Tom Oliver

 

Tom Oliver is a Professor in Ecology and Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research (Environment) at the University of Reading.  He regularly advises the UK government and the European Environment Agency on environmental topics. Tom is a frequent contributor to broadcast media, including BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Channel 4 and ITV News, and the mainstream press  such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Hindu Times, New Scientist, Guardian, The Times, Independent and Telegraph.  In addition he regularly gives talks on environmental science to general audiences.

Tom has published more than 100 scientific papers in world-leading interdisciplinary journals and won two first-place prizes for essays communicating science to a broader audience. He won the Marsh Award for Entomology in 2014 for outstanding contributions to Entomology. He currently lives in Oxfordshire, UK. His first book The Self Delusion was published in January 2020.

Tom has advised the UK government through secondments with Defra (designing a ‘systems research programme’) and the Government Office for Science. He currently sits on the Food Standards Authority science council and expert college for the Office for Environmental Protection. He has advised the European Commission through membership of the EEA scientific committee and bespoke presentations.

For contact details and more information about Tom’s research see here

What work is my real passion and gets me up in the morning?! See my Oct 2024 talk at the Univ. of Oxford Leverhulme Centre for Nature recovery here

Selected popular articles:

Newspapers/Magazines

• The age of the individual must end – our world depends on it The Guardian Jan 2020
• Is racism in our DNA? The Independent April 2020
• Green Man, The Idler magazine, May 2022
• Could teaching about the environment actually be at odds with protecting nature?  ACU Review, Jan 2022
• The human virome: the trillions of viruses in your body keeping you alive BBC Science Focus, Feb 2021
• The illusion of individualism helped us succeed as a species – but now the scales are tipping BBC Science Focus Mar 2020

The Conversation and Blogs

• How to foster kinship with nature to tackle the planetary environmental crisis, ‘Leading Through Storms’ blog Sept 2024
• A new campaign wants to redefine the word ‘nature’ to include humans – here’s why this linguistic argument matters The Conversation, May 2024
• Feeling depleted? So is the planet. Here’s how to move from exhaustion to empowerment The Conversation, April 2024
• 23 Inner Development Goals for Environmental Sustainability Psychology Today, Nov 2023
• Inner change to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis Psychology Today, Apr 2023
• How do Nature and Self-Identity interact Psychology Today, Dec 2022
• Biodiversity- world leaders are negotiating new targets to protect nature by 2030- the story so far The Conversation Oct, 2021
• Nature: how do you put a price on something that has infinite worth?  The Conversation, Jan 2021
• Biodiversity: where the world is making progress – and where it’s not The Conversation, Sept 2020
• Climate crisis: we are not individuals fighting a faceless system – we are the system that needs to change   The Conversation Jan 2020
• To fight climate change, science must be mobilised like it was in World War II, The Conversation Oct 2019
• Tipping point: huge wildlife loss threatens the life support of our small planet The Conversation  Nov 2019

Selected interviews:

Interview on BBC World Service on global policy progress in tackling biodiversity loss and climate change. Listen here

Euronews interview on interlinked environmental, economic and health crises:

 

Channel 4 News interview on global biodiversity loss:

 

BBC News interview on UK drought impacts on ecosystems

 

A snippet from Royal Geographical Society event  ‘How can we tackle the climate and biodiversity crises?’ 12th June 2023