DURHAM, N.C. – The National Geographic has recognized Stuart L. Pimm, Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at the Nicholas School of the Environment at 91ÉçÇø¸£Àû, for eight years of service to the society's Committee for Research and Exploration.

Pimm was recognized for his service during a dinner in his honor at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., on January 11.

In an official statement issued following the dinner, National Geographic officials noted, "During his time on the committee, which funds scientific research and exploration around the world, Dr. Pimm used his extraordinary knowledge of community ecology and the functioning of ecosystems to guide decisions on grant applications. Overall, he helped award more than a quarter of the total number of grants made in more than a century by the society in ecology, general biology and conservation."

Pimm is widely cited for his research on biodiversity, species extinction and habitat loss in Africa, South America and Central America, as well as the Everglades. His work has contributed to new practices and policy for species preservation and habitat restoration in many of the world’s most threatened ecosystems.

In 2006, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded Pimm its prestigious Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences, and, earlier that year, the Society for Conservation Biology presented him its Edward T. LaRoe III Memorial Award.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was awarded a Pew Scholarship for Conservation and the Environment in 1993 and an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship in 1999. The Institute of Scientific Information recognized him in 2002 as one of the world’s most highly cited scientists.