A Note From Director Rachel E. Gallery
Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy was a visionary, influential scientific leader in conservation biology and a passionate proponent for solutions to address the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, especially in the Amazon. To uphold and build upon his legacy, the Lovejoy Center will advance biodiversity research and conservation efforts for science-based policy and decision-making, and educate, mentor, and invest in the next generation of conservation scientists and leaders.
Tom brought people together and worked tirelessly to build connections to advance conservation efforts and constructively influence government policies and practices. Guided by his vision, we will build avenues for research translation in biodiversity conservation, natural resource management and policy, and environmental justice and work to grow a broader understanding of, and value for, the Earth’s biosphere.
This work will be buoyed by Tom’s enduring belief that despite our current challenges, “optimism is the only option.”
-Dr. Rachel E. Gallery
By JerryFreilich - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112247756
About Thomas E. Lovejoy
Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy (1941-2021) is one of the most globally renowned ecologists of modern times, recognized by countless U.S. and international organizations for his life’s work. His scholarship in biodiversity, tropical forests, and climate change focused on how human activity causes habitat fragmentation, pushing biological diversity towards crisis.
In recognition of the value of his work, Dr. Lovejoy was an elected member of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In 1998, Brazil awarded him the Grand Cross of the Order of Scientific Merit. In 2001, he was awarded the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. He received over 50 Honors, including the Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Government of France (2014) and the Lifetime Achievement Award by th Global Council for Science and the Environment in 2017. In 2022, the National Geographic Society posthumously awarded Dr. Lovejoy the Hubbard Medal, the nonprofit’s highest honor.
Dr. Lovejoy advised national governments, international organizations, and corporations, and held more than 100 nongovernmental advisory and directorship roles. He served on science and environmental councils and committees under the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations, and in senior roles at the UN Foundation, the World Bank, the Smithsonian Institutions, the U.S. Department of Interior, and the World Wildlife Fund, among others.
Thomas E. Lovejoy
Kristin Pintauro / Colorado State University
Examples of how his work linked science to policy and governance abound, with a notable one being the concept of Debt-for-Nature Swaps, which he conceived as a mechanism whereby environmental groups purchased risky foreign debt on the secondary market at a considerable discount. The debt was then converted at its face value into the local currency to purchase biologically sensitive tracts of land in the debtor nation for purposes of environmental protection.
Dr. Lovejoy was uniquely skilled at straddling all sectors of society, a skill that significantly magnified the awareness of the value to this and future generations of biological diversity, and the need for scientifically based good governance and policies to protect the life-supporting ecosystem services these provide. View Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy’s CV.
Thomas E. Lovejoy passed away on December 25, 2021.