      Knight Bachelor (2010)
      Order of St Michael and St George (2004)
      Honorary FREng[2] (2012)[1]
      Scientific career
      FieldsPopulation biology
      InstitutionsOxford Martin School
      Imperial College London
      University of York
      University of Edinburgh
      ThesisThe exploitation of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) in Scotland.
      Websiteoxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/people/525

      Education

      Beddington was educated at Monmouth School in south-east Wales, close to the English border.[6] He then attended the London School of Economics, gaining a BSc degree in economics in 1967, and later an MSc degree in 1968.[7] In 1973 he was awarded a PhD degree from the University of Edinburgh.[8]

      Research and career

      Beddington's research applies biology and economics to the sustainable management of natural resources.[9]

      From 1968 to 1971 Beddington was a research assistant at the University of Edinburgh. From 1971 to 1984 he was a lecturer in population biology at the University of York.[1]

      Oxford Martin School

      Beddington was part of the Oxford Martin School from May 2013 until 2018. He served as the senior advisor to Professor Ian Goldin, the School's Director. The Oxford Martin School is made up of a community of more than 200 researchers, working to address the most pressing global challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

      Imperial College London

      Beddington joined Imperial in 1984, was promoted to Reader in 1987[10] and was appointed Professor of Applied Population Biology there in 1991.

      Beddington has been a specialist in the economics and biology of sustainable management of renewable resources, and has previously advised UK ministers on scientific and environmental issues. He has chaired the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' science advisory panel and the Defence Scientific Advisory Committee, and is a member of the Natural Environmental Research Council.[11] He has also advised the European Commission and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

      Chief Scientific Adviser

      On 1 October 2007, it was announced by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown that Beddington would succeed Professor Sir David King as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government with effect from 1 January 2008.[12] His annual remuneration for this role was £165,000.[13] Beddington was closely involved in helping the British government formulate its response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster,[14] the eruptions of Icelandic volcanoes and ash dieback disease in the UK.[5][15] In March 2009 Beddington addressed the Sustainable Development UK conference warning that the world faced a "perfect storm" involving food shortages, scarce water and insufficient energy resources. These, he explained, would threaten to led to public unrest and territorial disputes. Mass migration from the worst-affected regions would occur as people flee for more sustainable regions.[16] "We head into a perfect storm in 2030, because all of these things are operating on the same time frame," he argued.[16] In June 2023 a group of climate scientists argued that they saw this as "prescient".[17]

      Successor

      In April 2013 Beddington was succeeded by Mark Walport.[18][19]

      Awards and honours

      Professor Beddington was awarded the Heidelberg Award for Environmental Excellence in June 1997, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001[20] and was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004, in recognition of his services to fisheries science and management.[21] He was also appointed a Honorary Fellow[2] of the Royal Academy of Engineering[2] in 2012 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh[22] in 2011.

      In July 2014, he was recognised by the Government of Japan for his contributions to strengthening the co-operation between Japan and the UK in the areas of science and technology.[23]

      Personal life

      Beddington was knighted in the 2010 Birthday Honours.[24] He was married to Sarah West from 1968 until their divorce in 1972. They have one son. In 1973, he married social policy professor Sally Baldwin. They divorced in 1979, and have one daughter, Emma Beddington, journalist at The Guardian. He married his current spouse, Caroline Hiller, in 1990.[1]

      References
      1. "BEDDINGTON, Sir John (Rex)" (Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press).
      2. "List of Fellows – Royal Academy of Engineering". Raeng.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
      3. McGourty, Christine (19 March 2009). "Global crisis 'to strike by 2030' chief scientist John Beddington has warned". BBC News.
      4. "Prof Sir John Beddington warns of floods, droughts and storms – BBC News". BBC. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
      5. "John Beddington: The science and art of effective advice | guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. London. 4 April 2013.
      6. "Monmouth School Alumni". Archived from the original on 10 March 2012.
      7. "DOD's Civil Service Companion 2009–10, 8th edition". viewer.zmags.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
      8. Beddington, John Rex (1973). The Exploitation of Red Deer (Cervus Elaphus L.) in Scotland (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh.
      9. "John Beddington". The Royal Society. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
      10. "Home – Professor Sir John Beddington". Imperial College London. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
      11. "Honors and awards - J. Beddington". Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
      12. "New Government Chief Scientific Adviser announced". HM Government. 1 October 2007. Archived from the original on 5 October 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
      13. "Top civil servant salary list published". Directgov. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
      14. Grimes, Robin (16 June 2014). "The UK Response to Fukushima and Anglo-Japanese Relations". Science & Diplomacy. 3 (2).
      15. "In praise of … John Beddington | The Guardian, Editorial Tuesday 26 March 2013". London. 26 March 2013.
      16. Sample, Ian; correspondent, science (2009). "World faces 'perfect storm' of problems by 2030, chief scientist to warn". The Guardian. No. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
      17. Willcock, Simon; Cooper, Gregory S.; Addy, John; Dearing, John A. (2023). "Earlier collapse of Anthropocene ecosystems driven by multiple faster and noisier drivers". Nature Sustainability. Springer Nature Limited. doi:10.1038/s41893-023-01157-x. S2CID 259238314.
      18. Callaway, E. (2012). "Britain names next chief science adviser: Immunologist Mark Walport, head of one of the world's largest biomedical charities, will take on role in 2013". Nature. 487 (7405): 20. doi:10.1038/487020a. PMID 22763530.
      19. Anon (2012). "Good advice: The UK government's latest appointment offers hope for British science". Nature. 487 (7405): 5–6. doi:10.1038/487005b. PMID 22763508.
      20. "Royal Society Fellows 1660-date". London: The Royal Society. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
      21. May, R. M.; Beddington, J. R.; Clark, C. W.; Holt, S. J.; Laws, R. M. (1979). "Management of Multispecies Fisheries". Science. 205 (4403): 267–277. Bibcode:1979Sci...205..267M. doi:10.1126/science.205.4403.267. PMID 17747032. S2CID 36710281.
      22. "Sir John Rex Beddington KB CMG HonFREng FRS FRSE - The Royal Society of Edinburgh". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
      23. "Japanese honour for Sir John Beddington | Oxford Martin School". University of Oxford. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
      24. "No. 59446". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 2010. p. 1.
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