Staff

Professor David L. Hawksworth CBE
PhD, DSc, FD(hc), FLS

Positions
Professor of Biosciences in the University of Gloucestershire, and also Research Professor in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a Research Associate at the Natural History Museum in London.

Contact
Email: d.hawksworth@nhm.ac.uk

A mycologist and environmental scientist, who is an authority on the diversity, systematics, and ecology of fungi, especially those forming lichens. He is particularly known for the development of scales for the bioindication of sulphur dioxide air pollution levels using lichens, and the use of molecular phylogenetics to resolve classifications and generic or species concepts. Other academic interests include the extent of biodiversity and its conservation, and the development of improved nomenclatural systems for all groups of organisms.

He was the last Director of the former International Mycological Institute at Kew and Egham, Surrey (1983-97), is an Honorary President of the International Mycological Association, and has served as President of the International Union of Biological Sciences (1994-97), British Mycological Society (1990), and British Lichen Society (1986-87). In addition he was the first to be awarded the Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society of London (1978), holds the Acharius Medal of the International Association for Lichenology (2002), and is an honorary member of many mycological and lichenological societies. He served on the Council of English Nature (1996-99), and was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1996 for services to science.

He is the Editor-in-Chief of Biodiversity and Conservation, and is himself author/co-author of over 580 scientific publications, and author/editor/co-editor of 55 books. Further, he has introduced 856 new scientific names, including the recognition of 73 genera of fungi new to science.

In the University of Gloucestershire, he supervises undergraduate projects, especially ones involving lichens. He is also available for field survey and environmental impact assessment assignments or and consultancies, including ones involving litigation or on forensic matters involving fungi (including lichens).

Selected books

Hawksworth DL (ed.) (2001) The Changing Wildlife of Great Britain and Ireland. xv + 454 pp. London: Taylor & Francis.

Hawksworth DL (ed.) (1995) Biodiversity: Measurement and Estimation. 140 pp. London: Chapman & Hall.

Allsopp D, Colwell RR & Hawksworth DL (eds) (1995) Microbial Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function. 481 pp.  Wallingford: CAB International.

Hawksworth DL, Kirk PM, Sutton BC & Pegler DN (1995) Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi. 8th edn. xii + 616 pp. Wallingford: CAB International.

Hawksworth DL (ed.) (1994) The Biodiversity of Microorganisms and Invertebrates: its role in sustainable agriculture. 302 pp. Wallingford: CAB International.

Purvis OW, Coppins BJ, Hawksworth DL, James PW & Moore DM (1992) The Lichen Flora of Great Britain and Ireland. ix + 710 pp. London: Natural History Museum Publications, London.

Hawksworth DL (ed.) (1988) Prospects in Systematics. 457 pp. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Pirozynski KA & Hawksworth DL (eds) (1988) Coevolution of Fungi with Plants and Animals. 285 pp. London: Academic Press.

Hawksworth DL & Kirsop BE (eds) (1987) Living Resources for Biotechnology: Filamentous  Fungi. 180 pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sims RW, Freeman P & Hawksworth DL (eds) (1988) Key Works to the Fauna and Flora of the British Isles and Northwestern Europe. 5th edn. 312 pp. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Hawksworth DL (ed.) (1984) Advancing Agricultural Production in Africa. 472 pp. Farnham Royal: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.

Hawksworth DL & Hill DJ (1984) The Lichen-Forming Fungi. 158 pp. Glasgow & London: Blackie.

Ferry BW, Baddeley MS & Hawksworth DL (1973) Air Pollution and Lichens. 389 pp. London: Athlone Press, University of London.