Emeritus Professor Michael Depledge CBE PhD, DSc, FRSB, FRCP. University of Exeter Medical School, UK.
Depledge has conducted medical and ecotoxicological research for more than 45 years. His findings appear in more than 400 publications in the peer reviewed international literature. His studies address the interconnections between the environment and human health, especially the toxicity of anthropogenic chemicals, including pharmaceuticals, and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. He has also pioneered the use natural environments in fostering improvements in human health and wellbeing. Depledge was formerly a founding board member of Natural England, a Commissioner of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and Chief Scientific Advisor of the Environment Agency. He is currently a Special Advisor to the Eden Project.
He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for services to environment and human health science. In 2020 Prof Depledge along with three colleagues, was awarded the Edouard Delcroix Prize for pioneering research on the Blue Gym – a programme using the coastal environment to foster human health and wellbeing.
