The Thomas A. and Currie C. Barron Family Biodiversity Research Challenge Fund, or Biodiversity Challenge, seeks to catalyze interdisciplinary faculty-led scholarship and research — with an educational component — that enhances our understanding of biodiversity and examines the effects of environmental change on biodiversity, while exploring what can be done to stem the loss of biodiversity by directly addressing barriers to conservation. The Biodiversity Challenge was established through a gift to Princeton from Currie C. and Thomas A. Barron that significantly builds upon the University’s decades-long leadership in studying how biodiversity arises, how it is maintained, and how to sustain it in the face of growing demands for natural resources.
Today, we face a rapidly accelerating loss of plant and animal species driven by human activity. It’s estimated that a million species face extinction — many within decades — from the destruction of natural ecosystems, the overharvesting of plants and animals, pollution, climate change, and the transport of species (and their pathogens) outside their natural ranges. The gravity of the biodiversity crisis demands that Princeton foster collaboration between the natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, and engineering. Solutions must be scientifically based, economically feasible, socially acceptable, and, above all, something that people will embrace. Because students will be the most critical stewards and protectors of biodiversity, all projects include opportunities for participation by Princeton undergraduates through the design of new courses or labs, or through new opportunities for independent research or other creative work.
