Biography:David Suzuki

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Short description: Canadian scientist and environmentalist

David Suzuki

CC OBC FRSC
Right Livelihood Award 2009-press conference-6.jpg
Suzuki in December 2009
Born
David Takayoshi Suzuki

(1936-03-24) March 24, 1936 (age 88)
Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada
Alma mater
Awards
  • Order of Canada, (OC 1976, CC 2006)
  • UNESCO's Kalinga Prize (1986)
  • Right Livelihood Award (2009)
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of British Columbia
ThesisInterchromosomal effects on crossing over in Drosophila melanogaster (1961)
Doctoral advisorBill Baker
Other academic advisors
  • Bill Hexter
  • Dan Lindsley
Signature
David Suzuki Signature.svg

David Takayoshi Suzuki CC OBC FRSC (born March 24, 1936) is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster, and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department at the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001. Since the mid-1970s, Suzuki has been known for his television and radio series, documentaries and books about nature and the environment. He is best known as host and narrator of the popular and long-running CBC Television science program The Nature of Things, seen in over 40 countries. He is also well known for criticizing governments for their lack of action to protect the environment.

A longtime activist to reverse global climate change, Suzuki co-founded the David Suzuki Foundation in 1990, to work "to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that does sustain us." The Foundation's priorities are: oceans and sustainable fishing, climate change and clean energy, sustainability, and Suzuki's Nature Challenge. The Foundation also works on ways to help protect the oceans from large oil spills such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[1] Suzuki has also served as a director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association from 1982 to 1987.

Suzuki was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2009. His 2011 book, The Legacy, won the Nautilus Book Award. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 2004, Suzuki ranked fifth on the list of final nominees in a CBC Television series that asked viewers to select The Greatest Canadian of all time.

Early life

Suzuki has a twin sister named Marcia, as well as two other siblings, Geraldine (now known as Aiko) and Dawn. He was born in 1936 to Setsu Nakamura and Kaoru Carr Suzuki in Vancouver , British Columbia, where his parents were also born.[2] Suzuki's maternal and paternal grandparents had immigrated to Canada at the beginning of the 20th century from Hiroshima Prefecture and Aichi Prefecture respectively.[3][4]

A third-generation Japanese Canadian ("Canadian Sansei"), Suzuki's family suffered internment in British Columbia early during the Second World War until after the war ended in 1945. In June 1942, the government sold the Suzuki family's dry cleaning business, then interned Suzuki, his mother, and two sisters in a camp at Slocan in the British Columbia Interior.[5] His father had been sent to a labour camp in Solsqua in the Southern Interior region of BC two months earlier. His sister Dawn was born in the internment camp.[6]

After the war, Suzuki's family, like other Japanese Canadian families, were forced to move east of the Rockies. They moved around Ontario, from Etobicoke, Leamington, and eventually to London. In interviews, Suzuki has consistently credited his father for having interested him in and sensitized him to nature.[7]

Suzuki attended Mill Street Elementary School and Grade 9 at Leamington District Secondary School before moving to London, Ontario, where he attended London Central Secondary School.[8]

Academic career

Suzuki received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1958 from Amherst College in Massachusetts where he first developed an interest in genetics,[9] and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961.[10] From 1961 to 1962, Suzuki worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. From 1962 to 1963, he was an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. He was a professor in the genetics department at the University of British Columbia for almost forty years, from 1963 until his retirement in 2001, and has since been professor emeritus at a university research institute.[11]

Early in his research career he studied genetics using the popular model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies). To be able to use his initials in naming any new genes he found, he studied dominant temperature-sensitive (DTS) phenotypes. He jokingly noted at a lecture at Johns Hopkins University that the only alternative subject was "(damn) tough skin."

Broadcasting career

Suzuki in 2006

Suzuki began in television on January 10, 1971 with the weekly children's show Suzuki on Science. In 1974, he founded the radio program Quirks & Quarks, which he also hosted on CBC AM radio (the forerunner of CBC Radio One) from 1975 to 1979. Throughout the 1970s, he also hosted Science Magazine, a weekly program geared towards an adult audience.

Since 1979, Suzuki has hosted The Nature of Things, a CBC television series that has aired in nearly fifty countries worldwide.[12] In this program, Suzuki's aim is to stimulate interest in the natural world, to point out threats to human well-being and wildlife habitat, and to present alternatives to humanity for achieving a more sustainable society. Suzuki has been a prominent proponent of renewable energy sources and the soft energy path.

Suzuki was the host of the critically acclaimed 1993 PBS series The Secret of Life.[13] His 1985 hit series, A Planet for the Taking, averaged more than 1.8 million viewers per episode and earned him a United Nations Environment Programme Medal. His perspective in this series is summed up in his statement: "We have both a sense of the importance of the wilderness and space in our culture and an attitude that it is limitless and therefore we needn't worry." He concludes with a call for a major "perceptual shift" in our relationship with nature and the wild.

Suzuki's The Sacred Balance, a book first published in 1997 and later made into a five-hour mini-series on Canadian public television, was broadcast in 2002.[14][15] Suzuki is now taking part in an advertisement campaign with the tagline "You have the power", promoting energy conservation through various household alternatives, such as the use of compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

For the Discovery Channel, Suzuki also produced "Yellowstone to Yukon: The Wildlands Project" in 1997. The conservation-biology based documentary focused on Dave Foreman's Wildlands Project, which considers how to create corridors between and buffer zones around large wilderness reserves as a means to preserve biological diversity. Foreman developed this project after leaving Earth First! (which he co-founded) in 1990. The conservation biologists Michael Soulé and Reed Noss were also directly involved.

In October 2022, Suzuki announced his retirement from The Nature of Things series in spring 2023.[16][17]

Climate change activism

File:David Suzuki, The Green Interview.webm

Suzuki spoke at the 2007 Global Day of Action event in Vancouver , B.C. The sign in the background refers to the Greater Vancouver Gateway Program.

In February 2008, he urged McGill University students to speak out against politicians who fail to act on climate change, stating, "What I would challenge you to do is to put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there's a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they're doing is a criminal act."[18][19]

Suzuki is unequivocal that climate change is a very real and pressing problem and that an "overwhelming majority of scientists" now agree that human activity is responsible. The David Suzuki Foundation website has a clear statement of this:

The debate is over about whether or not climate change is real. Irrefutable evidence from around the world – including extreme weather events, record temperatures, retreating glaciers, and rising sea levels – all point to the fact climate change is happening now and at rates much faster than previously thought.

The overwhelming majority of scientists who study climate change agree that human activity is responsible for changing the climate. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is one of the largest bodies of international scientists ever assembled to study a scientific issue, involving more than 2,500 scientists from more than 130 countries. The IPCC has concluded that most of the warming observed during the past 50 years is attributable to human activities. Its findings have been publicly endorsed by the National Academies of Science of all G8 nations, as well as those of China , India and Brazil .[20]

Suzuki says that despite this growing consensus, many in the public and the media seemed doubtful about the science for many years. The reason for the confusion about climate change, in Suzuki's view, was due to a well organized campaign of disinformation about the science involved. "A very small number of critics" denies that climate change exists and that humans are the cause. These climate change deniers, Suzuki says, tend not to be climate scientists and do not publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals but rather target the media, the general public, and policy makers. Their goal: "delaying action on climate change." According to Suzuki, deniers have received significant funding from coal and oil companies, including ExxonMobil. They are linked to "industry-funded lobby groups", such as the Information Council on the Environment (ICE),[21] whose aim is to "reposition global warming as theory (not fact)."[20]

Suzuki is a "messenger" / ambassador for the environmental organization 350.org advocating for cutting CO2 emissions and creating climate solutions.[22]

Suzuki has supported ecocide becoming a crime at the International Criminal Court stating "Ecocide is not only a crime against life, it is suicidal for us because we are the apex predator that is utterly dependent on nature's services."[23][24]

Suzuki has attracted criticism for maintaining a lifestyle with a substantial carbon footprint while proselytizing against carbon emissions. Suzuki himself laments that in travelling constantly to spread his message of climate responsibility, he has ended up "over his [carbon] limit by hundreds of tonnes." He says that he has stopped vacationing overseas, and aims to "cluster" his speaking engagements together to reduce his carbon footprint. He would prefer, he says, to appear solely by video conference.[25]

Suzuki has criticized the discipline of economics for not valuing the environment.[26]

In 2021, he said that pipelines would be "blown up" if climate action was not taken; he later apologized.[27]

Social commentary

Suzuki signing a copy of his work

Genetically modified food

Suzuki has been criticized[28] for his pseudoscientific[29][30][31][32] beliefs on GMOs. Suzuki has written that "products of biotechnology are being rammed into our food, onto our fields and into our medicines, without any public participation in discussions and with the complicity, indeed, the active support and funding of governments. But there are profound health, ecological and economic ramifications of this activity."[33] In a 1999 CP Wire article, Suzuki is quoted as saying: "Any politician or scientist who tells you these products are safe is either very stupid or lying."[34] In an interview with CBC TV, Suzuki argues that the science showing GMOs are safe is "very, very bad science" and that the commercialization of GMOs is "driven by money."[35] His foundation's website includes an "Understanding GMO" page which claims "the safety of GMO foods is unproven and a growing body of research connects these foods with health concerns."[36]

Fukushima

In a 2013 speech on water policy at the University of Alberta, Suzuki claimed that a second emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant would require the evacuation of the North American west coast. Three months later, he admitted that his comment was "off-the-cuff."[37] However, Suzuki still speculates that another earthquake could trigger a new nuclear disaster in Fukushima,[38] as the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission paper he cited in his aforementioned speech at the University of Alberta states that such a disaster could call for the evacuation of over 10 million Japanese residents.[37]

Immigration

In 2013, in the French news magazine L'Express, Suzuki called Canada's immigration policy "disgusting" (We "plunder southern countries to deprive them of their future leaders, and wish to increase our population to support economic growth") and insisted that "Canada is full" ("Our useful area is reduced").[39]

Canadian justice system

While being interviewed by Tony Jones on Australia's ABC TV network in September 2013, Suzuki repeated the claim from Canadian media that the Harper government was building prisons even though crime rates were declining in Canada.[40][41][42] He suggested that the prisons might be being built so that Stephen Harper can incarcerate environmental activists.[40][43] Jean-Christophe De Le Rue, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, denied the claims, emphasizing that the Canadian government is not building any prisons, nor do they have plans to build any.[43] However, in 2011, the Harper government did announce a 5-year, "$2-billion federal prison-building boom" to add "over 2,700 beds to men's and women's prisons across Canada" with $517-million already "spent on prison construction" in 2010–2011.[41][44][45]

Personal life

Suzuki was married to Setsuko Joane Sunahara[46] from 1958 to 1965; the couple had three children.[47] In 1973, Suzuki married a second time to Tara Elizabeth Cullis,[48] with whom he had two daughters: Severn Cullis-Suzuki and Sarika Cullis-Suzuki. As of 2022, he has ten grandchildren, including snowboarder and filmmaker Tamo Campos.[49][50][51] His cousin’s grandchildren are Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, and Carolina Hurricanes player Ryan Suzuki.[52]

Suzuki is an atheist.[53]

Suzuki was criticized by the National Post for owning multiple homes "because he often preaches the virtues of minimalism".[54]

Awards and honours

Suzuki receives the Right Livelihood Award from Jakob von Uexküll.
  • Suzuki is an appointee to the Order of Canada, first as an Officer (1976), then upgraded to Companion status in (2006),[55] the Order of British Columbia (1995), and is the recipient of[56] UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science (1986)[57] and a long list of Canadian and international honours.
  • Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977.
  • 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1992.
  • Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.
  • Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
  • In 2004, Suzuki was nominated as one of the top ten "Greatest Canadians" by viewers of the CBC. In the final vote he ranked fifth, making him the greatest living Canadian.[58] Suzuki said that his own vote was for Tommy Douglas who was the eventual winner.
  • In 2006, Suzuki was the recipient of the Bradford Washburn Award presented at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts.[59]
  • In 2007, Suzuki was honoured by Global Exchange, with the International Human Rights Award.
  • In 2009, Suzuki was awarded the honorary Right Livelihood Award.[60]
  • He was the subject of Sturla Gunnarsson's 2010 documentary film Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie.
  • On June 23, 2015, Suzuki was awarded the Freedom of the City by the Vancouver City Council, which entitled him to the title Freeman of the City of Vancouver.[61]

Honourary degrees

Suzuki has been awarded honourary degrees from many universities.[62]

Location Date School Degree
 Prince Edward Island 1974 University of Prince Edward Island Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[63]
 Ontario June 1979 University of Windsor Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[64]
 Nova Scotia 1979 Acadia University Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[65]
 Ontario Fall 1981 Trent University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[66]
 Alberta 1986 University of Calgary Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Illinois 1986 Governors State University Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL)[67]
 Ontario 1986 Lakehead University Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[68]
 Ontario June 1987 McMaster University Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[69]
 Ontario 1987 Queen's University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[70]
 Ontario 1987 Carleton University Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[71]
 Massachusetts 1989 Amherst College Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[72]
 Queensland 16 April 1997 Griffith University Doctor of the University (D.Univ)[73]
 Washington 1999 Whitman College Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[74]
 Maine 2000 Unity College Doctor of Environmental Science
 British Columbia 2000 Simon Fraser University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[75]
 Ontario Spring 2005 York University Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[76]
 Quebec 2005 Université du Québec à Montréal Doctor of Science (D.Sc)
 South Australia 2005 Flinders University Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[77]
 Ontario 2007 Ryerson University Doctor of Communications[78]
 Quebec 2007 Université de Montréal Doctor of Science (D.Sc)
 Ontario 10 August 2007 University of Western Ontario Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[79]
 Ontario 2008 Lambton College Diploma in Alternative Energy Engineering Technology[80]
 Newfoundland and Labrador May 2009 Memorial University of Newfoundland Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[81]
 Nova Scotia 2010 Université Sainte-Anne Doctorate
 Quebec 2011 Université Laval Doctor of Communications
 British Columbia 25 November 2011 University of British Columbia Doctor of Science (D.Sc)[82][83]
 Ontario June 2012 University of Guelph Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[84]
 Manitoba 2015 University of Winnipeg Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [85][86]
 Alberta 7 June 2018 University of Alberta Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)[87]
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Publications

Suzuki is the author of 52 books (nineteen for children), including David Suzuki: The Autobiography, Tree, The Sacred Balance, Genethics, Wisdom of the Elders, Inventing the Future, and the best-selling Looking At Senses a series of children's science books. This is a partial list of publications[88] by Suzuki:

  • Sciencescape – The Nature of Canada (1986) – with Hans Blohm and Marjorie Harris
  • Pebbles to Computers: The Thread (1986) – with Hans Blohm and Stafford Beer
  • Metamorphosis: Stages in a life (1987) ISBN:0-773-72139-8
  • Genethics: The Clash between the New Genetics and Human Values (1990)
  • It's a Matter of Survival (1991) ISBN:0-674-46970-4
  • Time to Change (1994)
  • The Japan We Never Knew: A Journey of Discovery (1997) – with Keibo Oiwa
  • The Sacred Balance (1997)
  • From Naked Ape to Superspecies: A Personal Perspective on Humanity and the Global Ecocrisis (1999) – with Holly Dressel. ISBN:0-773-73194-6
    • From Naked Ape to Superspecies: Humanity and the Global Eco-Crisis, (2nd edition 2004) – with Holly Dressel. ISBN:1-553-65031-X
  • Good News for a Change: Hope for a Troubled Planet (2001) – with Holly Dressel. ISBN:0-773-73307-8
  • More Good News (2003)[89]
    • More Good News: Real Solutions to the Global Eco-Crisis (Revised ed. 2010) – with Holly Dressel. ISBN:1-553-65475-7
  • David Suzuki: The Autobiography (2006)
  • David Suzuki's Green Guide (2008) – with David Boyd
  • The Big Picture: Reflections on Science, Humanity, and a Quickly Changing Planet (2009) – with David Taylor
  • The Legacy: An Elder's vision for a sustainable future (2010) – with foreword by Margaret Atwood
  • Letters to My Grandchildren (2015) ISBN:978-1771640886
  • Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (2010), 93-minute documentary DVD (210616DV)[90][91][92]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Protecting Canada from an Oil Spill". David Suzuki Foundation. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/oceans/science/marine-planning-and-conservation/protecting-canada-from-an-oil-spill/. 
  2. ↑ Suzuki, David. "Excerpt from The Legacy: An Elder's Vision for Our Sustainable Future by David Suzuki". http://davidsuzuki.org/david/excerpt-from-the-legacy-an-elders-vision-for-our-sustainable-future-by-david-suz/. 
  3. ↑ Kosaka, Kris (April 25, 2009). "Environmentalist David Suzuki has words of warning for ancestral homeland". The Japan Times. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2009/04/25/general/environmentalist-david-suzuki-has-words-of-warning-for-ancestral-homeland/. 
  4. ↑ Suzuki, David (1987). Metamorphosis: Stages in a Life. Stoddart. pp. 20. ISBN 9780773721395. https://archive.org/details/metamorphosissta00suzu. 
  5. ↑ Gordon, K. (2007) The Slocan Valley – Our History , Slocan Valley Economic Development Commission. Retrieved on July 28, 2007.
  6. ↑ Panorama (May 3, 2007). "May is Asian Heritage Month". Metroland Media. http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/7514-may-is-asian-heritage-month/. 
  7. ↑ "David Suzuki | The Canadian Encyclopedia". https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/david-suzuki. 
  8. ↑ Wong, Jan (1997-02-20). "Lunch with Jan Wong: Free clams, an eyeball and Suzuki's world view", The Globe and Mail, p. E1.
  9. ↑ "David Suzuki". Foundation Guide. https://foundationguide.org/philanthropist/david-suzuki/. 
  10. ↑ Suzuki, David Takayoshi (1961). Interchromosomal effects on crossing over in Drosophila melanogaster (PhD). The University of Chicago. OCLC 49442104 – via ProQuest.
  11. ↑ "David Suzuki's profile". http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/258/111. 
  12. ↑ "CBC website on Nature of Things". 2007-05-18. http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/timeline.html. 
  13. ↑ Review of The Secret of Life 25 September 1993 New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  14. ↑ "Broadcast schedule of The Sacred Balance". http://www.sacredbalance.com/web/portal/index.php?singleid=151. 
  15. ↑ "Production Team of The Sacred Balance". 2002-10-13. http://www.sacredbalance.com/web/peopleresults.html?command=search&db=data/people.db&lastnamesort=1&firstnamesort=2&woroledatarq=production&mytitle=Production. 
  16. ↑ "David Suzuki is retiring from The Nature of Things to focus on activism and calling out 'BS'" (in en-CA). 24 October 2022. https://ca.news.yahoo.com/david-suzuki-announces-retirement-nature-010100469.html. 
  17. ↑ "CBC's 'The Nature of Things' Names Sarika Cullis-Suzuki and Anthony Morgan as New Hosts (EXCLUSIVE)" (in en-US). 30 November 2022. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/cbc-nature-things-names-sarika-161500735.html. 
  18. ↑ Babbage, Sarah (2008-02-04). "Jail Politicians Who Ignore Science: Suzuki". Canada: The McGill Daily. http://www.mcgilldaily.com/view.php?aid=6970. 
  19. ↑ Offman, Craig (2008-02-07). "Jail politicians who ignore climate science: Suzuki". National Post (Canada). https://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=290513. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Climate change deniers". Climate Change Science and Policy. David Suzuki Foundation. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/climate-change/science/climate-change-basics/climate-change-deniers/. 
  21. ↑ The Heat is Online. "The Coal Industry's "ICE" Campaign (1999)". Retrieved on: 2011-08-13.
  22. ↑ "International day of demonstrations on climate change". October 26, 2009. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/24/international.climate.change.demonstrations/. 
  23. ↑ "Supporters of Ecocide Law" (in en-US). https://www.stopecocide.earth/supporters. 
  24. ↑ Editor, David Suzuki with contributions from Senior; Hanington, Writer Ian. "Herman Daly saw economy, ecology and ethics as inseparable" (in en-US). https://davidsuzuki.org/story/herman-daly-saw-economy-ecology-and-ethics-as-inseparable/. 
  25. ↑ Cernetig, Miro. "Suzuki gets the irony as popularity increases". Vancouver Sun (CanWest Global). http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=b69c68be-dbd3-4b83-81da-a2c2dc09ce5f. 
  26. ↑ Jerema, Carson. "David Suzuki honorary degree sends bad message about education: economist". https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/david-suzuki-honorary-degree-sends-bad-message-about-education-economist. 
  27. ↑ McSheffrey, Elizabeth (25 November 2021). "David Suzuki apologizes for 'poorly chosen' words about pipelines being 'blown up'". Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/8402824/david-suzuki-apologizes-pipelines-comment/. 
  28. ↑ "David Suzuki: Canada's 'science guy' turned eccentric anti-GMO, chemical scaremonger?". 5 January 2019. https://geneticliteracyproject.org/glp-facts/david-suzuki-canadas-science-guy-turned-eccentric-anti-gmo-chemical-scaremonger/. 
  29. ↑ Nicolia, Alessandro; Manzo, Alberto; Veronesi, Fabio; Rosellini, Daniele (2013). "An overview of the last 10 years of genetically engineered crop safety research". Critical Reviews in Biotechnology 34 (1): 77–88. doi:10.3109/07388551.2013.823595. PMID 24041244. https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/3337/peer%20reviewed%20meta%20study%20on%20GMOs%20copy.pdf. "We have reviewed the scientific literature on GE crop safety for the last 10 years that catches the scientific consensus matured since GE plants became widely cultivated worldwide, and we can conclude that the scientific research conducted so far has not detected any significant hazard directly connected with the use of GM crops.

    The literature about Biodiversity and the GE food/feed consumption has sometimes resulted in animated debate regarding the suitability of the experimental designs, the choice of the statistical methods or the public accessibility of data. Such debate, even if positive and part of the natural process of review by the scientific community, has frequently been distorted by the media and often used politically and inappropriately in anti-GE crops campaigns.".     
  30. ↑ "State of Food and Agriculture 2003–2004. Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of the Poor. Health and environmental impacts of transgenic crops". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/Y5160E/y5160e10.htm#P3_1651The. "Currently available transgenic crops and foods derived from them have been judged safe to eat and the methods used to test their safety have been deemed appropriate. These conclusions represent the consensus of the scientific evidence surveyed by the ICSU (2003) and they are consistent with the views of the World Health Organization (WHO, 2002). These foods have been assessed for increased risks to human health by several national regulatory authorities (inter alia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, the United Kingdom and the United States) using their national food safety procedures (ICSU). To date no verifiable untoward toxic or nutritionally deleterious effects resulting from the consumption of foods derived from genetically modified crops have been discovered anywhere in the world (GM Science Review Panel). Many millions of people have consumed foods derived from GM plants - mainly maize, soybean and oilseed rape - without any observed adverse effects (ICSU)." 
  31. ↑ Ronald, Pamela (May 1, 2011). "Plant Genetics, Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security". Genetics 188 (1): 11–20. doi:10.1534/genetics.111.128553. PMID 21546547. ""There is broad scientific consensus that genetically engineered crops currently on the market are safe to eat. After 14 years of cultivation and a cumulative total of 2 billion acres planted, no adverse health or environmental effects have resulted from commercialization of genetically engineered crops (Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, Committee on Environmental Impacts Associated with Commercialization of Transgenic Plants, National Research Council and Division on Earth and Life Studies 2002). Both the U.S. National Research Council and the Joint Research Centre (the European Union's scientific and technical research laboratory and an integral part of the European Commission) have concluded that there is a comprehensive body of knowledge that adequately addresses the food safety issue of genetically engineered crops (Committee on Identifying and Assessing Unintended Effects of Genetically Engineered Foods on Human Health and National Research Council 2004; European Commission Joint Research Centre 2008). These and other recent reports conclude that the processes of genetic engineering and conventional breeding are no different in terms of unintended consequences to human health and the environment (European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 2010)."". 
  32. ↑

    But see also:

    Domingo, José L.; Bordonaba, Jordi Giné (2011). "A literature review on the safety assessment of genetically modified plants". Environment International 37 (4): 734–742. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2011.01.003. PMID 21296423. http://gaiapresse.ca/images/nouvelles/28563.pdf. "In spite of this, the number of studies specifically focused on safety assessment of GM plants is still limited. However, it is important to remark that for the first time, a certain equilibrium in the number of research groups suggesting, on the basis of their studies, that a number of varieties of GM products (mainly maize and soybeans) are as safe and nutritious as the respective conventional non-GM plant, and those raising still serious concerns, was observed. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that most of the studies demonstrating that GM foods are as nutritional and safe as those obtained by conventional breeding, have been performed by biotechnology companies or associates, which are also responsible of commercializing these GM plants. Anyhow, this represents a notable advance in comparison with the lack of studies published in recent years in scientific journals by those companies.". 

    Krimsky, Sheldon (2015). "An Illusory Consensus behind GMO Health Assessment". Science, Technology, & Human Values 40 (6): 883–914. doi:10.1177/0162243915598381. "I began this article with the testimonials from respected scientists that there is literally no scientific controversy over the health effects of GMOs. My investigation into the scientific literature tells another story.". 

    And contrast:

    Panchin, Alexander Y.; Tuzhikov, Alexander I. (January 14, 2016). "Published GMO studies find no evidence of harm when corrected for multiple comparisons". Critical Reviews in Biotechnology 37 (2): 213–217. doi:10.3109/07388551.2015.1130684. ISSN 0738-8551. PMID 26767435. "Here, we show that a number of articles some of which have strongly and negatively influenced the public opinion on GM crops and even provoked political actions, such as GMO embargo, share common flaws in the statistical evaluation of the data. Having accounted for these flaws, we conclude that the data presented in these articles does not provide any substantial evidence of GMO harm.

    The presented articles suggesting possible harm of GMOs received high public attention. However, despite their claims, they actually weaken the evidence for the harm and lack of substantial equivalency of studied GMOs. We emphasize that with over 1783 published articles on GMOs over the last 10 years it is expected that some of them should have reported undesired differences between GMOs and conventional crops even if no such differences exist in reality.".     

    and

    Yang, Y.T.; Chen, B. (2016). "Governing GMOs in the USA: science, law and public health". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 96 (4): 1851–1855. doi:10.1002/jsfa.7523. PMID 26536836. Bibcode: 2016JSFA...96.1851Y. "It is therefore not surprising that efforts to require labeling and to ban GMOs have been a growing political issue in the USA (citing Domingo and Bordonaba, 2011). Overall, a broad scientific consensus holds that currently marketed GM food poses no greater risk than conventional food... Major national and international science and medical associations have stated that no adverse human health effects related to GMO food have been reported or substantiated in peer-reviewed literature to date.

    Despite various concerns, today, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the World Health Organization, and many independent international science organizations agree that GMOs are just as safe as other foods. Compared with conventional breeding techniques, genetic engineering is far more precise and, in most cases, less likely to create an unexpected outcome.".     
  33. ↑ "Biotech Essay". http://www.davidsuzuki.org/david/downloads/David_Suzuki_Biotech_essay.pdf. 
  34. ↑ "Suzuki Warns of "Frankenstein Foods"". https://www.iatp.org/news/suzuki-warns-of-frankenstein-foods. 
  35. ↑ "CBC Interview". http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/david-suzuki-speaks-out-against-genetically-modified-food. 
  36. ↑ "Understanding GMO". http://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/queen-of-green/faqs/food/understanding-gmo/. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Hopper, Tristin (25 January 2015). "David Suzuki 'regrets' claim that another Fukushima disaster would require mass evacuations in North America". https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/david-suzuki-regrets-claim-that-another-fukushima-disaster-would-require-mass-evacuations-in-north-america. 
  38. ↑ Suzuki, David (January 28, 2014). "David Suzuki: Citizen scientists can fill info gaps about Fukushima effects". https://www.straight.com/news/574866/david-suzuki-citizen-scientists-can-fill-info-gaps-about-fukushima-effects. 
  39. ↑ "David Suzuki and Jason Kenney amplify each other". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). 2013-07-15. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/editorials/david-suzuki-and-jason-kenney-amplify-each-other/article13205288/. 
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 "An Audience With David Suzuki". ABC Q&A. 2013-09-23. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3841115.htm. 
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 "Critics say Harper government throwing prison expansion money away". Toronto Star. 2011-01-10. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2011/01/10/critics_say_harper_government_throwing_prison_expansion_money_away.html. 
  42. ↑ "Canada's crime rate: Two decades of decline". Statistics Canada. 2017-03-03. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2015001-eng.htm. 
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 "Suzuki: Harper is building prisons for eco-activists". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/2013/09/25/suzuki-harper-is-building-prisons-for-eco-activists. 
  44. ↑ "Harper government to announce more prison expansions". iPolitics.ca. http://www.ipolitics.ca/2011/01/10/harper-government-to-announce-more-prison-expansions/. 
  45. ↑ "Prison costs soar 86% in past five years: report". National Post. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/prison-costs-soar-86-in-past-five-years. 
  46. ↑ Jonathon Gatehouse. "The nature of David Suzuki". Macleans.ca. http://www.macleans.ca/society/life/the-nature-of-david-suzuki/. 
  47. ↑ "David Suzuki still has hope". http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/movies/2010/09/29/15519291.html. 
  48. ↑ Maclean's Nov 25, 2013
  49. ↑ "David Suzuki's Letters To My Grandchildren: Review". June 6, 2015. https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/06/06/david-suzukis-letters-to-my-grandchildren-review.html. 
  50. ↑ "How They Met: David Suzuki on what he'll do for love with Tara Cullis". June 13, 2022. https://streetsoftoronto.com/how-they-met-david-suzuki-and-tara-cullis/. 
  51. ↑ "David Suzuki publishing picture book inspired by adventures with his grandkids". July 18, 2023. https://www.cbc.ca/books/david-suzuki-publishing-picture-book-inspired-by-adventures-with-his-grandkids-1.6900167. 
  52. ↑ "Team Cherry Profiles – Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game" (in en-CA). http://sherwin-williamstopprospects.ca/team-cherry-profiles/. 
  53. ↑ Nancy Schiefer (2006-04-28). "Review: Suzuki laments conscience role". The London Free Press. http://lfpress.ca/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=132947&x=articles&s=books. "As an atheist, Suzuki declares, he has no illusions about life and death, adding that the individual is insignificant in cosmic terms."  Review of book "David Suzuki: The Autobiography", by David Suzuki (Greystone Books, 2006)
  54. ↑ Hopper, Tristin (Nov 27, 2021). "From 'Canada is full' to 'economists are brain damaged': David Suzuki's greatest hits". National Post. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/david-suzukis-greatest-hits-from-economists-have-brain-damage-to-canada-is-full. 
  55. ↑ "Received Order of Canada". 2011-02-03. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/media/news/2011/02/david-suzuki-receives-18th-george-woodcock-lifetime-achievement-award/. 
  56. ↑ "Received Order of British Columbia". http://www.vpl.ca/news/details/david_suzuki_receives_18th_george_woodcock_lifetime_achievement_award. 
  57. ↑ "Received UNESCO prize". 2007-05-18. http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/host.html. 
  58. ↑ "Microsoft Word – Great_minds_in_science_7.doc". http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/msc/pdf/great-minds/david-suzuki.pdf. 
  59. ↑ "The Unlikely Activist". The Unlikely Activist. http://www.theunlikelyactivist.com/remarkable_people/index.html. 
  60. ↑ "Right Livelihood Award: 2009 – David Suzuki". http://www.rightlivelihood.org/suzuki.html. 
  61. ↑ "Freedom of the City". City of Vancouver. http://vancouver.ca/your-government/freedom-of-the-city.aspx. 
  62. ↑ Host: Dr. David Suzuki, CBC, 2010
  63. ↑ "Past honorary degree recipients". University of Prince Edward Island. https://www.upei.ca/about-upei/governance-and-structure/senate/past-honorary-degree-recipients. 
  64. ↑ "Honorary degrees conferred (chronological)". University of Windsor. http://www.uwindsor.ca/secretariat/sites/uwindsor.ca.secretariat/files/honorary_degree_by_convocation.pdf. 
  65. ↑ "Honorary degrees". Acadia University. https://www2.acadiau.ca/alumni-friends/alumni/awards/honorary-degrees.html. 
  66. ↑ "Recipients of Honorary & Degrees". Trent University. http://www.trentu.ca/administration/pdfs/TrentUniversityRecipientsofHonoraryDegrees.pdf. 
  67. ↑ "Honorary degree citation: David Takayoshi Suzuki". Governors State University. 1986. https://opus.govst.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=commencements. 
  68. ↑ "Past honorary degree recipients". Lakehead University. https://www.lakeheadu.ca/studentcentral/graduating/past-distinguished-guests/past-honorary-degrees. 
  69. ↑ "Honorary degree recipients (chronological)". McMaster University. https://www.mcmaster.ca/univsec/reports_lists/S_HD_Recipients.pdf. 
  70. ↑ "Honorary degrees". Queen's University. 2011-09-14. http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/sites/webpublish.queensu.ca.uregwww/files/files/HDrecipients.pdf. 
  71. ↑ "Honorary degrees awarded since 1954". Carleton University. https://carleton.ca/senate/honorary-degrees/honorary-degrees-awarded-since-1954/. 
  72. ↑ "Honorary degree recipients by date received". Amherst College. https://www.amherst.edu/news/specialevents/commencement/awards/datereceived. 
  73. ↑ "Doctor of the University acceptance speeches". Griffith University. 7 July 2017. https://griffitharchive.griffith.edu.au/items/doctors-university-acceptance-speeches/#ca1508cf-46e0-40ce-8fb6-2be9a2660028. 
  74. ↑ "Honorary degrees". Whitman College. https://www.whitman.edu/academics/academic-calendar/commencement/commencement-history/honorary-degrees. 
  75. ↑ "Past honorary degree recipients". Simon Fraser University. 2015. https://www.sfu.ca/ceremonies/honorary-degrees/past_honorary_degrees.html. 
  76. ↑ "Honorary degree recipients". York University. http://secretariat.info.yorku.ca/senate/sub-committee-on-honorary-degrees-and-ceremonials/honorary-degree-recipients/#S. 
  77. ↑ "Honorary degree recipients". Flinders University. https://www.flinders.edu.au/about/governance/awards-and-prizes/honorary-degree-recipients. 
  78. ↑ "Honorary doctorates". Ryerson University. https://www.ryerson.ca/convocation/archives/honorary-doctorates/. 
  79. ↑ "Honorary degrees awarded, 1881–present". University of Western Ontario. https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/senate/honorary/honorary_degrees_by_year.pdf. 
  80. ↑ "In The News | Lambton College – The Bridge to Your Future". http://www.lambton.on.ca/display.aspx?id=242. 
  81. ↑ "Honorary graduates of Memorial University of Newfoundland". Memorial University of Newfoundland. https://www.mun.ca/senate/honorary_degrees_by_conv.pdf. 
  82. ↑ "Honorary degrees — chronological". University of British Columbia. 2018-02-19. https://archives.library.ubc.ca/heraldry-congregation-graduation/honorary-degrees-conferred-by-ubc/honorary-degrees-chronological/. 
  83. ↑ "David Suzuki". University of British Columbia. http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/hdcites/hdcites14.html#suzuki. 
  84. ↑ "Honorary degree recipients". University of Guelph. https://uoguelph.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/2273?preview=2272. 
  85. ↑ "Honorary Doctorate | Honorary Doctorate | The University of Winnipeg". https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/awards-distinctions/honorary-doctorate/index.html. 
  86. ↑ "David Suzuki | Honorary Doctorate | The University of Winnipeg". https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/awards-distinctions/honorary-doctorate/suzuki.html. 
  87. ↑ Issawi, Hamdi (April 19, 2018). "University of Alberta stands by decision to give David Suzuki honorary degree — in spite of online backlash". https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/04/19/university-of-alberta-stands-by-decision-to-give-david-suzuki-honorary-degree-in-spite-of-online-backlash.html. 
  88. ↑ Books and Sound Recordings by David T. Suzuki David Suzuki Foundation. Complete Book List. Retrieved on: September 20, 2010.
  89. ↑ "More Good News". D&M Publishers. http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/more-good-news. 
  90. ↑ "Force of Nature, The David Suzuki Movie : The Nature of Things with David Suzuki : CBC-TV". 2011-03-29. http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2010/forcesofnature/. 
  91. ↑ "| Arapahoe Library District". 2011-08-25. http://arapahoelibraries.org/ald/details?item=b1588720&title=Force+of+nature%3A+the+david+suzuki+movie. 
  92. ↑ Force of Nature on IMDb

Bibliography

Further reading

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