Ian Spellerberg has long been engaged in the ecological basis of nature conservation. He has also long been involved in treading lightly on the Earth. His business card mentions all the usual things but also his ecological footprint. For many years he was Director of Environmental Sciences at Southampton University where he was central to the establishment and development of one of the first interdisciplinary environmental programmes that was launched after the 1972 Stockholm Earth Summit. His interest in interdisciplinary environmental teaching led to his appointment at Lincoln University (New Zealand) where he is now Professor of Nature Conservation. He teaches sustainability and has also established two jointly taught and jointly awarded masters programmes in sustainability between Lincoln University and two universities in Europe. He has taken a very active role in education for sustainable development in both New Zealand and overseas. As well as research and teaching, he has been central to the establishment of community led initiatives in sustainability.