We are delighted to announce that College Fellow, Professor Erin Saupe has been awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize 2021 in recognition of her exceptional work on palaeobiology, geology, biology, ecology and climate science.
Leverhulme Trust awards £3 million to 30 outstanding researchers across the UK annually. Chosen from over 400 nominations, the Trust offered five prizes in each of the following subject areas: Classics; Earth Sciences; Physics; Politics and International Relations; Psychology; Visual and Performing Arts. Now in its twentieth year, this scheme commemorates the contribution to the work of the Trust made by Philip, Third Viscount Leverhulme and grandson of William Lever, the founder of the Trust. Information about all 2021 prize winners is available here.
Erin’s research applies deep-time information to current problems of species’ conservation, focusing on understanding how environmental changes govern evolutionary and ecological processes. Anthropogenic climate change is threatening Earth’s biodiversity, and risks are expected to accelerate in coming decades. It has therefore never been more important to understand the relationship between climate and biodiversity, provided by palaeobiological data. Erin’s research will continue to leverage the fossil record to understand how species respond to environmental changes over both long and short timescales.
Erin said of the prize, ‘Leverhulme Prize funding will allow me to advance my research programme in conservation palaeobiology. I will be examining how phytoplankton respond to future climate change, which has large-scale ecosystem implications.’
