Prestigious award for forest ecologist Daniel Zuleta
Daniel Zuleta, researcher at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, has been awarded the 2026 Emerging Ecologist Award by the Ecological Society of America (ESA). The award recognizes outstanding contributions to ecology by early- to mid-career scientists from developing nations.
Daniel Zuleta is a quantitative forest ecologist from Colombia whose research focuses on tropical forest dynamics and their role in the global carbon cycle. His work combines long-term forest inventories, quantitative analyses and advanced measurement approaches to understand how trees are affected by damage, mortality and recovery in tropical ecosystems.
He has shown, among other things, how fine-scale variation in topography influences trees’ sensitivity to drought in the Amazon, and how non-lethal damage contributes to biomass loss in tropical forests.
Daniel Zuleta leads several long-term research projects in the Colombian Amazon and the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, and coordinates international tree mortality work involving 33 forest monitoring networks spanning about 15,000 sites. His research advances understanding of how forests respond to climate change and how their resilience can be strengthened.
Through his research and leadership, Zuleta exemplifies the contributions of an emerging leader in tropical forest ecology, with broad impact through international collaboration and scientific capacity building.
The award will be presented at ESA’s Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City in July 2026.
The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is the world’s largest organization of ecologists, founded in 1915. The Society has around 9,000 members and works to advance the understanding of life on Earth through research, education and public engagement. ESA publishes several scientific journals, organizes an annual international conference, and contributes expert knowledge to policy and public discourse.
