Professor Sir Ian Boyd is a distinguished marine biologist who from 2012 to 2019 was Chief Scientific Advisor at Defra (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and is currently President of the Royal Society of Biology.  

While at Defra he dealt with such tricky issues as bovine TB and badger culling, neonicotinoid insecticides and “forever” chemical pollutants. In his recent no-holds-barred book, Science and Politics, Ian describes some of the challenges in speaking truth to power and reflects on the uneasy marriage of science and politics. Importantly, he suggests positive and quite radical actions that might be taken to improve the way government incorporates the best science in decision maker. Ian will discuss his ideas with Sir Charles Godfray (OMS Director) and Dame Helen Ghosh (Master of Balliol and former Permanent Secretary at Defra) and take questions from the audience.

Registration on this page is to watch the event online. To attend in-person at the Oxford Martin School, please register at https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/events/science-and-politics

Professor Sir Ian Boyd is a marine and polar scientist who was Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from September 2012 to August 2019. He is currently Professor in Biology at the University of St Andrews and the Chairman of the UK Research Integrity Office.

He previously served as the first Director of the Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, and as Director of the Sea Mammal Research Unit. Sir Ian is currently leading the move to sustainability at the University of St Andrews. He spent 14 years leading a research programme in Antarctica studying the structure and dynamics of energy flow in the Southern Ocean. He has received the Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London, the Bruce Medal for Polar Science and the Polar Medal.

Sir Ian was knighted in 2019 for services to science and economics in government.

Book talk: 'Science and Politics' - Sir Ian Boyd in conversation with Sir Charles Godfray and Dame Helen Ghosh