Dick Beamish is the Senior Scientist and former Director at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. He has published over 150 scientific articles on a range of topics from climate impacts on fish, to new species of fish. For the past 9 years he was a Commissioner of the International Pacific Halibut Commission. He was appointed as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans representative on the New Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, an independent body that advises the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on salmon and related management issues.

In February of 1999, he was awarded the Order of Canada for his discovery of the problem of acid rain in North America. As well, he was recently appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His work on age determination included the recognition that many fish are long-lived and he has also contributed to the understanding of the impacts of climate on fish populations.

Dr. Dick Beamish is keenly interested in the communication of science and is President of a society that makes videos of aquatic biologists whose careers would be examples to students considering aquatic science as a profession. Dr. Beamish is currently researching the impacts of climate and climate change on commercially important fisheries in British Columbia. He likes Feynman’s definition of honesty in science which is that "Scientists must present what is known so that intelligent people can make their own decisions".

Dr. Beamish has been married for 32 years and has two daughters. He plays rugby, grows rhododendrons and makes chocolates.