Professor Aubrey William George Manning OBE FRSE FIBiol (born 24 April 1930 in London, UK) is a distinguished English zoologist and broadcaster.

Life

Manning was born in Chiswick, but moved with his family to Englefield Green in Surrey when the Second World War broke out.¹ He was educated at Strode's School in Egham, at University College London where he read zoology and then at Merton College, Oxford where he completed his DPhil under Niko Tinbergen. After National Service he joined the University of Edinburgh as an assistant lecturer. His main research and teaching interests are on animal behaviour, development and evolution. He has been involved with environmental issues since 1966 and with the Centre for Human Ecology since its inception at the University of Edinburgh in 1970. He was Professor of Natural History at the university from 1973-1997. In December 1997, a gallery in the Natural History Collection of Edinburgh University was named in his honour on his retirement. He is now Emeritus Professor.

Honours and public offices

Manning was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1973) and received an OBE in 1998. He also holds honorary doctorates from Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, the University of St Andrews, and the Open University. He received the Zoological Society of London Silver Medal in 2003 for public understanding of science.

Among his many posts, he has been Chairman of Edinburgh Brook Advisory Centre, Chairman of Council of the Scottish Wildlife Trust and a trustee of the National Museums of Scotland and of and Project Wallacea. He is President of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and Patron of the Optimum Population Trust.

Writing and broadcasting

He has written An Introduction to Animal Behaviour (1967) Cambridge University Press, which is now in its fifth edition. His television broadcasts have included: the BBC Two's Earth Story and Talking Landscapes. His radio broadcasts included The Rules of Life for BBC Radio 4 and the Open University in 2006.² He also broadcast five series of Radio 4's Unearthing Mysteries, Sounds of Life and Origins: the Human Connection.

Family

In 1959 he married Dr Margaret Bastock (d. 1982) with whom he had two sons. In 1985 he married Joan Hermann PhD with whom he had another son.

References

External links

• Aubrey Manning at the Internet Movie Database
• Presenter of Seven Natural Wonders of the South