Tim Lenton is the Director of the Global Systems Institute and the Chair in climate change and Earth system science at the University of Exeter. He has more than 20 years of research experience in studying the Earth as a system, and developing and using models to understand its behavior. He is particularly interested in how life has reshaped the planet in the past, and what lessons we can draw from this as we proceed to reshape the planet now. His accolades include being recognised on the Clarivate Web of Science 2020 list of Highly Cited Researchers, the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in 2013, the Times Higher Education Award for Research Project of the Year 2008, and the Royal Society of London William Smith Fund in 2008. He is a Turing Fellow; a Fellow of the Linnean Society, the Geological Society, and the Society of Biology; and Earth Commissioner for the Earth Commission: Global Commons Alliance.