Lord John Krebs, professor principal at Jesus College, Oxford University and one of Britain's leading environmentalists, will present three lectures April 6, April 8 and April 11, as this year's Messenger lecturer.

The theme of the series is science and public policy.

As former chairman of Britain's Food Standards Agency, Krebs was knighted for services to behavioral ecology in 1999 and appointed to the House of Lords as an independent crossbencher in 2007. He is chair of the United Kingdom's Science and Technology Honors Committee, the House of Lords Select Committee for Science and Technology and the Royal Society's Science Policy Advisory Group. He also sits on the U.K.'s Climate Change Committee and chairs its Adaptation Subcommittee.

His April 6 talk, "Risk, Uncertainty and Regulation," at 4 p.m. in Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall, will focus on how policymakers react to scientific advice, illustrating with examples from current policy in relation the health and the environment. The lecture will be followed by a reception.

On April 7, members of the Cornell community are invited to a House Professor Tea at 5 p.m. in 101 Alice Cook House.

His April 8 lecture is "Is Food Safe?" at 4 p.m. in 233 Plant Science Building; on April 11, he will present "Facing up to Climate Change," at 5 p.m. in B45 Warren Hall.

The Messenger lectures are sponsored by the University Lectures Committee. The lectures were established in 1924 by a gift from Hiram Messenger, who graduated from Cornell in 1880.