John Veron (born 1945), complete name John Edward Norwood Veron, credited in research as J. E. N. Veron, and in other writing as Charlie Veron, is a biologist, taxonomist, and specialist in the study of

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

s and

reefs A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

. He is believed to have discovered more than 20% of the world's coral species.

Early life

John Edward Norwood Veron (known as "Charlie" due to his interest in the natural sciences at school) was born in 1945 in Sydney. He attended

Barker College , motto_translation = Seek Honour above Rewards , location = Hornsby, Sydney , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , pushpin_image ...

in Sydney. He won a Commonwealth scholarship as a gifted child and went on study at the University of New England. His main interests were in the natural world, especially marine life. He participated in the scuba club while at university. His honours thesis was on the behaviour of gliding possums. He took his M.Sc. with a study on the temperature regulation of lizards. Veron completed his PhD with a study on the neurophysiology of dragonflies.

Career

After taking his PhD in 1971, Veron was offered a postdoctoral position at James Cook University to study corals. Veron was the first full-time researcher on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

(1972) and the first scientist employed by the

Australian Institute of Marine Science The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is a tropical marine research centre located primarily at Cape Ferguson in the locality of Cape Cleveland, City of Townsville Queensland, Australia. It is around from Townsville Townsville ...

(1974). He participated in 67 expeditions to all the major reef provinces in the world. He credited "Red" Gilmartin and

John W. Wells John West Wells (July 15, 1907 – January 12, 1994) was an American paleontologist, biologist and geologist who focused his research on corals. He was notable for, among other things, proving that the rotational period of the earth undergoes peri ...

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

as key figures in clarifying his interest in taxonomy in the 1970s. Veron named about 20% of reef corals and built a taxonomic framework for corals that is used throughout the world. He founded the Orpheus Island Marine Station. He discovered and delineated the

Coral Triangle The Coral Triangle (CT) is a roughly triangular area in the tropical waters around the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. This area contains at least 500 species of reef-building corals in e ...

. He introduced the concept of

reticulate evolution Reticulate evolution, or network evolution is the origination of a lineage through the partial merging of two ancestor lineages, leading to relationships better described by a phylogenetic network than a bifurcating tree. Reticulate patterns ca ...

to the marine world.

Recognition

He has many professional awards, including: * Scientific Diving Lifetime Achievement Award ( American Academy of Underwater Sciences) *

Darwin Medal The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology". In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the ...

(

International Society for Reef Studies The International Coral Reef Society (ICRS; previously the International Society for Reef Studies) is an international, not-for profit, scientific society dedicated to the conservation of coral reefs through science and understanding. Founded in 19 ...

) * Silver Jubilee Pin (Australian Marine Sciences Association) *

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for "service to marine research", 2021

Writings

Veron has written many books and monographs about corals and coral reefs, including: * * * * * * *

Later life

Since 2008 he together with colleagues have been producing an open access website about coral taxonomy, biogeography and identification, ''Corals of The World'' (www.coralsoftheworld.org). The website includes a mapping program called Coral Geographic and an identification program called CoralID. He has campaigned extensively on climate change, mass bleaching of coral reefs,

ocean acidification Ocean acidification is the reduction in the pH value of the Earth’s ocean. Between 1751 and 2021, the average pH value of the ocean surface has decreased from approximately 8.25 to 8.14. The root cause of ocean acidification is carbon dioxid ...

and related environmental issues. In 2009, Sir David Attenborough introduced Veron's lecture to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. He was featured in the 2017 documentary

Chasing Coral ''Chasing Coral'' is a 2017 American documentary film about a team of divers, scientists and photographers around the world who document the disappearance of coral reefs. ''Chasing Coral'' was produced by Exposure Labs and directed by Jeff Orlows ...

. A sculpture of John 'Charlie' Veron, 'The Godfather of Coral' was created by

Jason deCaires Taylor Jason deCaires Taylor (born 12 August 1974 in Dover) is a British sculptor and creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park – the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park – and underwater museum – Cancún Underwater Museum. He is best k ...

for the Museum of Underwater Art as part of the Ocean Sentinels above the surface exhibition in 2022

References

External links

Corals of the World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veron, John Australian marine biologists 21st-century Australian zoologists Marine zoologists 1945 births Living people 20th-century Australian zoologists Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia