David Tilman is Regents Professor and McKnight Presidential Chair in Ecology at the University of Minnesota, and Distinguished Professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California Santa Barbara. Tilman is an ecologist whose long-term experiments and related mathematical theory were the first to show that biodiversity is the major determinant of ecosystem stability, productivity, carbon storage and susceptibility to invasion. His recent work focuses on ways to provide secure and healthy diets for all the people of the Earth while also moderating climate change and preventing species extinctions so that the Earth remains habitable for the long-term benefit of humanity.
David Tilman is a member of the National Academy of Science, the UK’s Royal Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Major awards include the International Prize for Biology, the Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences, the Balzan Prize, the BBVA Foundation’s Frontiers of Knowledge Award and the Asahi Foundation’s Blue Planet Prize.
David Tilman, whose Ph. D. was from the University of Michigan in 1976, has written two books, edited five books, and published more than 300 scientific papers, including more than 40 papers in Nature and Science. He has been designated as the world’s most highly cited environmental scientist for every decade since 1990.
David Tilman is deeply interested in the interface of science, society, ethics and environmental policy, and has communicated the benefits of scientifically-based solutions to major environmental problems with the public, politicians, and media. He has given expert invited testimony to Congressional committees, served on several White House scientific advisory committees, and addressed a rare joint meeting of the Minnesota State House and Senate.
