F. Stuart Chapin III

F. Stuart Chapin III (or Terry Chapin) (born February 2, 1944) is a professor of Ecology at the Department of Biology and Wildlife of the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska. He was President of the Ecological Society of America (ESA) from August 2010 until 2011.[1]

The grandson of sociologist F. Stuart Chapin, Chapin III is better known to students and colleagues as 'Terry'. Chapin also serves as principal investigator of the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, and has a background in plant physiological ecology and ecosystem ecology. His current research interests focus on the resilience of social-ecological systems. As director of the graduate educational program in Resilience and Adaptation at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Chapin studies human-fire interactions in the boreal forest. As President of ESA, he plans to address the "critical issue" of planetary stewardship.[2] With Mary Power and Steward Pickett, Chapin is leading a Planetary Stewardship initiative “whose goal is to reorient society toward a more sustainable relationship with the biosphere.”[3]

In 2019 Terry Chapin won the Volvo Environment Prize.[4] The jury citation states: "Professor Terry Chapin is not only a world-leading ecologist, he is also one of the world’s most profound thinkers and actors on stewardship of the Earth System. [...] His work will have a long-lasting impact on the ways we seek to build a sustainable future, with the concept of Earth Stewardship supporting the deep institutional and structural change required to meet the challenges ahead."[4]