John Beddington, Professor of Applied Population Biology to be Appointed Britain's New Chief Scientific Advisor. (September 2, 2007)

    Professor John Beddington, FRS is expected to be named by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as Great Britain's next Chief Scientific Advisor.  He will replace David King when Professor King steps down from the post at year's end.

Professor Beddington holds the Chair of Applied Population Biology at Imperial College London who describe him as specialising: "in the application of economics and biology to particular problems in the management of fisheries and other renewable resources. He has particular expertise in the design of licensing regimes and the optimal analysis of management strategies for fisheries. He has been at Imperial College since 1984.

While the appointment awaists an official announcement, Stephen Cox, executive director of the Royal Society, said: “John Beddington is a very well-respected scientist and with a broad range of experience in research and in government. Were he to be appointed as the Chief Scientific Adviser it would be warmly welcomed by the scientific community.”

According to Mark Henderson of the Times, the Chief Scientific Advisor: "will be responsible for advising the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on a broad range of scientific issues. Early areas for his input are likely to include international climate change negotiations and decisions on a national nuclear waste dump and a new generation of nuclear power stations.

"He will also head the newly established Government Office for Science, which seeks to improve the quality of scientific evidence to make decisions across Whitehall, and lead the Foresight project that aims to investigate emerging scientific issues before they become politically controversial."