Professor Jacqueline McGlade

Professor Jacqueline McGlade received the GSDI 2013 Global Citizen Award “Jacqueline McGlade is a truly exceptional global citizen, serving the needs of others internationally and globally…as a result of her fervent belief in the value of collecting and integrating environmental information at local, national and global levels, and her drive in creating the means to share that information with the global community, especially citizens, our planet has a better chance of surviving the environmental challenges ahead.” (2013 Global Citizen Award citation) She is currently Professor in International Public Policy and Natural Capital at the Strathmore University Business School in Nairobi Kenya. Since 2000, Prof. McGlade has been a Professor of Resilience and Sustainable Development in the Institute for Global Prosperity and Engineering Department at University College London, UK. Between 2013-2017, she was the UN Environment’s Chief Scientist, Director of Science and Chief Statistician, spearheading the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Indicator Development. Prior to this, she served as the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency (2003-13), Director of the UK Centre for Coastal and Marine Sciences (1997-2000), Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Warwick (1992-1997), Director of Theoretical Ecology at the FZ Jülich (1987-92) and Senior Scientist at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in the Federal Government of Canada (1981-87). She is a Fellow of Darwin College, University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the Linnean Society and the Royal Society for Arts and Manufacturing, and a Knight of the Order of St James (Monaco) for services to marine sciences. She is the recipient of a number of honours and prizes for her research and work, especially on citizen science, ecology and spatial data and information. She holds a number of key advisory roles including for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, China Council, and the European Space Agency. She is a leading expert in citizen science and citizen generated data, natural capital and ecosystem dynamics, sustainable development, environmental informatics, and has produced more than 200 publications plus award winning films and radio series. Professor Jacqueline McGlade is married to Patrick Ole Letura, a local chief and wildlife guide. They look after more than 60 children at their village called Ewangan, a traditional manyatta close to the Maasai Mara Wildlife Game Reserve and Sekenani, Narok Kenya.