I’m thrilled to announce that Stuart “Indy” Pimm has just been named one of two recipients of the 2010 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement: “the premier award for environmental science, environmental health and energy conferring great benefit upon mankind. Through their work, Tyler Laureates have focused worldwide attention on environmental problems by their discoveries and the solutions that resulted.”
Stuart is one of the most incredible individuals I’ve had the pleasure of working with. It has been an honor and privilege to reside in The Pimm Group and I’ll miss him most of all from Texas. He has been a mentor, a source of endless encouragement, and most of all, a friend during my time with The Family. Stuart’s research, intense curiosity, and passion to make a difference takes him from the field to the classroom and onto Capitol Hill and the big screen, yet somehow, he’s managed to maintain a terrific sense of humor along the way.
Earth is truly a better place because of scientists like Stuart Pimm and we are all lucky to have him fighting hard everyday to save the planet’s biodiversity.
From the Press Release:
Stuart Pimm has a long career in conservation research, teaching and public policy, and when Pimm’s colleagues refer to his work, they frequently cite its influence as well as its substance. His Tyler Prize award is made in recognition of his work to delineate the structures of ecological food webs, to understand the expected lifetimes of plant and animal populations, and to determine the populations that are most vulnerable to risks of extinction and those that have the capacity to recover most rapidly from disturbances. In his letter of nomination for the Tyler Prize, Edward O. Wilson, an emeritus Harvard University professor and himself a Tyler Laureate, said Pimm’s achievements “serve as an environmental conservation template.”
Pimm has studied the structure of ecological communities and the consequences of diminished species diversity across the trophic levels of ecological communities. In addition, Pimm has developed theory and empirical analysis to address the conservation of endangered species in terms of their communities and populations. Pimm has contributed to more than 200 journal articles, many of them as the lead author or sole author, has managed research projects around the world and has worked as a university-level professor for 36 years.
Pimm is well known for working beyond the scientific community as a policy advisor and source for media interviews. One of his colleagues, in a letter of support for his nomination for the Tyler Prize, said Pimm’s contributions to conservation science are notable because he cares enough to “find a way to make a difference.”
I’m delighted with this morning’s wonderful news! Stuart shares the 2010 Tyler prize with Laurie Marker, co-founder and executive director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. Congratulations to both!
March 9th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Wonderful news! A well-deserved award.
This calls for a celebration!
March 9th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Sheril,
Didn’t know you had worked closely with Pimm. Without question, he’s one of our foremost ecologists, whose work I was acquainted with years ago, especially in the realm of population ecology.
On an entirely different note, you should be able to find scientists of similar caliber to Pimm over at the University of Texas, Austin.
Sincerely,
John
March 9th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Sheril,
Am especially delighted to hear that Pimm has earned this award, not only because of his important contributions to both community and population ecology, but also because he now joins the ranks of such eminent ecologists as Eugene Odum, E. O. Wilson and Jared Diamond, who have also been so honored.
Again my congratulations!
Cheers,
John
March 9th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Congrats to Dr. Pimm! He’s a deserving recipient.
…now he needs to be publically shamed for taking such a “bribe” from a group with an obvious agenda for furthering the advancement of enviromental initiatives. That prize makes the Templeton Fellowship look like pocket change! He has clearly been working his entire career to forward a narrative just to receive this award.
(Sorry. I couldn’t resist.)
March 9th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
@ bilbo #4: *snicker*
But seriously, major congrats to Stuart. He’s easily one of our best living scientists, period.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Oh, Seminatrix, perhaps you misunderstood me. Here – let me put it this way:
“When I claimed that the (Tyler Prize) Foundation was engaged in bribing (scientists and industry innovators), I didn’t mean that they directly paid off those (scientists and industry innvators) for writing articles that blurred the lines between (scientific neutrality and the economics of green energy policy). It’s nothing so crass as that. What I meant was that (Tyler) creates a climate in which (scientists and industry innovators) who take a certain line in their (research) can expect sizable monetary and career rewards”
Clearer now?
March 9th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Oh goodness…
March 9th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
Congratulations to Dr. Pimm!
Bilbo, You should be clear about referencing Jerry Coyne’s sad display of poor behavior with a link: http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/the-templeton-bribe/
Coyne seems intent on embarrassing himself publicly these days.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
…but we can’t like Dr. Stuart Pimm – he’s a Christian and an accommodationist!!!
It’s all his fault that we have creationism and environmental destruction to begin with! He’s a hypocrite of the worst regard – intellectually dishonest!!!
(Hopefully my sarcasm is duly noted. Congratulations, Dr. Pimm. You’ve had an entire career that has earned this.)
March 9th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Oh Philip, we all know that E.O. Wilson and Stuart Pimm are two of the world’s biggest accommodationists.
And we know that they’ve certainly failed in the scientific arena. What losers.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:29 am
A Christian AND an accommodationist?!! By Pharyngula standards, we should all be hurling violent/sexually-explicit epithets at him, because that’s being intellectually dishonest.”
But more appropriately – congratulations to Pimm! He’s earned it.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:02 am
I think it would be better to have a person like Dr. Stuart Pimm as a mentor rather than someone on an anti-religious crusade.
Congrats to Dr. Stuart Pimm.
March 10th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
They forgot to list your name in “The Family”
March 10th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Sheril’s there at the top with her book. She’s not in the “students” column.
Congratulations Dr. Pimm!
April 19th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
[...] In fact, my incredible mentor and dear colleague Stuart Pimm receives the Tyler Prize this week (Go Stuart!). Mike continues: Worse, by blaming generic ’scientists’, as opposed to specific [...]
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:14 am
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