Martin Holdgate

Sir Martin Wyatt Holdgate CB (born 14 January 1931 in Horsham, England) is an English biologist and environmental scientist.

Early life

Holdgate was born in Horsham, England on 14 January 1931, grew up in Blackpool,[1] and was educated at Arnold School. He then attended Cambridge University as an undergraduate at Queens' College, Cambridge from 1949, graduating in 1952 with degrees in zoology and botany[2] and subsequently a doctorate in insect physiology.[1]

Career

He taught at Manchester University, Durham University and Cambridge, as well as undertaking expeditions to Tristan da Cunha, south-west Chile and the Antarctic.[1] He was Chief Biologist to the British Antarctic Survey, then research director of the Nature Conservancy Council and, for eighteen years, Chief Scientist and head of research at the Department of the Environment.[1] Subsequently, he was Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[1]

After his formal retirement, he was a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and served as co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, and Secretary of the UN Secretary General's High-Level Board on Sustainable Development.[1]

Awards and honours

Holdgate has received numerous awards and honours for his work.[3]

Holdgate has been President of the Zoological Society of London and of the Freshwater Biological Association.[1] He is also a member and fellow of the Institute of Biology, making him a Chartered Biologist, and entitling him to use the designations C.Biol and F.I.Biol. In July 2014, he was appointed President of Friends of the Lake District.[1]

Publications

Holdgate edited the journal Antarctic Ecology (published for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, by the Academic Press) from the first edition in 1970. His publications include the following:[3]

As editor

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Sir Martin Holdgate – New President of Friends of the Lake District". Friends of the Lake District. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  2. Eminent Alumni, Queens's College, Cambridge, accessed 16 February 2010
  3. 3.0 3.1 Sir Martin Holdgate, CB, Debretts 'People of Today', accessed 16 February 2010

External links