John Veron

John Veron (b. 1945), credited in research as J. E. N. Veron, and in other writing as Charlie Veron, is a wide-ranging specialist in corals and reefs.

Early life

John Edward Norwood Veron was born in 1945 in Sydney. He was largely self-taught although he attended a private school in Sydney. He won a Commonwealth scholarship as a gifted child and went on to the University of New England . His main interests were in the natural world, especially marine life (Veron, 2017. A Life Underwater).

Career and education

He has three higher degrees in different fields. He was the chief scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and he has many professional awards including the Scientific Diving Lifetime Achievement Award (American Academy of Underwater Sciences), the Darwin Medal (International Society of Reef Studies) and the Silver Jubilee Pin (Australian Marine Sciences Association). He has named about 20% of reef corals and built a taxonomic framework for corals that is used throughout the world. He founded the Orpheus Island Marine Station. He discovered and delineated the Coral Triangle. He introduced the concept of reticulate evolution to the marine world. (Veron, 2017. A Life Underwater).

Books written

Veron has written many books and monographs about corals and coral reefs, including:

• A Life Underwater (Penguin Random House), (2017)
• A Reef in Time: the Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End (Harvard University Press), (2008)
• Corals of the World (three volumes, Australian Institute of Marine Science), (2000)
• Hermatypic corals of Japan (with Moritaka Nishihira, in Japanese), (1995)
• Corals in Space and Time (Cornell University Press), (1995)
• Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific (Hawaii University Press), (1986)
• Scleractinia of Eastern Australia (five volumes with co-authors, Australian Institute of Marine Science), (1976-1984)

Later life

Was the first full-time researcher on the Great Barrier Reef (1972) and the first scientist employed by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (1974). Has participated in 67 expeditions to all the major reef provinces in the world. Since 2008 he together with three colleagues have been producing an open access website about coral taxonomy, biogeography and identification: www.coralsoftheworld.org This website includes the mapping program Coral Geographic and identification program (CoralID). Has campaigned extensively on climate change, mass bleaching of coral reefs, ocean acidification and related environmental issues.