Ecologist Ilkka Hanski has received a prestigious international award for his ground-breaking scientific achievements.
Hanski became yesterday the first European scientist to receive the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Protection Biology, which – according to a press release published by the University of Helsinki – is valued at 400,000 euros.
The Spain-based BBVA Foundation established the awards in 2008 to recognise outstanding scientific achievements.
Hanski received the award for his ground-breaking work on metapopulation biology. “[His] work is pivotal to our understanding of how species are affected by the growing problem of man-made habitat fragmentation,” the BBVA Foundation acknowledges in its press release.
The conceptual tools of metapopulation biology are already applied in a variety of disciplines, including cancer research, according to the BBVA Foundation. “The impact of his work is increasing as habitats become more fragmented due to anthropogenic influences,” the jury highlights.
The University of Helsinki points out that Hanski was already the first European ecologist to receive two other prestigious recognitions – the Balzan Prize for Ecological Sciences in 2000 and the Crafoord Prize in Biosciences in 2011.
“Hanski is the first ecologist and evolutionary biologist in history to receive all three of the aforementioned awards,” it points out in the press release.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Source: Uusi Suomi
