Master mariner, neuroscientist and v-c honoured

Captain Christopher Elliott , who has been appointed MBE, has been ferrying scientists to and from Antarctica for 40 years, first as a crewman and then as skipper of successive British Antarctic Survey research vessels.

Capt Elliott, the world's longest-serving Antarctic sailor, has missed just one of the yearly four-month trips to the Antarctic since he joined the BAS in 1967. He has captained research ships since the late 1970s and his current ship, the RRS James Clark Ross, since her maiden voyage in 1991.

Capt Elliott said the key to a successful research trip was establishing a rapport with scientists. "There is a very close link between research and captaining," he said. "For our operations to work smoothly, I have to work closely with the principal scientist on board."

It is that close relationship that makes the James Clark Ross a successful workplace. "The scientists are delighted to be on board. They say she's one of the best research ships."

Roderick Floud , president of London Metropolitan University and former president of Universities UK, has been knighted.

Sir Roderick, who was provost of London Guildhall before it merged with the University of North London, was the first UUK president from a new university. He has worked as an economic historian researching the interplay between height, weight and poverty in the population.

But what drives him outside his research is helping marginalised people to enter university.

He believes that his contact with part-time and disadvantaged students when lecturing at Birkbeck, University of London, was the main influence on his career so far.

"Poor and part-time students have problems that full-time students do not have a clue about," he said.

Nancy Rothwell , one of the UK's most prominent defenders of animal research, has been appointed dame.

Dame Nancy, MRC research professor and vice-president for research at Manchester University, received her honour 18 months after leaked government documents suggested that Colin Blakemore, the Medical Research Council's chief executive, was passed over for a knighthood because of his controversial "support for research using animals".

Dame Nancy, who is a columnist for The Times Higher , said: "I presume my work on animal research is one of the reasons I got this. That is a very important message."

But Dame Nancy intends to use her new title selectively. "When I asked my partner what I should be known as, he suggested Widow Twankey."