Ruth De Fries

Tellus Mater Distinguished Fellow in Sustainability Studies (2019-2020)

The Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Sustainability Studies at the University of Cambridge explores the many aspects of how sustainability can be applied in global society now and in the future. Of pressing importance, this initiative brings Visiting Professors with multidisciplinary expertise in the environment, business, social sciences, and policy to address how sustainability can be an opportunity rather than a burden.

The Visiting Professorship in Sustainability Studies is made possible by the generous support of the Tellus Mater Foundation and is hosted by Trinity Hall, Cambridge. The Professorship has now been renamed ‘The Tellus Mater Distinguished Fellowship’ and is managed by UCCRI in cooperation with the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust. 

Professor Ruth DeFries delivered two public events at the Cambridge Conservation Institute examining human transformation of the landscape and its consequences for climate, biogeochemical cycling, biodiversity, and other ecosystem services that make our planet habitable. The work is based on premise that land use change involves trade-offs between human necessities such as food and unintended environmental consequences such as greenhouse gas emissions and habitat loss. A particular focus is tropical deforestation and its impacts on atmospheric carbon emissions. DeFries examines land use changes over broad scales through the lens of satellite observations. She is actively involved in linking scientific information into policy decisions. The Tellus Mater Distinguished Fellowship is managed by the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute in cooperation with the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust.

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