Name: David Takayoshi Suzuki
Date of Birth: 18 March 1936
Nationality: Canadian
“If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us.
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EDUCATION
Suzuki received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1958 from Amherst College in Massachusetts where he first discovered genetics study, and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961.
OCCUPATION/CAREER
From 1961 to 1962, Suzuki worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. From 1962 to 1963, he was an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. He was a professor in the genetics department at the University of British Columbia for almost forty years, from 1963 until his retirement in 2001, and has since been professor emeritus at a university research institute.
Since the mid-1970s, Suzuki has been known for his television and radio series, documentaries and books about nature and the environment. He is best known as host of the popular and long-running CBC Television science program The Nature of Things, seen in over 40 countries. He is also well known for criticizing governments for their lack of action to protect the environment.
ADVOCACY/ACHIEVEMENTS
A longtime activist to reverse global climate change, Suzuki co-founded the David Suzuki Foundation in 1990, to work "to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that does sustain us". The Foundation's priorities are: oceans and sustainable fishing, climate change and clean energy, sustainability, and Suzuki's Nature Challenge. The Foundation also works on ways to help protect the oceans from large oil spills such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Suzuki has also served as a director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association from 1982 to 1987.
Suzuki was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2009. His 2011 book, The Legacy, won the Nautilus Book Award. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 2004, David Suzuki ranked fifth on the list of final nominees in a CBC Television series that asked viewers to select The Greatest Canadian of all time.
PUBLICATIONS
Suzuki is the author of 52 books (nineteen for children), including David Suzuki: The Autobiography, Tree: A Life Story, The Sacred Balance, Genethics, Wisdom of the Elders, Inventing the Future, and the best-selling Looking At Senses a series of children's science books.
Sciencescape - The Nature of Canada (1986) - with Hans Blohm and Marjorie Harris
Pebbles to Computers: The Thread (1986) - with Hans Blohm and Stafford Beer
Metamorphosis: Stages in a life (1987) ISBN 0-773-72139-8
Genethics: The Clash between the New Genetics and Human Values (1990)
It's a Matter of Survival (1991) ISBN 0-674-46970-4
Time to Change (1994)
The Japan We Never Knew: A Journey of Discovery (1997) - with Keibo Oiwa
The Sacred Balance (1997)
From Naked Ape to Superspecies: A Personal Perspective on Humanity and the Global Ecocrisis (1999) - with Holly Dressel. ISBN 0-773-73194-6
From Naked Ape to Superspecies: Humanity and the Global Eco-Crisis, (2nd edition 2004) - with Holly Dressel. ISBN 1-553-65031-X
Good News for a Change: Hope for a Troubled Planet (2001) - with Holly Dressel. ISBN 0-773-73307-8
More Good News (2003)
More Good News: Real Solutions to the Global Eco-Crisis (Revised ed. 2010) - with Holly Dressel. ISBN 1-553-65475-7
David Suzuki: The Autobiography (2006)
David Suzuki's Green Guide (2008) - with David Boyd
The Big Picture: Reflections on Science, Humanity, and a Quickly Changing Planet (2009) - with David Taylor
The Legacy: An Elder's vision for a sustainable future (2010) - with foreword by Margaret Atwood
Letters to My Grandchildren Greystone Books (2015) ISBN 978-1771640886
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (2010), 93 minute documentary DVD (210616DV)