The lecture, entitled “Causes and Consequences of the pending extinction spasm” was eloquently delivered by Lord Robert May. The event was held at the Department of zoology, Oxford and was attended by over 140 of Sir John’s friends, relatives and colleagues, sitting alongside a respectable number of the university’s students. After the event Lord May was presented with a memorial medal as were Sir John’s sons, Andrew and Nick. After the event the NBN Trust chairman, Sir Neil Chalmers, invited back some of the guests to Wadham College for drinks.
The NBN Trust is planning the second memorial lecture which it hopes to present at the NBN conference on 21st November 2008.