IU anthropology professor Eduardo Brondízio, 61, has dedicated more than half his life studying human-environmental interactions and social-environmental change in the Amazon. His work has shaped global environmental policy and shed light on the vital conservation efforts of Indigenous and local groups.
Born and raised in São Paulo, Brondízio’s fascination with the Amazon began in 1989 while researching rural and fishing communities along Brazil’s southern coast. He saw firsthand the rapid development and transformation of these communities and wanted to learn more.
According to the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, the resident population in Brazil's Legal Amazon in 1970 was approximately 8.2 million people. By 2010, this number had increased to over 24 million.
Brondízio said the Amazon has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the world since the 1970s, driven by the development of the food production market, changes in Indigenous rights and environmental transformation.
His research has taken him across the globe, from the bustling metropolis of São Paulo — the largest city in the Western Hemisphere — to the remote communities of the Amazon to his academic home in Bloomington. Brondízio’s international work includes visiting professorships and research positions at the L’Institut des Ameriques, Paris, France and at the Research Institute for Humanities and Nature in Kyoto, Japan.
A pivotal moment in Brondízio's career came in 2019 when he co-chaired the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Global Assessment, alongside Argentine ecologist Sandra Díaz and German scientist Josef Settele. Leading a team of over 450 authors, they created a comprehensive analysis of biodiversity loss and environmental change.
The study found that between 500,000 and one million species are at risk of extinction within this century.
“It had a huge impact,” he said. “We documented the main drivers of change affecting biodiversity globally.”
The report acted as the foundation for the 2030 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, an international agreement aimed at reversing biodiversity decline. Brondízio said seeing the scope of extinction risk was a sobering moment, pushing him to further explore the role of local communities in sustainability efforts.
“Behind all the problems we tend to see every day — deforestation, fires — there are lots of people on the ground fighting against it, trying to change the reality and future of the region," he said.
Now, his career-long dedication to understanding and addressing environmental challenges has been recognized with the 2025 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, which includes a $250,000 cash prize. Often referred to as the "Nobel Prize for the Environment," the Tyler Prize honors individuals or organizations who have made significant contributions to environmental conservation and understanding of biodiversity loss.
Brondízio and his co-recipient, Díaz, are the first individuals from South America to receive the accolade.
“The prize itself, I think, is a recognition of the importance of collaborative research,” he said. “My work is totally collaborative and this prize highlights that collective efforts have a bigger impact than individual work.”
Brondízio has published more than 200 research articles, many of which explore local environmental preservation initiatives. For example, in "Locally Based, Regionally Manifested, and Globally Relevant," he emphasizes Indigenous communities' unique environmental knowledge and sustainable practices, arguing that supporting these efforts is crucial for global sustainability. His study, "Community-based fisheries management exert a vast value-added effective protection footprint in Amazonian forests," demonstrates how community-managed fisheries protect both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Beyond research, Brondízio has worked with the United Nations and served as co-editor-in-chief of "Global Environmental Change."
As an IU professor, he has also mentored students in environmental anthropology. Many of his doctoral students now lead projects on sustainability, biodiversity conservation and climate resilience worldwide.
Despite the daunting environmental challenges facing the Amazon, Brondízio remains optimistic. His research continues to document local initiatives, such as the expansion of agroforestry and community-led governance of land and biodiversity, that offer innovative solutions. These studies also shed light on the importance of social equity in environmental protection efforts.
"We need to remember that we have confronted environmental problems in the past and succeeded," he said. "That gives us the power to face today’s challenges."
