Scientists at the Natural History Museum awarded in the 2023 New Year Honours list

The Natural History Museum is delighted that Professor Chris Stringer (CBE), Dr Sandra Knapp (OBE) and Dr Richard Fortey (OBE) have been awarded honours in the 2023 New Year Honours list.

Dr Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum says “We are thrilled to see Professor Chris Stringer, our longest-serving research scientist, Dr Sandra Knapp and Dr Richard Fortey be recognised with a CBE and OBEs in this year’s New Year Honours list. Chris, Sandy and Richard are at the forefront of their fields, world leaders making significant impacts to science internationally. A huge congratulations to them all”.

Professor Chris Stringer, Research Leader at the Natural History Museum has revolutionised understanding of human origins and evolution at a global level. His work has transformed scientific and public understanding of human evolution and modern human origins, exploring how Homo sapiens evolved and the relationship of Neanderthals and early modern humans. Since 2001 Chris and his colleagues have also transformed understanding of the ancient human presence in Britain, extending evidence of this from 500k years to about 900k years. 

With an astonishing 527 publications and counting in areas including palaeontology, geochronology, archaeology and genetics, Chris has built an extensive international collaborative network and his ground-breaking research is of considerable societal significance. He has also been active in promoting our understanding of human evolution through popular writing, exhibitions and the media. A Fellow of the Royal Society, Chris has been honoured with seven medals from learned societies.

Professor Stringer said, “I'm delighted to be awarded the CBE and accept this as an honour not just for me but for all the people I've worked with on human evolution studies over the last 50 years or so, both within and outside the Natural History Museum.”

Dr Sandra Knapp, Botanist at the Natural History Museum is an internationally renowned scientific leader and communicator on nature and culture. At the forefront of botanical research for over 30 years, Sandy is an international authority on Solanaceae, a flowering plant family of some 3,000 species including essential crops such as potatoes, tomatoes and aubergines, and plants of pharmacological interest such as mandrakes and nightshades. Her work spans a board gamut from tropical forest diversity, threatened species, community conservation, genomes, to the history of collections and botanical science. 

Dr Knapp, said “This honour is as much for those I work with as it is for me. It is lovely to have botany, the study of plants, recognised in this way.  Plants form the basis for most of Earth’s ecosystems, and my work to disseminate the story of science begins with them. My huge thanks to all who have supported me and work throughout the years – this is for all of us.”

A Fellow of the Royal Society, Sandy is also past President of the Linnean Society, a Trustee of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland and President of Flora and Fauna International USA as well as a prominent advocate for diversity in the scientific community. A compelling and inspiring public speaker, broadcaster and author, her enthusiasm and effortless story-telling brings ideas to life for audiences across the world. 

Dr Richard Fortey's interests in palaeontology started when, as a 14 year old boy, he discovered the fossil of a trilobite. This discovery sparked a life-long love of these ancient invertebrates and a career that has spanned almost six decades.

Studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge before continuing to complete a PhD on fossil trilobites preserved in the rocks on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Richard became a world expert on these arthropods. Spending his entire working career at the Museum, he has named hundreds of new species of trilobites from all around the world and published over 250 papers on the evolution and origin of many major trilobite groups.

He has previously been elected the president of the Geological Society of London, the Palaeontological Association and Palaeontographical Society, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Literature. Dr Fortey has been awarded the Frink Medal of the Zoological Society, Lyell Medal of the Geological Society and Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society, the Michael Faraday Award of the Royal Society and the Lewis Thomas Medal of Rockefeller University, NY.

Dr Fortey said, "After my lifetime of research at the Natural History Museum - and nine books for the general reader - it is very gratifying to receive an honour recognising the importance of understanding the history of life to our present concerns about the natural world."

Aside from his prosperous scientific career, Richard has also inspired many through his nine books, radio and television appearances.

Notes to editors

Natural History Media contact: Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5654 / 07799690151 Email: press@nhm.ac.uk

About the Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is both a world-leading science research centre and the most-visited indoor attraction in the UK last year. With a vision of a future in which both people and the planet thrive, it is uniquely positioned to be a powerful champion for balancing humanity’s needs with those of the natural world. 

It is custodian of one of the world’s most important scientific collections comprising over 80 million specimens accessed by researchers from all over the world both in person and via over 30 billion digital data downloads to date. The Museum’s 350 scientists are finding solutions to the planetary emergency from biodiversity loss through to the sustainable extraction of natural resources. 

The Museum uses its global reach and influence to meet its mission to create advocates for the planet - to inform, inspire and empower everyone to make a difference for nature. We welcome millions of visitors through our doors each year, our website has had 17 million visits in the last year and our touring exhibitions have been seen by around 20 million people in the last 10 years.