2024 Rachel Carson Lecture by William Sutherland

William Sutherland delivered lecture "Converting science into policy: a career inspired by Rachel Carson" as one of the 2024 Rachel Carson Distinguished Anniversary Lecture Series on Sept 26.

Abstract: I remember reading Silent Spring as a student when I learnt about the power of marshalling evidence to change policy. This has been key to my subsequent career. For much of my career I have considered how we can improve the decision making process by making evidence available, creating tools for delivering change and creating a culture in which it becomes unthinkable not to use evidence. I have also recently been attempting to follow Rachel Carson’s footsteps by promoting an understanding of ecology and conservation science https://www.youtube.com/@Bill_Sutherland. In this lecture, I will review the barriers and opportunities to deliver change and argue that we are making progress but there are many easy wins. I will also discuss our work showing how AI is likely to fundamentally change how we operate.

Dr. William Sutherland is Professor of Conservation Biology, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, UK. He is a leading ecologist and conservation scientist. Over the last twenty years he has pioneered a range of approaches to policy and practice including novel means of horizon scanning, identifying policy-relevant research agendas, new techniques for collating and assessing evidence, and processes for embedding experiments into practice. With over eleven hundred named collaborators he has created the website www.conservationevidence.com (which reviews the evidence for the effectiveness of 3155 conservation actions), and a set of tools for making evidence-based decisions and embedding evidence into practice. He was President of the British Ecological Society and regularly advises government and conservation organisations. His outstanding accomplishments have earned him numerous prestigious awards and honors. For example, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Commander of the British Empire. He is also a recipient of the ECI Prize, Sir John Burnett Memorial Lecture Medal, Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Conservation Biology, Marsh Award for Ecology from the British Ecological Society, and many others.