Norman Myers, Ph.D.

Research

Project Details

Myers applied his Pew Fellowship to investigate the issue of synergistic compounding of biodiversity problems and the role of the shifted cultivator or displaced peasant in tropical deforestation. By identifying and exploring key questions of biodiversity and then presenting the findings through scientific journals, professional conferences, political assemblies, policy gatherings and the media, Norman brings biodiversity problems and their possible solutions to the forefront of the environmental debate.

During his fellowship tenure he expanded his "hotspots" research to the mass extinction of species. He also served as guest editor for a special issue of Biodiversity and Conservation dealing with synergistic interactions and other potential discontinuities among biodiversity problems. In addition, he addressed the interconnected issues of tropical forests, biodiversity, consumption and sustainable development.

Biography

Norman Myers has been an important figure in alerting the world to the loss of biodiversity, among other front-rank problems. He is a renowned expert on systems ecology, disruption of future evolution, resource economics, population, developing-country poverty and biodiversity, with field experience in more than 50 countries. Myers conducted pioneering work in the early 1970s that established the species extinction rate worldwide to be several hundred times greater than generally supposed. Since he originated the biodiversity "hotspots" strategy for conservation planning, it has generated over $750 million for conservation activities, the largest sum ever assigned to a single strategy. He has published more than 250 papers in professional journals, 300 popular articles and 18 books.

Myers is an Honorary Visiting Fellow at Green College, Oxford University, and has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Kent, Oxford, Utrecht, Tokyo and Cape Town as well as Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Duke, Michigan, Texas, Stanford and California. In 1998, he held the post of Charles M. and Martha Hitchcock Professor at UC Berkeley, where he lectured on issues of sustainable development including biodiversity safeguards and tropical forest conservation.

In addition to his academic posts, Myers has served as scientific consultant and policy adviser to U.S. and European political leaders as well as many national and international entities such as the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, OECD, the World Bank, seven United Nations agencies and the European Commission. The influence of his work is seen in the increasingly common requirement that rigorous environmental value be incorporated into policy planning from the start, as a step in the approval process for development projects backed by international lenders or aid-givers.

Over the past decade, Myers has focused a major portion of his work on the rate of tropical deforestation, demonstrating that it continues to be much higher than previously supposed.

CV

EDUCATION

Ph.D., University of California
1973: Berkeley, California, USA

Master of Arts, Oxford University
1963: England

Bachelor of Arts, Oxford University
1958: England

KEY LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Consultant

OECD
Consultant

Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Consultant

Russian Center for Environmental Policy
Board of Directors

U.S. National Research Council
Consultant

World Bank
Consultant

World Resources Institute
Global Council

KEY AWARDS & HONORS

Haas Award for International Alumnus of the Year
2004: University of California at Berkeley

Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George
1998: Queen's Honours List

Sasakawa Award
1995: United Nations Environment Programme

Marine Fellow
1994: Pew Fellows Program in Conservation and the Environment

First British Scientist Recipient
1992: Volvo Environment Prize

Fellow
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Gaia Award, Italy, First International Recipient

Gold Medal
New York Zoological Society

Conservation medal, Gold medal
New York Zoological Society, San Diego Zoological Society

Distinguished Achievement Award
Society for Conservation Biology

Global 500 Roll of Honor
United Nations Environment Programme

Fellow
World Academy of Art and Sciences

Gold Medal and Order of the Golden Ark
World Wildlife Fund International

ASSOCIATIONS

African Directorate of Demographers

American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

International Platform Association

National Academy of Sciences

Royal Society of Arts

World Academy of Art and Science

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

• Myers, N., and Kent J. 2004. The New Consumers: The Influence of Affluence on the Environment. (Island Press eds.)
• Myers, N. and J. Kent. 2003. New consumers: the influence of affluence on the environment. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (USA) 100:4963-4968
• Myers, N. and A. Knoll. 2001. The biotic crisis and the future of evolution. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (USA) 98:5389-5392
• Myers, N., R. Mittermeier, C.G. Mittermeier, G.A.B. daFonseca, and J. Kent. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853-858
• Myers, N. 1999. Environmental scientists: advocates as well? Environmental Conservation 26:163-165
• Myers, N. 1997. Consumption in relation to population, environment and development. The Environmentalist 17:33-44
• Myers, N. 1996. Environmental services of biodiversity. Proceedings of U.S. National Academy of Sciences 93:2764-2769
• Myers, N. 1996. Extinction and Biodiversity. In: The Physical Geography of Africa (W.M Adams, A.S. Goudie and A. Orme eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, p. 356-366
• Myers, N. 1996. The rich diversity of biodiversity issues. In: Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting our Natural Resources (M.L. Reaka-Kudla, D.W. Wilson and E.O. Wilson eds.). National Academy Press, Washington DC, p. 125-138
• Myers, N. and N.J. Myers. 1996. Ultimate Security: The Environmental Basis of Political Stability. WW Norton and Island Press, New York, NY and Washington DC. Chinese translation, 1995
• Myers, N. 1995. Biodiversity. Environmental Awareness 18:51-50
• Myers, N. 1995. Environmental Exodus: An Emergent Crisis in the Global Arena. Climate Institute
• Myers, N. 1995. Environmental unknowns. Science 269:358-360
• Myers, N. 1995. Population and biodiversity. AMBIO 24(1): 56-57
• Myers, N. 1995. The world's forests: Need for a policy appraisal. Science 268:823-824
• Myers, N. 1995. Tropical deforestation: Population, poverty and biodiversity. In: The Ecology and Economics of Biodiversity Decline: The Forces Driving Global Change (T. Swanson ed.). Cambridge University Press, UK, p. 111-122
• Myers, N. and J. Kent. 1995. Environmental exodus: an emergent crisis in the global arena. The Climate Institute, Washington, D.C
• Myers, N. and J. Simon. 1994. Scarcity or abundance: a debate on the environment. Norton, New York
• Myers, N. (ed) and N. J. Myers (eds.). 1993. The Gaia Atlas of Planet Management. Anchor (1985 with Doubleday)
• Myers, N. (ed) and N. J. Myers (eds.). 1993. The Gaia Atlas of Planet Management. Anchor (1985 with Doubleday)
• Myers, N. 1993. Questions of mass extinction. Biodiversity and Conservation 2:2-17
• Myers, N. 1984. The primary source: tropical forests and our future. Norton, New York & London
• Myers, N. 1983. A wealth of wild species. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado
• Myers, N. 1979. The Sinking Ark: A New Look at the Problem of Disappearing Species. Pergamon Press, New York and Oxford. Three printings, four translations