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Howard Dalton

British microbiologist (1944–2008)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ5919427 ↗
Source-derived summary

Sir Howard Dalton, FRS (8 February 1944 – 12 January 2008) was a British microbiologist. He served as the Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) from March 2002 to September 2007.

Education

Born in New Malden, Dalton was educated at Raynes Park County Grammar School and Queen Elizabeth College, University of London (now part of King's College London). He graduated in 1965 and went on to study at the University of Sussex with John Postgate, obtaining his PhD in 1968.

Personal life

He was an atheist.

Career and research

He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University and the University of Sussex before joining the University of Warwick in 1973 as a lecturer in Biological Sciences. He was promoted to Professor in 1983. Dalton's main fields of interest concerned the physiology, genetics and biochemistry of organisms exhibiting methanotrophy. One of his main research interests was the particulate methane monooxygenase enzyme. His model organisms included Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) and Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b.

Editorial summary

“Howard Dalton” enters the record as british microbiologist (1944–2008). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Howard, Dalton and British can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1944, 2008, 2002, 2007—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1944-02-08. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Howard, Dalton and British.
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“Howard Dalton” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Howard, Dalton and British provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5919427. VIAF identifies the subject as 14851228. The Library of Congress control number is n82069604. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1944, 2008, 2002 and 2007.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Howard Dalton” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.