Christopher John Pollock (born 28 March 1947) is a British

research scientist A scientist is a person who researches to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical study of nature ...

. Chris Pollock was born in 1947 in Handsworth, Birmingham. He studied at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

. Pollock graduated from

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

with a PhD degree in

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

in 1971, and with a DSc degree in 1993 for a thesis on ‘Temperature, growth and carbohydrate metabolism in plants’. In 2003 Pollock was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

government's main advisory committee on risks to human health and the environment from the release and marketing of GM crops and other genetically modified organisms. Pollock was Chief Scientific Adviser to the First Minister of the

Welsh Assembly The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

Government from 2007 to 2008. Pollock is Independent Co-Chair of the Science Advisory Council for Wales. Pollock was Director of the

Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research An institute is an organizational 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 ...

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

from 1993 to 2007. Pollock resigned from the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

’s

Bovine TB ''Mycobacterium bovis'' is a slow-growing (16- to 20-hour generation time) aerobic bacterium and the causative agent of tuberculosis in cattle (known as bovine TB). It is related to ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'', the bacterium which causes tube ...

Eradication Programme Board in 2012, over the Welsh government's reversal of a planned badger cull. In 2012 at the

Farmers' Union of Wales The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW), known as the in Welsh, is a member organisation that was formed in 1955 to represent farmers in Wales. History Split from the NFU Prior to the FUW, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) was the only or ...

’ annual conference held at

Pollock stated, regarding the Welsh Government's bovine TB policy, that in areas of high disease incidence vaccination would not prevent infected badgers from infecting cattle. Pollock also stated, at the Farmers’ Union of Wales’ annual conference held at Aberystwyth in 2012, that there was no scientific evidence that GM crop technology was inherently unsafe and that GM crops had a twenty-year history of safe use worldwide. Chris Pollock was chairman of the independent Scientific Steering Committee for the programme of farm-scale evaluations of GM crops. He was chairman of the Research Priorities Group for Sustainable Farming and Food. He was chairman of

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds science, scient ...

’s Plants and Microbial Sciences Committee and Review Group on Sustainable Agriculture and Land Use. He is an Honorary Professor at

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

and the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

. Pollock was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2002 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in sup ...

, for services to the environment. He is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies (FRAgS) and a Fellow of the

Institute of Biology The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societie ...

. Pollock is a former winner of the British Grassland Society Award. He was awarded the honorary degree of DUniv by

in 2011. In 2014, Pollock was elected a

Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales The Learned Society of Wales () is a national academy, 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. The Learned ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, Christopher John Living people 1947 births Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Academics of Aberystwyth University Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British scientists Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales