Professor William Laurance

James Cook University

ALERT is directed by William “Bill” Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate at James Cook University in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. He also holds the Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation at Utrecht University, Netherlands.

Bill is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  He is also a former president of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. A leading scientist and advocate for environmental sustainability, he has received many professional honors, including the Heineken Environment Prize, the BBVA Frontiers in Ecology and Conservation Biology Award, and a Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Conservation Biology.  In 2015 he received the Royal Zoological Society of London's Outstanding Achievements in Conservation Award.  He is the author of eight books and more than 600 scientific and popular articles, and is a four-time winner of Australia's Best Science Writing Award.