Honorary Fellow John Cairns is an internationally-reknowned scholar of eco-ethics and sustainability. He received the Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, an A.B. from Swarthmore College and completed a postdoctoral course in isotope methodology at Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia. He was Curator of Limnology at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for 18 years and has taught at various universities and field stations. Professional certifications include Qualified Fishery Administrator by the American Fisheries Society, Senior Ecologist by the Ecological Society of America, and the Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professionals.

Among his honors are Member, National Academy of Sciences; Member, American Philosophical Society; Honorary Member, World Innovation Foundation; Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Foreign Member, Linnean Society of London; Founder's Award of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; United Nations Environmental Programme Medal; Fellow, Association for Women in Science; U.S. Presidential Commendation for Environmental Activities; Icko Iben Award for Interdisciplinary Activities from the American Water Resources Association; Phi Beta Kappa; B. Y. Morrison Medal (awarded at the Pacific Rim Conference of the American Chemical Society); Distinguished Service Award, American Institute of Biological Sciences; Superior Achievement Award, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency; Charles B. Dudley Award for excellence in publications from the American Society for Testing and Materials; Life Achievement Award in Science from the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Science Museum of Virginia; American Fisheries Society Award of Excellence; Doctor of Science, State University of New York at Binghamton; Fellow, Virginia Academy of Sciences; Fellow, Eco-Ethics International Union; Twentieth Century Distinguished Service Award, Ninth Lukacs Symposium; 2001 Ruth Patrick Award for Environmental Problem Solving, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography; 2001 Sustained Achievement Award, Renewable Natural Resources Foundation; Morrill Chapter, Alpha Zeta, Class of 1944 as of 13 March 2002. Cairns has served as both vice president and president of the American Microscopical Society; has served on 18 National Research Council committees, two as chair; is presently serving on 14 editorial boards; and has served on the Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission (U.S. and Canada) and on the USEPA Science Advisory Board. The most recent of his 63 books are My Quest for Sustainable Use of the Planet, 2005; Eco-Ethics and Sustainability Ethics, Book 2, Part 2, 2004; Handbook of Ecotoxicology, Second Edition, 2003; Ecological and Sustainability Ethics, 2003; Eco-Ethics and Sustainability Ethics, Book 2, Part 1, 2003; Goals and Conditions for a Sustainable Planet, 2002; Japanese edition of Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems: Science, Technology, and Public Policy, 1999.