Soil Star Thomas Crowther receives Rachel Carson Award for advancing global ecosystem restoration
Professor Thomas Crowther, ecologist and Soil Star, has been named the winner of the Rachel Carson Environmental Conservation Excellence Award, part of the Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards 2025. The honour recognises his leadership in global ecosystem restoration and his work connecting biodiversity science with real-world climate solutions.
The prize is part of the Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards 2025, which celebrate the brightest minds in the field and promote the research, groups, projects, products and individuals helping to shape the future of applied microbiology.
The Rachel Carson Environmental Conservation Excellence Award recognises professionals, researchers, and innovators who have made significant contributions to the conservation of marine and terrestrial ecosystems and the preservation of biodiversity. It honours efforts to address critical environmental challenges and safeguard natural habitats, with a focus on real-world impact.
Professor Thomas Ward Crowther is a British ecologist focused on understanding the forces that shape biodiversity at a global scale. He is the founder of the Crowther Lab, an international network of research groups exploring the role of biodiversity in regulating the Earth’s climate and human wellbeing.
In 2020 he founded Restor.eco, an online platform that supports hundreds of thousands of community-led restoration projects worldwide. By democratising access to data and finance, the platform enables local biodiversity protection initiatives that enhance community wellbeing. Collectively, this global network supports the recovery of healthy soils and vegetation across 160 million hectares of land.
Crowther was the founding Co-Chair of the Advisory Board for the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which promotes ecological recovery at a global scale, and in 2021 he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for his work to protect biodiversity across the globe.
“I am deeply honoured to receive the Rachel Carson Environmental Conservation Excellence Award,” he said.
“This recognition reflects the incredible global community of practitioners and scientists in the Restor.eco network, who are working to protect and restore the biodiversity that we all depend on. I’m extremely grateful that this award can shine a spotlight on this vital work.”
Read the full list of this year’s AMI Horizon Award winners on The Microbiologist