Simon H King, Haith’s Associate Director has recently been elected a Fellow of The Linnean Society of London, the world’s oldest active biological society.
The Society was founded in 1788 by Sir James Edward Smith (1759–1828), who was its first President, and takes its name from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) whose botanical, zoological and library collections have been in its keeping since 1829. – https://www.linnean.org/the-society
The Society is a forum for Natural History: ’It was at a meeting of the Society in 1858 that papers from Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace outlining the theory of evolution by natural selection were first presented.’
‘I’m thrilled to have been elected a Fellow,’ says Simon. ‘I first visited The Linnean Society for research purposes because I was working on the Maxwell Knight project with veterinary advisor John E. Cooper and Margaret E. Cooper. Knight was a BBC natural history broadcaster and MI5 spy-handler; however, he was also an early pioneer of bird gardening and encouraged his listeners to get out there and enjoy nature and feed healthy diets. These are some of things I try to emulate in my Wildlife Adventures with an iPhone feature. It turns out that Maxwell Knight was himself a Fellow of The Society, and I’m, therefore, proud to be following in Knight’s, and Margaret Cooper’s (who kindly put me forward to the ballot) footsteps.
Above photo: Margaret Cooper, FLS, and Prof. John E Cooper outside The Linnean Society of London
I’d like to thank Margaret Cooper, FLS for submitting the Certificate of Recommendation and Fellows who elected me in the ballot.
I’m looking forward to being formally admitted by signing the Roll & Charter at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London.
Simon
Written by Simon H. King
