Founder and Research Director of The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, The University, Canterbury, Kent
The British Herpetological Society is an international herpetological society based in the United Kingdom. The BHS is a non-profit organisation with goals to support the conservation, education and captive care of reptiles and amphibians. The society regularly publishes the Herpetological Journal and Herpetological Bulletin on a quarterly basis. It is one of the oldest international herpetological societies.
The society was established in 1947 with the help of Dr Malcolm A Smith who was a physician who practiced in the Royal Court of Siam. Whilst in Siam, Dr Smith studied the herpetofauna as well as that of south-east Asia. After retiring, he returned to Britain where he developed an interest in the native reptiles and amphibians. This led him founding the society as a way to promote the values he saw fit in regards to the herpetofauna of the British Isles and the wider landscape