1. Sir John Rex Beddington was born on 13 October 1945 and 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.
John Beddington then attended the London School of Economics, gaining a BSc degree in economics in 1967, and later an MSc degree in 1968.
John Beddington's research applies biology and economics to the sustainable management of natural resources.
From 1968 to 1971 John Beddington was a research assistant at the University of Edinburgh.
John Beddington was part of the Oxford Martin School from May 2013 until 2018.
John Beddington served as the senior advisor to Professor Ian Goldin, the School's Director.
John Beddington joined Imperial in 1984, was promoted to Reader in 1987 and was appointed Professor of Applied Population Biology there in 1991.
John 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.
John Beddington 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.
John Beddington has advised the European Commission and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
On 1 October 2007, it was announced by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown that John Beddington would succeed Professor Sir David King as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government with effect from 1 January 2008.
John Beddington was closely involved in helping the British government formulate its response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the eruptions of Icelandic volcanoes and ash dieback disease in the UK.
In March 2009 John Beddington addressed the Sustainable Development UK conference warning that the world faced a "perfect storm" involving food shortages, scarce water and insufficient energy resources.
Professor John Beddington was awarded the Heidelberg Award for Environmental Excellence in June 1997, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001 and was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004, in recognition of his services to fisheries science and management.
John Beddington was appointed a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2012 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2011.
John Beddington was married to Sarah West from 1968 until their divorce in 1972.
John Beddington married his current spouse, Caroline Hiller, in 1990.