Prof Sandra Diaz, a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford, working closely with the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) and the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery (LCNR), has been awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement 2025.
Prof Díaz is one of the world’s leading ecologists, celebrated for her interdisciplinary work, her research on vascular plant functional traits, their responses to the environment and their impact on ecosystems and human well-being. Her leadership has been instrumental in shaping the global conversation about the biodiversity crisis and the urgent need for transformative change in our relationship with the natural world.
Prof Diaz, from Argentina, is a visiting fellow at the ECI, LCNR and also the Oxford Martin School. She was jointly awarded the Tyler Prize with Brazilian-American anthropologist Eduardo Brondízio for “their extraordinary work linking biodiversity to humankind”.
Prof Diaz said:
The climatic crisis, the biodiversity crisis, and the outrageous socioeconomic inequities in the world are all interrelated, all connected by the living fabric of the planet. They need to be tackled in an integrated manner. One cannot solve one of these crises without considering the other two.”
Julia Marton-Lefèvre, chair of the Tyler Prize, said: "Sandra Díaz's work has been instrumental in reshaping how biodiversity is conceptualised and valued in policy discussions around the globe.”
Established in the early 1970s, the Tyler Prize was the first of its kind to recognise global leaders in the environment and sustainability. Often called the “Nobel Prize for the environment,” the Tyler Prize has been awarded to scientists, policymakers and thought leaders whose work has advanced environmental science, conservation and sustainability across the world.
Read more on this story from the Oxford Martin School.
Find out more about Prof Diaz’s achievement from the Tyler Prize organisation.