From: Proceedings of the Royal Microscopical Society: 39 (2): 128, June 2004.
News of Members - Brian J. Ford
Brian J Ford has been awarded a NESTA Fellowship for three years. It will support his scientific research, much of it, of course, in microscopy. Brian was proposed for Fellowship of the RMS by Parry Morton and was elected in 1962. He has published research in many fields, ranging from ecology and microbiolopgy to haemostasis and plant physiology. He is perhaps best known for his work on the Leeuwenhoek specimens, which he unearthed at the Royal Society in 1981.
Many of his 30 books (published in over 100 editions) have been related to microscopy. NESTA, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, was set up by Government to channel National Lottery funds into the support of research and innovation. The Fellowships are awarded to leading individuals with an established track record. NESTA has a panel of 'nominators' who recommend selected persons, and unsolicited applications are not considered.
Brian hopes to look at several areas of research, including the role of abscission in plant excretion and data processing in neurons. He has just returned from lecturing around the Caribbean and in March gave a major presentation to trhe San Francisco Microscopical Society and the California Association of Criminalists. He will be lecturing on microscopy later this year in Milan, Amsterdam, Naples and at Inter Micro in Chicago.