Graham A.C. Bell

Evolutionary biologist with four major contributions. First, a series of theoretical investigations, summarized in his influential book, The Masterpiece of Nature (1982), addressing why organisms reproduce sexually when there are well-known advantages to asexual reproduction. Second, a series of laboratory investigations into the ecological and genetic determinants of fitness variation in micro-organisms, which has led to theoretical investigations of evolution simulated in computers ("in silico"). Third, his neutral model of patterns of abundance of species in nature, which enables community ecologists to understand how complex natural communities of organisms arise and function. Fourth, his experimental investigations of what will happen to organisms in nature with a continuing rise in temperature and carbon dioxide, showing that evolutionary change can be realistically expected in response to environmental deterioration. Currently, president of the Academy of Sciences of the Royal Society of Canada.