Press release: Frontiers Planet Prize: Göttingen biodiversity researcher named „National Champion“
No. 49 - 22.04.2026
Dr Gustavo B. Paterno advances to global final in science competition on planetary health
Ecologist and biodiversity researcher Dr Gustavo B. Paterno from the University of Göttingen is entering the global final of the Frontiers Planet Prize 2026 as Germany’s ‘National Champion’. His nomination by an international jury of over a hundred members also recognises him as an outstanding expert in his field of research. According to the jury’s statement, Paterno’s work deepens our understanding of the Earth system whilst offering practical, scalable solutions to enable humanity to thrive within planetary boundaries. As one of 25 National Champions worldwide, he is part of the world’s largest global science competition dedicated to planetary health. The Frontiers Planet Prize awards three scientists one million US dollars each to scale up transformative research and is the most lucrative scientific award in the field of planetary health.
Paterno has been nominated for an study published in the journal Science in November 2024, in which multiple researchers from the University of Göttingen and from two Indonesian universities were involved. In it, he shows that embedding ‘tree islands’ in large-scale oil palm landscapes is an effective strategy for enhancing both native species diversity and functional and evolutionary diversity – a key foundation for the long-term resilience of ecosystems.
The Frontiers Planet Prize recognises scientific breakthroughs that contribute to stabilising the planet's ecosystems. Its aim is to accelerate international competition for the best solutions to global ecological crises and to promote scientific collaboration. Three people per country are nominated for the global final, from which a jury of 100 first selects one national ‘champion’ each. In June 2026, the three global ‘champions’ will be named from this group and honoured in a ceremony. The institutions of the three winners will each receive one million US dollars for further research.
press release by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (website in German)
to the press release issued by the University of Göttingen in November 2024
Contact:
Dr Gustavo B. Paterno
University of Göttingen
Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Biodiversity, Macroecology and Biogeography Group
Phone: +49 551 39-28757
Email: gustavo.paterno@uni-goettingen.de
www.uni-goettingen.de/en/687295.html
Professor Holger Kreft
University of Göttingen
Biodiversity, Macroecology and Biogeography Research Group
Phone: +49 551 39-28757
Email: hkreft@uni-goettingen.de