Following the presidential decree of 20 July 2015 published in the Journal Officiel, Bruno DAVID has been appointed President of the National Museum of Natural History and will take up his duties on 1 September.
The appointment of Bruno David, 60, as head of the Museum completes the reform of the institution's statutes initiated a little over two years ago. President of the Museum's Scientific Council for the past six years, Bruno David takes over the direction of the institution at a pivotal moment in its history, with all of its sites in Paris and the regions open to the public again in October.
"I am proud to become president of such a prestigious institution as the Museum, whose role is to fascinate, marvel and instruct. We are on the verge of a major environmental breakthrough as evidenced by the preparations for COP 21 this autumn in Paris.
To awaken curiosity, to promote a culture of nature based on scientific knowledge, to be part of a natural science approach with Man, such is my commitment at the head of this institution. »
Recruited as a researcher at the CNRS in 1981, Bruno David was appointed Director of Research in 1991 and became Director of the CNRS Paleontology Laboratory in Dijon in 1995. In three terms, he developed this laboratory, which was to become the BIOGEOSCIENCES laboratory, and turned it into a real interface structure between Earth and Life sciences. He was also Assistant Scientific Director of the Ecology and Environment Institute (INEE) of the CNRS, where he is still in charge of its mission.
His research focuses on biological evolution and biodiversity, using both fossil and current models. Following an initial career as a paleontologist specializing in ancient fauna of the Cretaceous period, he is now working on a reconversion to biology. Today, as a marine biologist, he devotes his research to echinoderms and sea urchins in particular, but also to the fate of fauna on the ocean floor in the context of global change. He has taken part in several major oceanographic missions of Ifremer and TAAF, notably in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica but also in Brazil, the North Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific.
Author of 180 scientific publications, he collaborates with many international organizations (Chile, United States, Belgium, Germany...), is invited to many scientific symposiums but is also very involved in dissemination activities aimed at the general public (exhibitions, events, author of books and articles for the general public...). Bruno David is a laureate of the Lamothe Prize of the Geological Society of France, a fellow of the Willi Hennig Society and a fellow of the Linnean Society of London.
Photo © M.N.H.N / JC. Domenech
