Levin to receive distinguished scientist award

By Chad Boutin on April 19, 2007, 6:23 p.m.

The American Institute of Biological Sciences has selected Princeton's Simon Levin to receive its 2007 Distinguished Scientist Award.

Levin, the George M. Moffett Professor of Biology, will be presented with a plaque and lifetime membership in AIBS at the organization's annual meeting on May 14 in Washington, D.C. The institute's awards committee cited Levin's studies on the loss of planetary biodiversity due to human impact, a research effort that has led to new methods of environmental protection.

Levin came to Princeton in 1992 after teaching at Cornell University for 27 years. He has been the director of Princeton's Center for BioComplexity since 2001 and is the founding director of the Princeton Environmental Institute. Much of his work is concerned with the mechanisms that sustain biodiversity, the evolution of diversification and the implications for ecosystem structure and functioning.

Levin has been a leader in applying mathematical approaches to studies of ecosystems across a wide range of scales, from the behavior and genetics of individual organisms to the dynamics of large populations. He has collaborated with economists and environmental scientists to propose new methods for dealing with environmental problems.

He received A.H. Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004 and the Kyoto Prize from the Inamori Foundation of Japan in honor of his contributions to environmental science in 2005.

Founded in 1947, the American Institute of Biological Sciences is a nonprofit scientific association dedicated to advancing biological research and education for the welfare of society. Since 1972, the institute has presented the Distinguished Scientist Award annually to individuals who have made significant scientific contributions to the biological sciences. Past winners have included Princeton's Peter and Rosemary Grant in 2005. 

Related Stories

Levin wins Kyoto Prize for work in environmental science .

Princeton ecologist Simon Levin has been named a recipient of the Kyoto Prize in honor of his contributions to environmental science.

Levin chosen as member of Italian academic institute .

Princeton ecologist Simon Levin, who has made major contributions in the areas of biological conservation and ecosystem management, has been selected as a foreign member of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, a venerable Italian academic institute. 

Levin awarded Margalef Prize .

The Generalitat of Catalonia has awarded Simon Levin, Princeton's George M. Moffett Professor of Biology and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, the Margalef Prize in Ecology and Environmental Sciences. The award recognizes individuals worldwide who have distinguished themselves in the field of ecology.

Levin and Pacala to receive ecological research awards .

Two members of the Princeton University faculty have been recognized for major contributions to ecological research.

Levin receives Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement .

Simon Levin, the George M. Moffett Professor of Biology at Princeton University, has been awarded the 2014 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for bridging ecological research and environmental policy, economics and social science.

Noted Princeton husband-and-wife team wins Kyoto Prize .

Princeton University's Peter and Rosemary Grant, whose legendary explorations on the bleak Galapagos island of Daphne Major over nearly four decades have produced an array of dazzling insights into evolutionary theory, have been named recipients of the Kyoto Prize.

Princeton biologist Bryan Grenfell wins Kyoto Prize .

Princeton ecologist and epidemiologist Bryan Grenfell has won the Kyoto Prize for Basic Sciences for "development of an innovative methodology for integrative analysis of pathogen evolution and epidemics." The prize brings with it 100 million Japanese yen, or about $735,000.