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Raúl García Hémonnet/Editor
Fernando Valladares teaches and researches at the School of Experimental Sciences and Technology (ESCET) of the URJC. In addition, he is a research professor at the CSIC, where he directs the Ecology and Global Change group at the National Museum of Natural Sciences and this Thursday he received the recognition 'Environmental Communication' award of the BBVA Foundation Biodiversity Conservation Awards.
The jury highlighted the fact that Valladares is an example of how a researcher with an "excellent world-class scientific career" transfers knowledge to society, in an accessible and simple way, in a field as important as the environment. The Foundation has also highlighted his "exceptional contribution to the dissemination of scientific knowledge on the great environmental challenges of our time".
Count the effects of climate change
The research work of this ESCET professor deals mainly with the impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems and the mechanisms of tolerance to extreme environmental conditions. But if there is one characteristic that stands out in this URJC teacher, it is his informative capacity. As the award jury points out, the winner "highlights the need and responsibility of transmitting scientific evidence on the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity on our planet to the whole of society."
Valladares has given talks on the environment since the beginning of his academic career. His commitment to disclosure comes from afar. But, without a doubt, the turning point in the momentum of this work came when he directed his research work to issues related to climate change and, especially, after the call of the IPCC (International Panel for Climate Change, in acronym in Spanish) in 2018 to scientists to raise their voices. It was then that he intensified his informative nature and even opened a YouTube channel, 'the health of humanity', which launched in 2019.
Later, with the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fernando Valladares published a video on his channel that had a great impact on social networks. Valladares has placed great emphasis on the relationship between the loss of biodiversity and the jumps of new viruses of zoonotic origin (from other species) to the human population. In addition to networks, Valladares has participated, throughout his career and, especially in recent years, in dealing with environmental issues in different media
Awards for the defense of natural heritage and the preservation of biodiversity
In the same category, the BBVA Foundation has distinguished the Association for the Defense of Nature and Resources of Extremadura (ADENEX) with the award for Biodiversity Conservation Actions in Spain "for its four decades of work in defense of the natural heritage in Extremadura, contributing to the declaration of numerous protected areas that include large areas of meadows and Mediterranean mountains”.
On the other hand, the Royal Botanic Garden of Kew (Kew Gardens), in London, has also been awarded. In this case, it has received the World Award for the Conservation of Biodiversity "for its extraordinary contribution to the preservation of the plant biodiversity of the planet, through the creation of a seed bank that houses 2.500 million samples of plants from 190 countries”, through the Millennium Seed Bank Project (MSBP).