A national organization just honored UCF Biology Professor Ross Noss for his exceptional leadership the area of conservation.

The Wilburforce Conservation Leadership Award includes a cash award of US$10,000 to the individual, plus an accompanying US$5,000 to the organization where the recipient works. There are no stipulations attached to the award.

Noss is the Davis-Shine Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Central Florida. He is one of the nation’s leading conservation biologists, a co-founder of The Wildlands Project and a past president of the Society for Conservation Biology. He has written more than 250 scientific papers on wildlife conservation, landscape ecology, ecosystem management, and ecological reserve design.

At UCF his current research program is increasingly interdisciplinary and includes work on fire ecology, forest and grassland restoration and management, the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow and its dry prairie habitat, Florida Scrub-Jays, and the Florida Panther.