{"id":26362,"date":"2026-01-14T11:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/?p=26362"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T16:09:16","slug":"toby-kiers-awarded-tyler-prize-for-environmental-achievement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/toby-kiers-awarded-tyler-prize-for-environmental-achievement\/","title":{"rendered":"USC Dornsife celebrates Tyler Prize winner for turning fungal science into global conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/01\/toby-kiers-tyler-prize-2026-top-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/01\/toby-kiers-tyler-prize-2026-top-1920x1080.jpg 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/01\/toby-kiers-tyler-prize-2026-top-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/01\/toby-kiers-tyler-prize-2026-top-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"Portrait of Toby Kiers\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Toby Kiers, a renowned expert on networks comprising fungi, is the winner of the 2026 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. (Photo: Tomas Munita.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=sustainability\">Sustainability<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>USC Dornsife celebrates Tyler Prize winner for turning fungal science into global conservation<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Toby Kiers is honored for research on mycorrhizal fungi \u2014 and for efforts to map and protect the underground networks that sustain life on Earth.\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">USC Dornsife News<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">January 14, 2026<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 4.0350274 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<p>Evolutionary biologist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tylerprize.org\/laureates\/toby-kiers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Toby Kiers<\/a> has been awarded the <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/page\/2\/?keyword=%22Tyler%20Prize%22&amp;category&amp;topic&amp;date\">Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement<\/a>, an honor administered by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and often described as the \u201cNobel Prize for the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kiers, a world-renowned expert on mycorrhizal networks, will receive the $250,000 award at a ceremony in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on April 23. She is the youngest woman to win the prize.<\/p>\n<p>Mycorrhizal fungi form vast underground networks that connect with plant roots across forest floors and agricultural lands. Kiers\u2019 research has helped reveal how these networks function and how they interface with climate, soil health and food systems.<\/p>\n<p>Her work has also highlighted fungi\u2019s role in climate regulation: Plants allocate about 13 billion tons of carbon dioxide to mycorrhizal fungi each year \u2014 roughly one-third of global fossil fuel emissions.<\/p>\n<p>Because fungi remain absent from most conservation frameworks, Kiers co-founded the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spun.earth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Society for the Protection of Underground Networks<\/a> (SPUN), a global initiative to map mycorrhizal fungal biodiversity and advocate for the protection of underground ecosystems. SPUN has developed the high-resolution digital <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spun.earth\/underground-atlas\/mycorrhizal-biodiversity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Underground Atlas<\/a> to help researchers locate the most biodiverse sites on the planet, as well as those currently threatened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith 90% of our most diverse underground fungal systems unprotected, urgent action is needed to incorporate fungal data into global conservation plans,\u201d Kiers said. The newly launched Underground Advocates program, developed with New York University Law\u2019s More-than-Human-Life (MOTH) Program, will equip scientists with legal and policy skills to document and protect mycorrhizal fungi worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>The program will work with global conservation and research networks, enabling collaboration across regions and supporting scientists and communities in bringing fungal data into policy and legal channels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToby\u2019s work to translate scientific insight into real-world action, most recently with SPUN\u2019s new Underground Advocates program, demonstrates her leadership in advancing global efforts to protect the fungal networks that sustain life on Earth,\u201d said Rashid Sumaila, chair of the Tyler Prize Executive Committee.<\/p>\n<p>Instituted in 1973 and stewarded by USC Dornsife, the Tyler Prize has recognized environmental leaders including <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/honoring-jane-goodalls-legacy-at-usc-dornsife\/\">Jane Goodall<\/a>, Michael Mann and Gretchen Daily. At USC Dornsife \u2014 home to USC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/environmental-studies\/\">Environmental Studies<\/a> program and the <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/\">Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability<\/a> \u2014 the award reflects the university\u2019s broader commitment to environmental research and education.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0-hS4HoW5fM?si=j_o4UbMfWD5JaJYy\" title=\"Sign in Mycorrhizal Fungi: The Roots of Life on Land\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div 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Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":26363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[76,1806,1897],"class_list":["post-26362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-awards-and-honors","tag-environmental-sciences","tag-wrigley-institute-for-environment-and-sustainability"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>USC Dornsife celebrates Tyler Prize winner for turning fungal science into global conservation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Expert on mycorrhizal fungi honored for efforts to map and protect the underground networks that sustain life on Earth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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