James Barber #
Obituary
, Imperial College London
Curriculum vitae#
EDUCATION AND CAREER:
- 1961 Awarded Technical State Scholarship
- 1964 B.Sc. Hons. Chemistry (Wales)
- 1964 Awarded Nuffield Biological Fellowship
- 1965 M.Sc. in Biophysics, University of East Anglia
- 1967 Ph.D. in Biophysics, University of East Anglia
- 1967 Awarded the Unilever Biochem. Soc. Eur. Fellowship,
- 1967 - 68 Biophysics Dept., Univ. Leiden, The Netherlands
- 1968 - 74 Lecturer, Imperial College London
- 1974 - 79 Reader in Plant Physiology, Imperial College London
- 1979 - 90 Professor of Plant Physiology, Imperial College London
- 1989 - 91 Dean of the Royal College of Science, Imperial College London
- 1989 - 99 Head of the Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College London
- 1990- Director, Centre for Photomolecular Sciences, Imperial College London
- 1990- Ernst Chain Professor of Biochemistry, Imperial College London
- 2009 - present Visiting Professor Politecnico di Totino (Italy)
- 2010 - 12 Visiting Nanyang Visiting Professor Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
- 2012 - present Canon Visiting Professor Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
HONOURS:
- 1989 Elected Member of Academia Europaea
- 1989 & 2001 Miller Visiting Professorship at Berkeley, UC, USA
- 1992 Honorary Doctorate, University of Stockholm, Sweden
- 1995 Selby Fellow, Australian Academy of Science
- 2000 Burroughs Wellcome Fund/Federation of American Soc. for Experimental Biol. Visiting Prof. Award in Basic Medical Sciences, Univ. California, USA
- 2002 The Flintoff Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry, London, UK
- 2003 Elected foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- 2005 Elected to the Fellowship of The Royal Society London
- 2005 Awarded the Italgas Prize for Energy and Environment
- 2006 Awarded Novartis Prize and Medal of The Biochemistry Society
- 2007 Awarded Wheland Medal and Prize of the University of Chicago
- 2007 Elected President of the International Society for Photosynthesis Research
- 2008 Arnon Lecture and Prize ( UC Berkeley )
- 2008 Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitor to Singapore
- 2010 Honorary DSc ,University of East Anglia
- 2011 Sir Ernst Chain Distinguished Lecture (London, UK)
- 2013 Interdisciplinary Prize and Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry
NAMED LECTURES:
- 1987 C.I.L. Distinguished Lecturer, Brock University Canada:
- 1995 The Ostwald Lecturer, Max-Planck-Institüt für Biophysik, Frankfurt:
- 1995 Selby Lecturer, Australian Academy of Sciences, Canberra
- Burrough-Wellcome Fund Lecturer, UC Berkeley, USA
- 2004 Stedman Lecture, Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Swansea. UK.
- 2005 Drummond Lecture, Queen Mary College London. UK.
- BSA Distinguished Lecture at Brookhaven National Lab., USA,
- 2006 Italgas Prize Lecture, Calabria and Torino, Italy.
- 2006 Novartis Medal Lecture, BioSciences2006, Glasgow. UK.
- 2007 Wheland Medel Lectures, University of Chicago, USA.
- 2008 Daniel Arnon Lecture, University of California, Berkeley. USA
- Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitors Lectures, Singapore.
- 2010 University G8 Lecture on Energy, Torino, Italy)
- 2011 Sir Ernst Chain Distinguish Lecture, Imperial College London, UK.
- 2012 Lectio Maigstralis, University of Torino, Italy.
- 2014 RSC Interdisciplinary Prize and Medal Lecture, RSC, London, UK
In addition numerous Plenary and Symposia Lectures given at International Meetings, frequently as opening speaker (see below for most recent)
LECTURES 2010:
1st February Lorentz Institute Discussion Meeting, Leiden, The Netherlands. The Artificial Leaf Invited talk “Natural Photosynthesis and Fuel Supply”
19th March University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Invited Lecture “How biology solved its energy problem”
18th April 5th EPSO Conference, Finland “From Photosynthesis to Solar Fuels”
20th May All Energy Conference, Aberdeen, UK. “Piemonte Region, at the forefront of European Renewable Energies: the Biosolar Lab project”
1st June. University of Torino Retreat, PraCatinal, Peidmonte, UK. “From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis to Generate Fuel for the Future”
4th June. Molecular Frontiers Symposium on alternative energy & molecules, Stockholm, Sweden. "Water splitting: Learning from Nature"
15th June. Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N). 2nd Annual Workship on Energy Research, NTU, Singapore. “Solar Fuels from Natural and Artificial Photosynthesis”
20th July. 2nd Conference of Polish Society of Experimental Plant Biology, Krakow, Poland. “Structure of Photosystem II and its implications”
29th August. 2nd International Symposium on Solar Fuels and Solar Cells, Dalian, China. “Can we build an Artificial Leaf for Solar Fuel production?”
15th September. EUROBIOTECH 2010 Krakow, Poland. “Can we build an Artificial Leaf for Solar Fuel production?”
23rd September. 28th Annual Convention of Biotechnologists, Aachen, Germany Planery Lecture. “Can we build an Artificial Leaf for Solar Fuel production?”
12th 10th Nordic Photosynthesis Congress, Tartu, Esonia. “Photosystem Two Structure: Successes and Challenges”
24th October BIOEN Workshop on Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis: Structure and Dynamics,Sao Paulo, Brazil “Photosynthetic water splitting and the structure of PSII”
4th November. Festival della Scienza (FdS), 2010 Edition, Genova, Italy. "Building an Artificial Leaf to Capture and Store Solar Energy"
24th November. University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. Invited Lecture "Can we build an artificial leaf to converts solar energy into fuel?"
LECTURES 2011:
7th April. Energethica Conference, Torino, Italy. Planery Lecture “From natural to artificial photosynthesis for solar fuels”
13th April. University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Invited Lecture “How biology solved its energy problem”
25th May. Repsol Research Centre, Madrid, Spain. Presentation “What is Artificial Photosynthesis”
5th July. Challenges in Renewable Energy (ISACS4), MIT, Boston, USA. Invited Lecture "Revealing how Nature uses sunlight to split water"
24th July. Photosynthesis Research for Sustainability, Baku, Azerbaijan. Opening Lecture “From natural to artificial photosynthesis”
28th August. EBSA Course on Solar Energy - Biological and Biomimetic Solutions, at the Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary. "From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuel Production”
7th September. Nanyang Technological University, Biology Department, Photosynthesis Research for Sustainability “From natural to artificial photosynthesis”
20th Septembber. Accademia delle Scienze di Torino. Torino, Italy. Convegno internazionale: Chimica e sostenibilita: Problema Energetico. Plenary Lecture “From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuel Production”
8th October. European Imperial College Alumni invited talk, Brussels, Belgium. “Can we build an artificial leaf to convert solar energy into fuel?”
31st October 17th IUPAD International Biophysics Congress, Beijing, China. Invited Symposium Lecture 'Revealing how Nature uses sunlight to split water'
4th November. International Workshop on Photosystem II, Chengdu, China. “Photosystem II of Acaryochloris marina: Variation on a Theme”
23rd November. Sir Ernst Chain Distinguish Lecture, Imperial College London, UK. “The Big Bang of Evolution and The Engine of Life”
7th December. 3rd GlobalTech Workshop on Energy Research for Global Sustainability. Bombay Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India. Invited Plenary Lecture "Can we build an Artificial Leaf to efficiently convert Solar Energy into Fuel?"
LECTURES 2012:
12th January. Symposium on New Approaches to Emerging Energy Systems, Royal Society of Chemistry and British High Commission, NTU, Singapore Opening Lecture “From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuel Production”
3rd February. Max Plank Institute for Plasma Physics Munich, Germany. Invited Lecture “From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuel Production”
15th February. University College London, UK. Invited Lecture. "Revealing how Nature uses sunlight to split water"
8th March.. Institute of Chemical Research at Catalonia, Spain. Invited Lecture. “From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuel Production”
18th April. European Energy Conference 2012, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Invited Plenary Lecture “From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuel Production”
25th April. Seacourt Ltd sponsored meeting on sustainability at the House of Commons, London, UK. “From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesisfor Solar Fuel Production”
27th April. ESF-Eurocore meeting CNR Bologna, Italy. Opening Lecture “Where are we with solar fuel research?”
3rd May.. Royal Society Discussion Meeting, Kavli Centre, UK “Structure and Dynamics of the Thylakoid Membrane”
17th May. Royal Society of Chemistry policy meeting. Burligham House, LondonOpening Lecture. “What are Solar Fuels and why do we need them”
24th May. “Ecosystems Smart Actions” ,University of Torino, Ital, Lectio Maigstralis, “Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels”
3rd June. 77th Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology. The Biology of Plants, Cold Spring Harbor, USA. Plenary Lecture. “Photosysten II: The water slitting enzyme of photosynthesis”
11th &12th June. Second International Workshop on Natural and Artificial Photosynthesis, Bioenergetics and Sustainability. Institute of Advanced Studies, NTU, Singapore. Opening presentation “The question of population and energy” and Scientific Lecture
8th to 13th July. Photosynthesis Gordon Conference, Davidson College, Davidson, NC. Opening lecture “Photosystem II structure: success and challenges”
8th October Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Chemistry Committee. “From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuel Production”
LECTURES 2013:
10th October Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow “From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuel Production”
PUBLIC AWARENESS OF SCIENCE:
Several interviews on radio and television and the production of two programmes for the BBC/Open University.
- 1987 “Harvesting the Sun”
- 1994 “Engine of Life”
- 1989-2000 Scientific judge of scripts for Public Awareness of Science through TV drama (PAWS) competition
- 2006 Various TV interviews in Italy as the 2005 Italgas Prize winner and also in Russia in connection with the special international meeting on photosynthesis held in my honour.
- 2008-10 TV interviews in Baku, Azerbaijan, Italy and Singapore as a result of key note lectures
PUBLICATIONS:
Over 600 research and review papers. H-index 72
