John Krebs, Baron Krebs

John Richard Krebs, Baron Krebs FRS (born April 11, 1945, Sheffield) is a world leader in zoology and more specifically bird behaviour. He is currently the Principal of Jesus College, Oxford University. Krebs was knighted in 1999, and was the first Chairman of the British Food Standards Agency (2000–05).

The son of Hans Adolf Krebs, the German biochemist who described the uptake and release of energy in cells (the Krebs cycle), John Krebs was educated at the City of Oxford High School and Pembroke College, Oxford (BA 1966; MA 1970; DPhil 1970). He then held posts at the University of British Columbia and the University College of North Wales, Bangor, before returning to Oxford as a University Lecturer in Zoology, with a fellowship at Wolfson College then Pembroke. [Clarke, Peter "Editorial", "The Jesus College Record" (2004), Jesus College, Oxford, 4-5] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1984 and since 1988 has held a Royal Society Research Professorship in the Department of Zoology, Oxford University, where he was based at Pembroke College until his appointment to the position of Principal of Jesus College in 2005.

Professor Krebs' career has been both productive and influential. [ [http://isihighlycited.com/ ISI Highly Cited Researcher] (within top 0.5% of all scientists) (2002)] His speciality is ornithology. His publications include more than 130 refereed papers, 5 books, and 130 book chapters, reviews, or popular pieces. They have introduced new methods to the science of ornithology, including the use of optimality models to predict foraging behaviour, and, more recently, techniques from neurobiology and experimental psychology to assess the mental capacities of birds and to relate these to particular regions of the brain.

During his chairmanship of the Food Standards Agency, Krebs criticised the organic food movement, saying that people buying such food were "not getting value for money, in my opinion and in the opinion of the Food Standards Agency, if they think they're buying food with extra nutritional quality or extra safety. We don't have the evidence to support those claims." [BBC News, "Organic food 'no healthier' ". Friday, 1 September, 2000. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/906530.stm] ]

Krebs is currently chairing an enquiry into the ethics of public health for the [http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/ Nuffield Council on Bioethics] , and will take up the chairmanship of the [http://www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/ National Network of Science Learning Centres] in 2007. [ [http://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/staff/principal.php Jesus College Principal website] ]

On 15 February 2007 the House of Lords Appointments Commission announced that he was to become a non-party political (cross-bench) life peer. [House of Lords Appointments Commission - "New non-party-political peers", 15 February 2007 [http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=264362&NewsAreaID=2] ] The peerage was gazetted on 28 March 2007 as Baron Krebs, of Wytham in the County of Oxfordshire.

Notable publications

Books

*Stephens, D. W. & Krebs, J. R. (1986) "Foraging Theory". Princeton: Princeton University Press.
*Kamil, Alan C., John R. Krebs and H. Ronald Pulliam. (1987) "Foraging Behavior", Plenum Press, New York and London.
*Krebs, J. R. & Davies, N.B. (1993) "An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology", 4th ed. Oxford: Blackwell.
*Krebs, J. R. & Davies, N.B., eds. (1997) "Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach", 4th ed. Oxford: Blackwell. (1st ed. 1978.)

Papers

* Dawkins, R. & Krebs, J. R. (1978). "Animal signals: information or manipulation?", "Behavioural Ecology: an evolutionary approach" 1st ed. (Krebs, J. R. & Davies, N.B., eds) Blackwell: Oxford, pp 282–309.
*Dawkins, R. & Krebs, J. R. (1979). "Arms races between and within species." "Proceedings of the Royal society of London", B 205:489–511.
* Krebs, J. R. and Dawkins, R. (1984). "Animal signals: mind-reading and manipulation", "Behavioural Ecology: an evolutionary approach", 2nd ed (Krebs, J. R. & Davies, N.B., eds), Sinauer: pp 380–402.

ee also

* Behavioural ecology
* Evolutionary arms race
* Signalling theory

References

* "Elliott Coues Award, 1999: Sir John R. Krebs", "Jesus College Record", 2005.

External links

* [http://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/staff/principal.php Jesus College page with background on John Krebs]
* [http://www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/annualreview/11.shtml Oxford University]