As an interdisciplinary environmental scientist, Norman Myers has been a pioneer in identifying and looking for solutions to some of the world’s major environmental problems. Myers has carried out research and worked as an environmental consultant in more than 50 countries. He has also served as a visiting professor at more than 20 colleges and universities.
Myers’ pioneering research led him to estimate that we were losing one species every day, on average. He helped alert the world to the destruction of tropical forests, explained the economic and ecological reasons for preserving biodiversity, and co-authored a groundbreaking interdisciplinary book describing the state of the planet (published in 1984 and updated in 2005). In addition, Myers originated the idea of preserving biodiversity by identifying and protecting biodiversity hotspots, and he has written of the need for environmental security as a basis for political stability, perverse government subsidies and how they harm the environment, and institutional roadblocks that have blocked many solutions to environmental problems. Myers has written 20 books that have seen sales of more than 1 million copies in 11 language, 300 professional papers in scientific journals, and more that 300 popular articles in newspapers and magazines. He has also served as an adviser to many academic bodies, governments, and international agencies, including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the White House, NASA, the World Bank, the United Nations, and the U.S. Departments of State, Defense and Energy. Myers has received more than 20 major environmental awards and honors, including the Blue Planet Prize, the UNEP Environment Prize, and the Volvo Environment Prize.
