David James Bellamy OBE (born 18 January 1933) is an English author, broadcaster, environmental campaigner and botanist. He has lived in County Durham since 1960.
Bellamy went to school in London, attending Chatsworth Road Primary School Cheam, Cheam Road Junior School and Sutton County Grammar School, where he initially showed an aptitude for English Literature and History; he then found his vocation because of an inspirational science teacher, studying Zoology, Botany, Physics and Chemistry in the sixth form. After he left school he worked as a laboratory assistant at Ewell Technical College before studying for an Honours degree in Botany at Chelsea College of Science and Technology. In 1960 he became a lecturer in the Botany department of Durham University.