About
Gretchen Daily is the Humanitas Visiting Professor in Sustainability Studies 2013-14.
She is Bing Professor of Environmental Science in the Department of Biology; Senior Fellow in the Woods Institute for the Environment; and Director of the Center for Conservation Biology. She is also co-founder and faculty director of The Natural Capital Project, an international partnership whose goal is to improve well-being of people and the environment by mainstreaming the values of nature into major resource decisions globally.
Daily's work spans scientific research, teaching, public education, and working with leaders to create innovative and practical approaches to environmental challenges. Daily's scientific research is on biodiversity change; harmonizing biodiversity conservation and agriculture; quantifying the production and value of ecosystem services; and new policy and finance mechanisms for integrating conservation and human development. Her efforts span fundamental research and policy-oriented demonstrations worldwide.
Daily is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2003), U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2005), and the American Philosophical Society (2008). Her transformative work has been recognized in the Sophie Prize (2008), the Cosmos Prize (2009), the Heinz Award (2010), the Midori Prize (2010), the Biodiversity Award (2011), and the Volvo Environment Prize (2012).
Her recent books are The Power of Trees (2012), Natural Capital: Theory & Practice of Mapping Ecosystem Services (2011), and The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Profitable (2002). She received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and she is presently on leave at the Beijer Institute and Stockholm Resilience Centre.
