Punjab-origin expert appointed trustee of UK’s Natural History Museum

Yadvinder Malhi is the professor of ecosystem science at the University of Oxford, his research focusses on the impact of climate change on the biosphere

Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson on Wednesday appointed Yadvinder Malhi, professor of ecosystem science at the University of Oxford, as a trustee of one of London’s most popular visitor attractions: the Natural History Museum.

Yadvinder Malhi has established a network of intensive study and monitoring of tropical ecosystems spanning Amazonia, Africa and Asia. (Credit: University of Oxford)

A leading science research centre, the museum in south Kensington is host to around 80 million specimens spanning billions of years and welcomes more than five million visitors annually.

Malhi, 52, has focused his research on the impact of climate change and other types of change on the biosphere, and how the protection and restoration of the biosphere can contribute to mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Much of his work has focused on the tropics, and he has established a network of intensive study and monitoring of tropical ecosystems spanning Amazonia, Africa and Asia.

Malhi is the former president of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, chair of Trustees of the Global Biodiversity Foundation, a fellow of the Royal Society, and has authored or co-authored over 400 scientific papers on ecosystems and climate change.

The tenure of the unpaid role is four years. The 12-member board of trustees of the museum includes Indian industrialist Anand Mahindra.