Royal Society announces new Fellows

Eight Cambridge researchers are among the 44 new Fellows announced by the Royal Society this week. Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society said: "It is a true pleasure to welcome this year's new Fellows to the Royal Society. They join the ranks of the UK and Commonwealth's leading scientists, counting themselves among early Fellows such as Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle and Charles Darwin. The Society aims to expand the frontiers of knowledge by championing the development and use of science, mathematics, engineering and medicine for the benefit of humanity and the good of the planet. It is the contribution of excellent individuals such as these which makes this possible." The new Fellows are: Professor Andrew Balmford, Professor of Conservation Science, at the Department of Zoology and a Fellow of Clare College. Andrew Balmford's major contribution has been to tackle fundamental questions about the relationship between people and the global loss of nature - is conservation worthwhile, why is nature being lost, how much would conservation cost, and how can we achieve it efficiently? A series of innovative and well-structures studies that directly address these questions have had important implications for global conservation and for the valuation of nature. His work is characterized by detailed quantitative studies, by clever use of the data that is available and by well designed studies that effectively balance rigour with pragmatism.