James Lovelock, who died in July in 2022 on his 103rd birthday, is known to the public as the originator of the Gaia hypothesis: the idea that the Earth and the life that inhabits it forms a single, self-regulating system. He was, however, also a long-time friend of the Marine Biological Association, serving as its President from 1986 to 1990. During this period, he helped to guide the MBA through one of its most difficult and turbulent times, as the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) sought to substantially reduce its support for the MBA. Article by Andrew Watson and Mike Whitfield.