PROFESSOR IAN OWENS
Day job: Director of Science, Natural History Museum
Trustee since December 2011
Professor Ian Owens is Director of Science at the Natural History Museum, where he has been since June 2011. He joined the Museum from Imperial College London, where he was Head of the Department of Life Sciences.
He has previously worked at the Institute of Zoology, London and at the University of Queensland, Australia, and has had extensive involvement with learned societies, governmental and non-governmental agencies.
He is both an honorary research fellow of the Zoological Society of London and sits on the Natural Environment Research Council’s Post-Genomics and Proteomics steering committee, where he recommends how funds should be awarded.
As Director of Science, Professor Owens oversees the work of over 300 scientists and 150 post graduate students who are based at the Museum. He sets the strategic direction of the Museum’s scientific activities. This includes ensuring that the Museum meets its national and international responsibilities and the wider needs of society.
Professor Owens is also responsible for the Museum’s vast scientific collections. Containing over 70 million scientific specimens from all parts of the world, they are an important resource used by scientific researchers worldwide.