Career Track

I was then promoted into commissioning and developed two dictionaries (Baillière's Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary and Baillière's Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Nursing and Allied Health) using bespoke lexicographic software. These projects involved the budgeting, planning and supervision/management of a team of editors and compilers as well as the use of computers to compile the dictionaries.

Chapman & Hall (Life Sciences): I then joined Chapman & Hall as a Commissioning Editor, involving the planning and commissioning of new publishing products, budgeting, active chasing of the manuscripts, planning new editions, and liaising with colleagues, particularly other Life Science editors, marketing, sub-editorial and production personnel. I also inherited and managed a large portion of a profitable and prestigious backlist of titles.

In addition to books, I also commissioned two successful new journals: Biodiversity and Conservation and Ecotoxicology and was involved in the development of a number of others. I also negotiated publishing agreements with some major environmental organisations such as: the World Conservation Union (IUCN) publishing Protected Landscapes and Tropical Deforestation and Species Extinction; the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) publishing Saving Our Planet and The World Environment 1972-1992 and Beyond Silent Spring; the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) publishing Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's Living Resources; and the World Wide Fund for Nature, publishing the 'People and Plants' conservation series with titles such as Ethnobotany.

Chapman & Hall (Electronic Publishing): From September 1992 to October 1993, I was seconded to the Scientific Data Division (subsequently called the Electronic Publishing Division) of Chapman & Hall to develop biological database opportunities, adding to Chapman & Hall's existing natural product chemical data (published in both CD-ROM and printed form), and developing other biological databases. During this, I was responsible for the Phytochemical Dictionary of the Leguminosae, published in collaboration with the International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) (published 18 August 1994). During this period I was actively investigating new publishing products in biodiversity, phytochemistry and taxonomy and developed a number of key contacts in these areas, including those concerned about the ethics of collating information about indigenous peoples' knowledge about biodiversity.

Chapman & Hall (Life Sciences): Having returned to the Life Sciences department as Senior Commissioning Editor in October 1993, I continued to develop publishing projects in ecology, environmental science, population biology, conservation and biodiversity. I was particularly active in the development of a number of prestigious book series, such as the Population and Community Biology Series and the Conservation Biology Series. As well as conventional book and journal projects, I actively pursued computer-based products, including in October 1997 an innovative CD-ROM population biology teaching project, using a comprehensive fish dataset called DYNAMICA.

Websites/CD-ROM development: From mid-1995, whilst at Chapman & Hall, I was instrumental in initiating, planning and further development of resource centres on internet, including a "Biodiversity Resource Center" and a "Pest Management Resource Center". I also built a substantial web site for the Institute of Biology, launched at the Scientific Computing96 meeting 23-24 March 1996, and successfully negotiated it to be housed on the Thomson Science web site (until Chapman & Hall was purchased by Wolters Kluwer) - see http://www.iob.org.

The Stationery Office (National Publishing): In December 1997 I joined The Stationery Office as Senior Commissioning Editor, responsible for developing and expanding science publications. This involved negotiations with key government and non-governmental organisations such as the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the British Geological Survey. In July I was promoted to develop pharmaceutical and environmental products, and was responsible for the publication of TICTAC (a CD-ROM for identifying tablets and capsules for the drug enforcement agencies) and developing environmental information on internet (see http://www.envirosearch.co.uk).

Solent Christian Trust (now The Damaris Trust): In April 1999 I joined Solent Christian Trust as Managing Editor of an innovative CD-ROM/internet hybrid product called checkITout, which aims to answer questions about the Christian faith - "Doesn't science disprove the bible? What evidence is there for God?.How can we trust the biblical records?", etc. The product acts as a fully functioning multimedia website on a CD-ROM (with links to external website addresses if the user also has access online) - including video, animations and interactive question-and-answer sessions, together with an enormous amount of textual material by expert philosophers, theologians, scientists and historians. The managing of this complex project involved commissioning material and CD-ROM/multimedia/web design skills.

Personal Interests

Speaking/writing: I speak and write regularly on science/faith interface issues (evolution and creation, bioethics) and on environmental issues.

Science in Society: I recently advised the theatre company "Riding Lights" about funding (from Wellcome) to take their play "Science Friction" into schools and I toured with the company for much of latter part of the tour. See more on this at Science Friction.

Bioethics: I have a personal interest in a range of bioethical issues, particularly environmental ethics, biodiversity conservation, intellectual property rights in ethnobiology, genetic manipulation of organisms, the new reproductive technologies, the evolution-creation controversy and the use of animals in experimentation.

I was involved in a theological consultation working group for the Evangelical Alliance on the ethics of Genetically Modified crops, the results of which were published as a book Modifying Creation? GM Crops and Foods: A Christian Perspective published by Paternoster Press (ISBN: 1-8422-7100-8), available from Amazon.co.uk. See Press Release.

Environmental education: I was a founding Director/Trustee of The John Ray Initiative, an environmental charity set up to promote effective action in environmental stewardship based on Christian teaching and the supporting roles of science and technology (see http://www.jri.org.uk). I now act as adviser to The JRI.

Environmental ethics: I arranged with Nigel Cooper two sessions at INTECOL congresses:

• "Concepts of nature: the social context and ethical implications of ecology", Florence, Italy, 22 July 1998, published as a special issue of Biodiversity and Conservation, 9(8), August 2000, pp. 1007-1217.
• "Ecologists and ethical judgements", Manchester, 22-26 August 1994, published as a special issue of Biodiversity and Conservation, 4(8), November 1995, pp. 781-937. This was also published as a book: N. S. Cooper & R C J Carling (eds) Ecologists and Ethical Judgements (Chapman & Hall 1996).