John Lawton (scientist)

Sir John Lawton
Citizenship	British
Fields	Zoology/Ecology
Institutions	University of York
Alma mater	University of Durham
Notable awards	Frink Medal (1998) Marsh Ecology Award (1996) Japan Prize (2004) RSPB Medal

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

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

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

Lawton studied at the University of Durham, completing his PhD in 1969. He was Demonstrator in Ecology in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford from 1968, moving to the University of York in 1971. 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, and was reappointed for a second three-year term in 2008.

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