Officers & Council 2011-2014

The Council of the Society for the History of Natural History consists of the Officers and nine Councillors. Officers stand for election at the Annual General Meetings of the Society and Councillors serve terms of three years. Council may also co-opt members of Council to serve.

COUNCIL The President, Officers and:

   Professor Tim Birkhead -
    Dr Isabelle Charmantier *
    Dr John Edgington *
    Ms Miranda Lowe *
    Mr Chris Mills o
    Mrs Malgosia Nowak-Kemp -
    Ms Elizabeth Platts o
    Ms Elaine Shaughnessy (co-opted)
    Professor Hugh Torrens (Vice-President) o
    Mr Julian Wilson *
   
   -  Due to retire 2012 AGM
   * Due to retire 2013 AGM
   o Due to retire 2014 AGM

Representatives are appointed by Council and are able to attend Council meetings.  Their term of appointment is initially for three years, with an annual review by Council. This can be extended as approved by Council.

See the International Representatives' page for further details.

The administrative business of the Society is the responsibility of the Officers, supported by contributors. These contributors attend Council meetings as guests to consult on issues relevant to their Society activities and receive Council guidance.

See Society Business for further details.

Officer and Council Member Biographies

Professor Tim Birkhead FRS
Professor Tim Birkhead is professor of evolution and behaviour at the University of Sheffield. He studied zoology at Newcastle and did his DPhil at Oxford and his main research interests are in reproductive biology and the history of science. He is committed to the public understanding of science and has written several popular science books and well as several academic books.

Dr Isabelle Charmantier
Isabelle studied History in her hometown in Montpellier, France, before coming as an exchange student to the University of Durham to specialise in Medieval History. She has been in England ever since. After finishing her studies, she worked for a children’s editor, and then for Foyles Bookshop for 5 years, before going back to academia to undertake a PhD on a 1660 French manuscript of ornithology. She is now on a postdoctoral position at the University of Exeter, working on Carl Linnaeus’s writing technologies.

Professor P. Geoffrey Moore
Professor Moore is Emeritus Professor of Marine Biology in the University of London.  Prior to his retirement he was Acting Director of the University Marine Biological Station Millport in Scotland. A past Council member of The Linnean Society of London (2008-2011), his interests lie in systematics (amphipod crustaceans), marine ecology and the history of natural history.

Dr Charles Nelson
For 19 years Charles was taxonomist at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, during which time he was the Society's Irish representative. He served on Council 1977-1980, 1988-1991. Vice-President in 1990-1991, and Book Review Editor for six years. Now self-emplyed and living in eastern England, he continues to maintain research interests in the history and bibliography of botany in Ireland and the activities of Irish naturalists in other parts of the world. At the invitation of the Glasgow Natural History Society he is currently working on a biography of Professor John Scouler (1804-1871), Professor of Mineralogy to the Royal Dublin Society.

Ms Elaine Shaughnessy FLS - Coopted member of Council 
Elaine has a long association with SHNH and has served on Council (1994 – 1996, 1996-98 (co-opted), 1999 - 2001, 2008-2011) and acted as Regional Representative's co-ordinator 1994 - 2006). Elaine is responsible for the Society's newsletter and website. Elaine currently runs a consultancy specialising in communications and development.  Previous roles include: Communications Development Manager for the World Land Trust,  Head of Development for the Linnean Society of London, Head of Publishing for IUCN, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and Executive Editor for Editions Alecto Ltd and Alecto Historical Editions.

Mr Julian Wilson

In 1997, Julian joined the firm of antiquarian booksellers, Maggs Bros. Ltd., where he worked closely with John Collins in the Natural History Dept. for 11 years. During this time he developed a particular fascination with palaeontology, geology and the earth sciences, and was fortunate enough to handle a number of William Smith maps. In 2008, he moved to the auctioneers, Christie's, where his first job was to catalogue the £1.8M Foljambe collection of natural history. Julian continues to be the natural history specialist in the Book Dept. at King Street, and helps co-ordinate specialist natural history sales in Christie's South Kensington salerooms.  He is particularly interested in the relationship between voyages of exploration and the acquisition and scientific description of natural objects.