Yadvinder Malhi awarded world’s foremost honours in ecological sciences

Professor Malhi has received the Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology from the President of Catalonia, one of the world’s foremost honours in ecological sciences.

Presented annually by the Government of Catalonia, the prize celebrates scientists whose work has advanced the frontiers of ecological knowledge and deepened humanity’s understanding of the natural world.

Malhi is the Professor of Ecosystem Science at the Environmental Change Institute within the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, Director of the University of Oxford’s Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, and the Jackson Senior Research Fellow at Oriel College, Oxford.

The jury commended Malhi for his pioneering research on tropical forest ecosystems, particularly for integrating functional and biodiversity perspectives and for his leadership in developing long-term ecological research networks across the tropics. The award honours his commitment to global equity in science, including his efforts to support researchers in the Global South through collaborative and inclusive approaches.

Malhi said, “Ecology is a science that explores and looks for patterns in the delicious, messy complexity of the living world. It is a relatively young science but was pioneering in its embrace of systems thinking and complexity. It has never been more relevant than it is today, as we seek to understand and protect a living world that is changing in so many ways. I am truly honoured to receive this prize, and plan use it to further explore and promote the importance of ecological thinking to address the global challenges we face.”

Read Malhi’s blog reflecting on his week in Barcelona as a guest of the Catalonian government and the University of Barcelona: Homage to Catalonia: In the Shadow of Ramon Margalef.

Watch Malhi’s TED talk on How to measure the planet’s heartbeat.