Honorary graduates 2017

Professor Ian L Boyd, BSc PhD DSc FSB FSRE (DSc)

Saturday 16 December 2017 9:00am

Professor Ian Boyd is the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government on Food and Environment and Professor in Biology at the University of St Andrews. He was previously Director of the Scottish Oceans Institute at the University of St Andrews and the Sea Mammal Research Unit. He created the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland, has been a member of the Scottish Science Advisory Council and chairman of a scientific advisory board on decommissioning, for Oil and Gas UK.

Ian worked for the British Antarctic Survey from 1987-2001 researching the ecology and management of the Southern Ocean. His research has spanned from the physiological responses of mammals to environmental change to fisheries and the dynamics of ocean ecosystems.

He was Chief Scientist for a US Navy study, examining behavioural responses of whales to military sonars and coinvented the environmental risk management procedures used by the Royal Navy. He was also co-chair of the International Quiet Oceans Experiment, a joint initiative of the Scientific Committee for Ocean Research and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean.

More recently, he has studied the interaction between science advice and government policy. He is a Reviewing Editor of Science and a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Zoology. Research prizes include the Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London and the Bruce Medal for Polar Science. Ian is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Society of Biology and has received the Polar Medal.