ZSL Scientific Medal won by Professor Cris Banks-Leite

Many congratulations to Professor Cris Banks-Leite, who has been awarded the prestigious ZSL Scientific Medal.

The medal is awarded for distinguished, innovative, and outstanding contributions to zoological research and conservation. We caught up with Cris to find out more!

You’ve been awarded ZSL’s Scientific Medal – congratulations! What was your reaction when you found out and what does this recognition mean to you personally?

My very first reaction when I saw an email entitled “ZSL Scientific Medal” was that it was spam! Then I read again and was incredulous! It took a while for the penny to drop. But then it finally did, I was super happy to have been recognised by such a prestigious prize.

The Scientific Medal recognises outstanding contributions to zoology and conservation science. What aspects of your research do you think the committee was particularly recognising?

I believe the recognition was for my work influencing environmental policy in various places, including Brazil, Costa Rica and most recently here in the UK. One specific example was the work in Brazil showing how much habitat is needed to preserve biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest, which went on to influence 3 pieces of environmental legislation.

Why is this area of research important right now and what real-world impact do you hope it has?

Understanding biodiversity needs for habitat has always been and will always be central to any conservation or management guidance. There are ways to maximise habitat for biodiversity while maximising habitat for people, but we are still so far from really understanding what, how, where we need this habitat to be. Research all over the world by myself and colleagues have been instrumental to give this guidance to policy makers.

Does receiving the ZSL Scientific Medal influence what you’d like to focus on next?

Research impact in ecology is hardly visible unless you go looking for it. If I look over the countryside in Brazil, I wouldn’t know that my research has helped keep some of it up! So the medal does give that tangible feeling that what I’m doing is worth it. I just want to keep working to producing research that will be valuable for people and for nature!