SFI External Professor and Science Board member Mercedes Pascual has been awarded the Ecological Society of America's prestigious Robert H. MacArthur Award.
The award, given every other year, recognizes a mid-career ecologist for "meritorious contributions to ecology with the expectation of continued outstanding ecological research."
The Society recognizes Pascual, the Rosemary Grant Collegiate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan, for her contributions to the theory of food web structure; the ecology, spread, and evolution of infectious diseases; and the development and application of novel computational methods for relating climate to disease.
Throughout her career, Pascual also has devoted enormous energy to fostering diversity of ecological researchers in the U.S. and mentoring junior researchers worldwide.
"The MacArthur award is one of the highest recognitions given to outstanding mid-career ecologists," says Jennifer Dunne, SFI's Chair of the Faculty. "Mercedes is highly deserving of that recognition, and I am one of many people who have benefited from excellent collaborations with her."
Pascual received the award August 11 at the ESA's annual meeting in Sacramento, California.
Previous SFI-affiliated winners include Robert May (1984), Simon Levin (1988), and Jim Brown (2002).
Read the Ecological Society of America news release (August 11, 2014)