Toby Kiers wins Tyler Prize and is honored by USC Dornsife

Evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers has been awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and will receive a $250,000 award on April 23; her research maps and studies mycorrhizal fungal networks and she co-founded SPUN and the Underground Atlas to document and protect them.

Toby Kiers, an evolutionary biologist, has been awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and will receive a $250,000 award at a ceremony in Amsterdam on April 23. The prize is administered by USC Dornsife and is often described as the "Nobel Prize for the environment." Kiers studies mycorrhizal fungi and the underground networks that connect plant roots across forests and agricultural lands. She co-founded the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) to map fungal biodiversity and to advocate for protection. Key facts: - Kiers will receive a $250,000 Tyler Prize at an April 23 ceremony in Amsterdam. - Her research focuses on mycorrhizal fungi and how underground networks interface with climate, soil health and food systems. - The article reports plants allocate about 13 billion tons of carbon dioxide to mycorrhizal fungi each year, roughly one-third of global fossil fuel emissions. - Kiers co-founded SPUN, which has developed the high-resolution Underground Atlas to help locate biodiverse and threatened fungal sites. - SPUN and New York University Law's More-than-Human-Life (MOTH) Program launched the Underground Advocates program to equip scientists with legal and policy skills to document and protect mycorrhizal fungi. - The Tyler Prize, stewarded by USC Dornsife since 1973, has previously recognized environmental leaders including Jane Goodall, Michael Mann and Gretchen Daily. Summary: Kiers' award highlights scientific work on subterranean fungal networks and efforts to bring fungal data into conservation frameworks. The Underground Atlas and the Underground Advocates program are intended to help researchers and communities document biodiversity and bring fungal data into policy and legal channels. The Tyler Prize ceremony is scheduled for April 23 in Amsterdam.