David Macdonald (biologist)
Template:Short description Template:Other people Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates
Template:Infobox scientist David Whyte Macdonald CBE FRSE is a Scottish zoologist and conservationist. He is the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at the University of Oxford, which he founded in 1986. He holds a Senior Research Fellowship at Lady Margaret Hall with the Title of Distinction of Professor of Wildlife Conservation.<ref>WildCRU Wildlife Conservation Research Unit of the University of Oxford Department of Zoology</ref><ref name="oxzoo">Template:Cite web</ref> He has been an active wildlife conservationist since graduating from Oxford.Template:When
Career
David Macdonald's concept was, and remains, to undertake original research on aspects of fundamental biology relevant to solving practical problems of wildlife conservation and environmental management, and thus to underpin policy formation and public debate of the many issues that surround the conservation of wildlife and its habitats.<ref name="oxzoo"/> From his early work on red foxes he retains a specialisation in carnivores, with an increasing emphasis on felids. He has published over 300 papers in refereed international journals, and written or edited more than a dozen books, of which the most recent is Key Topics in Conservation Biology.
Amongst other things he is currentlyTemplate:When a visiting professor at Imperial College, chair of the Darwin Advisory Committee, Chair of Natural England's Science Advisory Committee and board member, a Trustee of Earthwatch Europe<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and WWF-UK, and council member of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.<ref name="oxzoo"/>
He has done much to popularise biology with the general public. He is known for his documentary films and his popular books, for which he has twice won the Natural World Author of the Year award. His Night of the Fox won the BAFTA for Best Documentary Film of 1976, Running with the Fox won the Natural History Book of the Year award for 1987, and Meerkats United won the Wildscreen 1988 award. His films include the popular BBC seven-part series The Velvet Claw, a natural history of carnivores.<ref name="Jen Rivett">Template:Cite news</ref>
Awards and honours
He won the Dawkins Prize for Conservation and Animal Welfare in 2005,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> he was awarded the American Society of Mammalogists' Merriam Prize for research in mammalogy in 2006,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in 2007 The Mammal Society of Great Britain's equivalent medal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in March 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2025 Macdonald was awarded the Linnean Medal for services to science.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Macdonald was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.<ref name="Jen Rivett"/><ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
References
Bibliography
- Template:Cite book (Part 2 published 2007)
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
Template:People in animal welfare Template:Authority control
- Living people
- Cornell University faculty
- Scottish documentary filmmakers
- Scottish science writers
- Scottish zoologists
- Fellows of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Scottish conservationists
- Place of birth missing (living people)
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- 1951 births
- Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford
- Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
- Conservation biologists
- Scottish animal welfare scholars