David Suzuki author page

David Suzuki biography

David Suzuki is a Canadian geneticist, science broadcaster, and environmental campaigner. He studied biology at Amherst College, graduating in 1958, and earned a PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961. After postdoctoral research in the United States, he returned to Canada to teach genetics at the University of British Columbia, where he remained a faculty member until becoming Professor Emeritus in 2001.

Suzuki’s academic research focused on genetics, including work with fruit flies, but he is most widely known for his role in communicating science to the public. He began presenting on Canadian radio and television in the 1970s, most prominently as host of the CBC science series The Nature of Things, which he has fronted since 1979. He also created and presented It’s a Matter of Survival (1990), a radio series addressing environmental issues.

As an author, Suzuki has written or co-written more than 50 books for adults and children, many centred on ecology, sustainability, and the natural world. His children’s titles include Looking at Plants (1986) and You Are the Earth (1999), introducing younger readers to environmental science.

In 1990 Suzuki co-founded the David Suzuki Foundation with Tara Cullis, focusing on climate change, clean energy, biodiversity, and sustainable practices.

Suzuki has received numerous awards, including the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science in 1986, the Order of Canada in 1976, and promotion to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2006.