Stuart L. Pimm chairs SavingSpecies and is the Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke University.

Stuart received his Ph.D. from New Mexico State University in 1974. He is the author on many scientific papers about the loss of species and how to prevent them. His books include The Balance of Nature? and, in 2001, the acclaimed World According to Pimm: a Scientist Audits the Earth. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the recipient of the 2006 Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences (The Netherlands), and the winner of the Society for Sigma Xi’s Proctor Prize in 2007.

 

Thomas E. Lovejoy is the President of The Heinz Center.

Tom received his Ph.D from Yale. Before coming to The Heinz Center, he was the World Bank’s Chief Biodiversity Advisor and Lead Specialist for Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean and Senior Advisor to the President of the United Nations Foundation. Tom has been Assistant Secretary and Counselor to the Secretary at the Smithsonian Institution, Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior, and Executive Vice President of the World Wildlife Fund–U.S. He conceived the idea for the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems project (a joint project between the Smithsonian and Brazil's INPA), originated the concept of debt-for-nature swaps, and is the founder of the public television series Nature. He was awarded the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2001. Tom served on science and environmental councils or committees under the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations.

 

Norman Myers is an adjunct professor at Duke University and a Fellow of Oxford University.

Norman received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1973. His work defining “biodiversity hotspots,” estimating the rates of loss of tropical forests and of species has made him one of the most highly cited environmental scientists of our age. The hotspot concept has attracted nearly one billion dollars for protecting these special areas. His awards include the Sasakawa Prize (United Nations), the Volvo Environment Prize, and the Blue Planet Prize (Japan) — making him only the second scientist in the world to receive all three prizes. He is a Foreign member of the US National Academy of Sciences. In 1997 he was appointed by Queen Elizabeth to The Order of St. Michael and St. George “For Services to The Global Environment.”

Peter H. Raven, President, Missouri Botanical Garden

Peter is also the George Engelmann Professor of Botany, Washington University in St. Louis. His Ph.D is from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1960. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, as well as a foreign member of academies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, China, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, India, and several other countries, of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society (UK). He has over twenty honorary degrees. His major international awards include the International Prize for Biology (Japan), the International Environmental Leadership medal (United Nations), the Volvo Environment Prize, and the Tyler Prize. His publications on biodiversity and plant biology are many and influential.

 

Patricia Wright, Professor, State University of New York, Stony Brook.

Pat received her Ph.D. from the City University of New York in 1985. She is a leading expert on lemurs, having discovered a new species, the golden bamboo lemur. That discovery led to her establishing a world-renowned center at Ranomafana, Madagascar for studying that country’s biodiversity and the issues involved in protecting it. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius award” and, in 1995, Madagascar’s National Medal of Honor. Her life and research are featured in Michael Apted’s “Me and Isaac Newton” an award winning documentary that features scientists and their creativity.