THE founder of a Pembrokeshire charity, which has brought the magic of scientific subjects to thousands of people, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours list.

Professor Anthony Campbell, who founded the Darwin Centre for Biology and Medicine, receives his award for services to biochemistry.

Based in Pembrokeshire since 1999, the centre delivers hundreds of hands-on field trips and workshops.

Its flagship programme is the Dragon LNG Darwin Experience, which has been running since 2005 and has worked with over 30,000 individuals.

Every school in Pembrokeshire has access to free field trips and workshops every year on themes such as rocky shores, climate change, marine litter, forces, and renewable energy.

The Darwin Centre is based at Pembrokeshire College where a spokesperson said: Professor Cam

"Tony is one of life’s great enthusiasts and has a passion for science communication.

"The Darwin Centre are absolutely thrilled for Tony, as he has always been such an inspiration to everyone who has been fortunate enough to work with him."

Professor Campbell, 75, is a former Professor in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Cardiff University.

He is an international authority in cell signalling - which lies at the heart of how hormones, neurotransmitters and drugs affect the human body - and is also a world authority on bioluminescence.

One of his inventions, using chemiluminescence, is now used in several hundred million clinical tests per year worldwide and has been hailed as one of the top 100 inventions from UK universities in the past 50 years.

For the past 15 years his research focus has been lactose and food intolerance, which has led to a new hypothesis on the cause of irritable bowel syndrome

He has just finished his first novel, Mirror Image, a scientific mystery based in Anglesey.

A keen musician, he is now developing a project DNA Sings, to convert light into music.

Professor Campbell and his wife Stephanie live in Penarth, near Cardiff, and have five children and six grandchildren.