FORA.tv Speaker - David Tilman

David Tilman is the McKnight presidential chair in ecology and regents professor at the University of Minnesota (St. Paul). Tilman has spent his career developing theories of biodiversity and species composition that he has tested in carefully designed and controlled experiments. His work on resource competition in both algal and grassland ecosystems has helped shape ecology into a more predictive and quantitative science. For this and numerous other contributions, Tilman was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2002. In his inaugural article, Tilman presents a new theory of species diversity and abundance within ecosystems. The theory was inspired by data he gathered over the past two decades at Cedar Creek Natural History Area, where he currently serves as director.