Stephen "Steve" J. Ormerod FCIEEM , is a professor of

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and former Chair of the Council of the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throug ...

(RSPB), Europe's largest wildlife conservation charity.

Biography

Ormerod grew up in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, East Lancashire, England. He was educated at

Burnley Grammar School Burnley Grammar School was latterly, a state-funded selective boys grammar School, situated in Byron Street in Burnley, England. However, during its long history, it moved between a number of sites in the town. History In 1552, on the order of ...

Huddersfield University , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancell ...

and subsequently at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

, where he obtained a PhD in river ecology in 1985. He is father to four children, with three stepsons and one biological son.

Career

Ormerod was appointed Professor of Ecology in the Cardiff School of Biosciences at Cardiff University in 2001, and chair of the RSPB Council at their AGM in 2012. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is Europe's largest wildlife conservation charity. Ormerod was previously chair of the RSPB's Advisory Committee for Wales and is a former president of the

Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

. and has been a member of the councils of the

Freshwater Biological Association The Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) is an independent scientific organisation founded in 1929 in Cumbria by Felix Eugen Fritsch, William Harold Pearsall, Francis Balfour-Browne, and Robert Gurney among others. Whilst originally created to ...

, the

Countryside Council for Wales The Countryside Council for Wales (CCW; cy, Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru (CCGC)) was a Welsh Assembly sponsored body responsible for wildlife conservation, landscape and countryside access authority for Wales. It was merged with Forestry Commissi ...

, the Rivers' Trust and the

British Trust for Ornithology The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is an organisation founded in 1932 for the study of birds in the British Isles. The Prince of Wales has been patron since October 2020. History Beginnings In 1931 Max Nicholson wrote: In the United State ...

. He was chief editor of the ''

Journal of Applied Ecology ''Journal of Applied Ecology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing research in all areas of environmental management. It was established in 1964 and is published by Wiley on behalf of the British Ecological Society. The Sen ...

''. He sat on the scientific advisory committee of the

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is an international wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Charles III, and its president is Kate Humble. History The WWT was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist a ...

and was on the expert panel of

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

(DEFRA)'s National Ecosystem Assessment and was a member of other DEFRA committees. In 1987 he was a fellow of the

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

when he looked at the problems associated with

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid ...

. This has been a continuing interest in his research which has been supported by the European Union and the Natural Environment Research Council. In 2011 he received the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

's Marsh Award for Marine and Freshwater Conservation. He was elected a Fellow of the

Learned Society of Wales The Learned Society of Wales (Welsh: Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru) is a learned society and charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the Welsh nation ...

(FLSW) and a Fellow of the

Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

(FSB), in 2013. In his academic career Ormerod has published more than 200 scientific papers.

References

External links

Cardiff University staff page
*
An Ecologist's Career
Video (on YouTube) of a talk by Ormerod, at the

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

's Careers Conference in 2013 *
Dippers
' – 2012 episode of BBC Radio 4 programme ''

The Living World ''The Living World'' is a long-running natural history radio programme, made by the BBC and broadcast on its Radio 4. The series was created at the BBC Natural History Unit by Dilys Breese and Derek Jones, initially as a 52-week series, in 19 ...

'', featuring Ormerod {{DEFAULTSORT:Ormerod, Steve Living people British Trust for Ornithology people English ecologists English ornithologists People educated at Burnley Grammar School People from Burnley Royal Society for the Protection of Birds people Alumni of the University of Huddersfield Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Cardiff University Academics of Cardiff University Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales