Brian obtained a B.Sc. in Natal, South Africa and a Ph.D. in Saskatchewan.  He lectured at the University of Zimbabwe, was a Charles Bullard Research Fellow at Harvard (1971), Professor and Director of the Centre for Resource Ecology at the University of the Witwatersrand, and Chief of Australia’s CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology (1985-1999).

He Chaired the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (1990-1997) and was Director of the international Resilience Alliance (2000-2010).

He is currently a CSIRO Honorary Fellow, Australian National University Visiting Professor, and a Fellow in the International Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics, Sweden.

He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry.