Cagan H Sekercioglu

Prof. Dr. Çağan Hakkı Şekercioğlu (www.sekercioglu.org) is a biology professor at the University of Utah Department of Biology, the president of the non-profit environmental organization KuzeyDoğa (www.kuzeydoga.org), and a photographer for National Geographic (www.natgeocreative.com/photography/CAGANHSEKERCIOGLU). Born in İstanbul in 1975, Şekercioğlu is a conservation ecologist, ornithologist, and Turkey's first tropical biologist. Turkey's 2010 Scientist of the year and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, he is among the most cited 1% of the world's scientists in the past decade. Şekercioğlu graduated from İstanbul Robert College in 1993 and won a silver medal at the International Biology Olympics that year. He graduated from Harvard University in 1997 magna cum laude, with degrees in biology and anthropology. Before starting his ecology Ph.D. at Stanford University, he took a year off to work in Alaska for the USGS National Biological Survey, to climb, photograph, and explore in South America and Antarctica, and to travel in Africa for his first book "Vanishing Africa". In 2001, he was chosen one of the 100 leading academics of Turkey. His doctoral research focused on the causes and consequences of bird extinctions and he received his Ph.D. in 2003 from Stanford University Department of Biology. Same year, he was chosen the Outstanding Young Person of the Year in Environmental and Ethical Leadership by Junior Chamber International of Turkey. Also in 2003, he initiated his community-based conservation, biodiversity research, ecological restoration, and ecotourism projects in northeastern Turkey, founding the Kars-based environmental non-profit organization KuzeyDoğa in 2007. He directed KuzeyDoğa while working as a senior scientist at Stanford University. For his community-based conservation, research, restoration, and ecotourism work at Lake Kuyucuk of Kars (www.kuyucuk.org), he received the Whitley Gold Award of the United Kingdom from Princess Anne in 2008. Following the award, KuzeyDoğa succeeded in getting Kuyucuk declared eastern Turkey's first Ramsar wetland, had the lake chosen the 2009 European Destination of Excellence, and helped create Turkey's first bird-nesting island in the lake. These conservation milestones were honored by Princess Anne at the Buckingham Palace in 2010. Later that year, Şekercioğlu joined the faculty of the University of Utah Department of Biology and he was chosen one of the 100 Hopes for the Future of Turkey and Turkey's Scientist of the Year. In 2011, he was elected a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and received Turkey's wetland conservation awards for his individual efforts and for the work of KuzeyDoğa. In 2011, Şekercioğlu and colleagues published the books "Conservation of Tropical Birds" and "Winged Sentinels: Birds and Climate Change" (www.wingedsentinels.com). The latter has become a Cambridge University Press bestseller and was chosen "2011 Book of the Year" by NHBS. In 2013, Şekercioğlu received Turkey's inaugural Wetland Science Award and was chosen a National Geographic Risk Taker. In 2014, he became the first biologist, conservationist and youngest person to receive from President Erdoğan Turkey's top science award, the TUBITAK Special Award. In 2015, he was chosen an Ashoka Fellow and Sabanci Foundation Changemaker for his ecological research, community-based conservation and environmental education work in Turkey. His latest book "Why Birds Matter" was published in 2016. In addition to his long-term work in Turkey, Ethiopia, Costa Rica, and Utah, Şekercioğlu has done field work in over 90 countries on all continents and has seen over 75% of the world's bird species in the wild. He is a visiting professor at Koç University in Turkey, an associate of the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology, Fellow International of the Explorers Club, Elective Member of the American Ornithologists Union, full member of the Sigma Xi Scientific Society and the first Turkish board member (2012-2015) of the Society for Conservation Biology. His research and conservation efforts have been covered widely, including BBC, CNN, National Geographic, Nature, Newsweek, New York Times, Science and The New Yorker. Also an award-winning nature and wildlife photographer represented by National Geographic, Şekercioğlu's photos have been published by the National Geographic, BBC, and hundreds of magazines, newspapers, and books. He has served as an editor of 11 scientific journals and reviews papers for over 120 scientific journals. Since 2002, Şekercioğlu's three books and over 140 scientific publications have received over 12,000 citations and he is one of the most-cited 1% scientists of the past decade.