David Suzuki
David Suzuki, Co-Founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster. He is renowned for his radio and television programs that explain the complexities of the natural sciences in a compelling, easily understood way.
Dr. Suzuki is a geneticist. He graduated from Amherst College in 1958 with an Honours BA in Biology, followed by a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961. He held a research associateship in the Biology Division of Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Lab (1961 – 62), was an Assistant Professor in Genetics at the University of Alberta (1962 – 63), and since then has been a faculty member of the University of British Columbia. He is now Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia.
In 1972, he was awarded the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship for the outstanding research scientist in Canada under the age of 35 and held it for three years. He has won numerous academic awards and holds 24 honourary degrees in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada and is a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Speaking topics
- The Challenge of the 21st Century: Setting the Bottom Line in the Anthropocene
In the past century, humanity has undergone explosive changes in numbers, science, technology, consumption and economics that have endowed us with the power to alter the biological, physical and chemical properties of the planet.
It is undeniable that the atmosphere and climate are altered; air, water and soil are fouled with toxic pollutants; oceans are depleted; forests are being cleared; and species are disappearing.
Now that most people live in large cities, our relationship with nature is less obvious. Computers and telecommunications fragment information so that we can no longer recognize the interconnectivity of everything in the world. Globalization of the economy renders the entire planet a source of resources and all people a market for products, while local communities and local ecosystems are negatively impacted (for example, large scale pig farms are raised in Canada for an Asian market while the water, air and soil surrounding the hog farms are negatively impacted).
Today science is verifying this ancient wisdom and defines a different set of priorities that should become our bottom-line for the 21st century:
- We are biological beings with an absolute dependence on clean air, water, soil and sunlight for our well-being and survival.
- The web of all life on Earth (biodiversity) is responsible for cleansing, replenishing and creating air, water, soil and captured sunlight.
- Diversity at the genetic, species, ecosystem and cultural level is critical for long-term resilience and adaptability.
- We are social animals with an absolute need for love to realize our full human potential; maximal opportunity for love is ensured with strong families, communities, full employment, justice, equity, freedom from terror and war.
- We are spiritual beings who need to know that there are forces that impinge on our lives that lie outside our understanding or control; that nature that gave us birth, will persist after we die; that there are sacred places where humans come with respect and reverence.
Human beings are one species among perhaps 10 to 15 million other species on whom we are ultimately dependent for our well-being. Humanity needs to rediscover humility and our place in the world so that we and the rest of life can continue to flourish.
The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. Perspective is shaped by our values, believes and experiences.