David T. Suzuki PhD, co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster.
David has received consistently high acclaim for his 30 years of award-winning work in broadcasting, explaining the complexities of science in a compelling, easily understood way. He is well known to millions as the host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's popular science television series, The Nature of Things.
His eight part series, A Planet for the Taking won an award from the United Nations. His eight-part PBS series The Secret of Life was praised internationally, as was his five-part series The Brain for the Discovery Channel. For CBC Radio he founded the long running radio series, Quirks and Quarks and has presented two influential documentary series on the environment, From Naked Ape to Superspecies and It's a Matter of Survival.
An internationally respected geneticist, David was a full Professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver from 1969 until his retirement in 2001. He is professor emeritus with UBC's Sustainable Development Research Institute. From 1969 to 1972 he was the recipient of the prestigious E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship Award for the "Outstanding Canadian Research Scientist Under the Age of 35".
He has received numerous awards including the Roger Tory Peterson Award from Harvard University. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada, and a member of the Order of British Columbia. He has received 20 honorary doctorates - 13 from Canada, four from the United States and three from Australia. First Nations people have honoured him with six names, formal adoption by two tribes, and made him an honorary member of the Dehcho First Nations.
David was born in Vancouver, BC in 1936. During World War II, at the age of six, he was interned with his family in a camp in BC. After the war, he went to high school in London, Ontario. He graduated with Honours from Amherst College in 1958 and went on to earn his PhD in Zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961.
The author of 43 books, David Suzuki is recognized as a world leader in sustainable ecology. He lives with his wife, Dr. Tara Cullis, and two daughters in Vancouver.
For a more complete list of David's professional accomplishments and awards, please refer to his full CV here (31.5Kb PDF). To read some of Dr. Suzuki's latest writings, please visit the Science Matters archives. Each week in Science Matters, Dr. Suzuki examines how changes in science and technology affect our lives and the world around us. You can also take a look at his book list with Greystone books.
Past energy revolutions -- from wood to coal, from coal to oil and gas -- have brought an explosion of new profits, productivity and improvements in human health. Investing in new clean energy sources may make us wealthier and healthier, too.
Clean, sustainable energy does more than just reduce the risk of climate change. It brings jobs, investment income and a competitive edge.
We are on the verge of a profound shift in the way we produce and use energy. This shift will take the world away from the wasteful and ecologically-destructive consumption of fossil fuels, towards cleaner, more efficient forms of power.