Professor Dr Lord John R. Krebs

Research Priorities: Quantitative and experimental behavioural ecology, behavioural ecology of birds, bioethics, population biology, ornithology
John Krebs is a British zoologist that studies the behavioural ecology of birds. He introduced new methods to ornithology, among them optimisation models to predict feeding behaviour, as well as techniques from neurobiology and experimental psychology, to assess the mental capacities of birds and connect it to certain regions of the brain.
During his scientific career in the field of ornithology, John Krebs published more than 130 peer-reviewed works, five books, and 130 chapters, reviews. He then embarked on a career in science policy. John Krebs served as chairman of the Food Standards Agency and criticised the organic food movement in 2000, for example. He caused a stir with his statement that people receive no value for money by buying organic products if they assume that these foods are linked to a gain in quality or safety – as there is no evidence to support such claims. As head of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, John Krebs became one of the leading experts in bovine tuberculosis. With this field experiment Great Britain tried to exterminate the badger as it was suspected to transmit the disease. In 2012, the research results led John Krebs to oppose the culling of badgers.
In 2006 and 2007 John Krebs was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, where he served as chair of the working group for public health. He then served as chair for the National Network of Science Learning Centres. After that he was member of the British House of Commons’ Committee on Climate Change until 2017 and chair of the subcommittee Adaptation. Between 2010 and 2014 he served as Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee.