Pierre Lasserre, marine biologist, is professor at the University Pierre and Marie Curie – Paris VI. He received his PhD (Docteur ès-Sciences Naturelles) from the University of Bordeaux I (1977).

Assistant-professor at the Institute of marine biology, Arcachon, he was awarded several fellowships, in Denmark, Sweden, Bermuda, he was Research associate at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, and at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, NC, USA. From 1982 to 1993, he served as the

Director of the CNRS Station Biologique de Roscoff, de 1983 à 1993

one of the leading marine research centres in Europe. Dr Pierre Lasserre was on secondment at UNESCO, from 1993 to 2003, and he served, successively, as the Director of Ecological Sciences Division and Secretary of the intergovernmental Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, and as the Director of the UNESCO’s Regional Office for Science and Technology in Europe (ROSTE) in Venice. 

His past research has included pioneering studies on marine biodiversity and ecophysiology of marine meiofauna; and on the role of microorganisms on fluxes of materials and energy in marine sediments. Furthermore he has contributed research on osmotic and ionic regulation in fish and on aquaculture. With his many PhD students and colleagues, Dr Pierre Lasserre has conducted comprehensive research projects in coastal environments along the Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean, North and West Africa, Mexico, the Kerguelen islands and the East China Sea. In the early 90’s, he coordinated an international project on the Venice Lagoon Ecosystem.

Dr Pierre Lasserre is author of more than 100 articles and several books, e.g. "The Coastal Lagoons" (Gauthier-Villars); "Biogeochemical Processes at the Land-Sea Boundary (Elsevier), "The Venice Lagoon Ecosystem" (Parthenon Press), "Reconstruction of Scientific Cooperation in South East Europe" (UNESCO-ROSTE). He has been the Editor in chief of "Cahiers de Biologie Marine" (CNRS) and of "Nature and Resources" (UNESCO). He acted as science advisor of several TV movies in field and edited successful series of educational wall charts and CD-ROM on biodiversity research and conservation.

Professor Lasserre has fulfilled a number of international duties and responsibilities for organisations such as IUBS (Executive Committee member), IABO (President 1983-93), SCOR (ex-officio member of Executive Committee and several SCOR Working Groups,). He represented ICSU in the preparatory Working Parties on Oceans for UNCED (1991-92) and attended the ASCEND 21 meeting in Vienna (1991) and the Rio de Janeiro World Summit (1992) as invited speaker. He is a co-founder member of the European network of Marine Research Stations (MARS). He was elected in 1989 Member of the Academia Europaea.

During his 10 years secondment at UNESCO, Pierre Lasserre has actively participated in the launching of the DIVERSITAS Programme, and the organization of the Seville Conference (1995) on the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, a landmark in the MAB Programme. He has been instrumental in science policy and capacity building projects in developing countries, and he organized in 2001 the important UNESCO initiative on scientific cooperation in the South East Europe (Balkans), in cooperation with the Academia Europaea, the European Science Foundation and the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti.