Volvo Environment Prize Goes to Harold Mooney

Swedish manufacturer Volvo, although recently passed under Chinese ownership, will keep the identity it has so hard tried to build in decades. This means that the endeavors the carmaker undertook in the past, as well as all its other non-automotive exploits, will continue in the years to come.

The Volvo Environment Prize, an annual scientific award currently in its 21st year, is one example. Volvo is giving the award each year to a person it considers has achieved outstanding scientific discoveries or inventions within the area of environment and sustainable development.

This year, the carmaker honored Harold Mooney, a professor at the Stanford University in California, for his involvement in the research of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The award will be handed to Mooney in Stockholm on November 4.

His research revolves around the functions of an ecosystem which could, directly or indirectly, benefit mankind. Such an ecosystem are the microorganisms which are currently helping the Gulf of Mexico get rid of the millions of gallons of oil poured into the water after the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

"He has championed the idea that biodiversity is a key piece in ecosystem functioning, contributing to the shift in perspective from a species-centered approach to one based on ecosystems and the services they provide to humanity,” the panel who awarded the prize motivated its decision.

"I was extremely happy at the news. The Volvo Environment Prize has extremely high status in scientific circles and I look forward to coming to Sweden later in the fall for the prize ceremony and to meet Swedish research colleagues,” added Mooney.