Paul Brakefield

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Paul Martin Brakefield FRS (born 31 May 1952) is a British evolutionary biologist who was Professor of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, where he is also was Fellow of Trinity College and between 2010 and 2019 was director of the Museum of Zoology. He previously held the Chair in Evolutionary Biology at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and was President of the Linnean Society of London from 2015 to 2018. He is best known for his research on butterfly eyespots.

Contents

Career

Brakefield was born on 31 May 1952 in Woking. [1] In 1987 Brakefield became a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Leiden University. [2] Concurrently Brakefield was president of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology between 2005 and 2007. [3] In 2010 he left Leiden after serving as a professor for 23 years to become director of the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology. [2] In 2011, Brakefield was elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. [4] On 22 May 2015 Brakefield became President of the Linnean Society of London, serving until May 2018. [5] [6] [7] In 2019 Brakefield retired. He was succeeded as director of the museum by Rebecca Kilner. [8]

Research

Brakefield works mostly with butterflies and insects. Amongst other topics his research focuses on eyespots on butterflies, especially Bicyclus anynana . [2] [9] The butterfly species Bicyclus brakefieldi is named after him.

Honours and awards

Brakefield was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2010. [10] He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011. [11] Brakefield was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2014. [12] In 2018 Brakefield was elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. [13]

References

  1. ↑ "Paul Martin Brakefield" (in Dutch). Leiden University. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Weemoedig weg van de papierwinkel" (in Dutch). MARE Online. 3 June 2010. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "ESEB Officers". European Society for Evolutionary Biology. Archived from the original on 9 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "The Fellowship". Trinity College Cambridge. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Governance of the Society". Linnean Society of London. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "President of the Linnean Society Professor Paul M. Brakefield FRS". Linnean Society of London. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Past Presidents of the Linnean Society". Linnean Society. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "History of the Department". University of Cambridge - Department of Zoology. Archived from the original on 9 October 2025.
  9. ↑ "Professor Paul Brakefield FRS". University of Cambridge. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Paul Brakefield". The Royal Society. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Paul Brakefield". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "Paul Brakefield". European Molecular Biology Organization. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  13. ↑ "Professor Paul Brakefield Hon.FRES". Royal Entomological Society. Archived from the original on 6 September 2025.
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