Professor Jacqueline McGlade was appointed Chief Scientist at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in early 2014. She also holds the post of Professor in Environmental Informatics in the Department of Mathematics at University College London, from which she took leave to take up the position of Executive Director of the European Environment Agency between 2003 and 2013.  Prior to this, she was Director of the Centre for Coastal and Marine Sciences of the UK Natural Environment Research Council, Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Warwick, Director of Theoretical Ecology at the Forschungszentrum Jülich and Senior Scientist at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in the Federal Government of Canada. Her research is focused on the governance of resources and environmental informatics with particular reference to ecosystems, marine resources and climate change. She has over 200 peer-reviewed papers, articles, books and legal submissions and has produced and presented a number of TV and radio series and programmes plus three feature films. She has been awarded international prizes and honours from Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Monaco, Romania, Sweden, UK and the USA. Professor McGlade has held a number of key advisory roles and chairs at national level, including Trustee of the Natural History Museum and Board Member of the Environment Agency, at European level, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and at international levels including for the United Nations and the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research.