Jim Thomas

Jim Thomas is a Co-Executive Director and Researcher with the ETC Group, currently based in Val David in Quebec, Canada. He has over 25 years international experience tracking the impact of emerging technologies on human rights, biodiversity, equity and food systems, as well as engaging in governance questions around new technologies. Jim has authored or co-authored many of ETC Group’s reports addressing developments in synthetic biology, geoengineering, nanotechnology, big data and other emerging technology platforms. He has been an active observer in UN processes, most closely at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, where he serves in that body's Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Synthetic Biology. He has convened international civil society collaborations on synthetic biology and other technological developments, appeared in several documentaries and has written for a range of international media, including The Guardian, New Internationalist, Huffington Post, Slate and The Ecologist. For seven years prior to working for ETC Group, he was a campaigner on food and genetic engineering issues for Greenpeace International and also helped build a UK-based movement of grassroots activists against GMOs. Over the years, Jim has been invited to present ETC Group’s research to princes, peasants,  policymakers, poets,  protestors  and private equity investors alike.  He serves as lead pirate in ETC Group’s irregular Captain Hook Awards for Biopiracy.