By DPA
Oslo : US biologist Gretchen Daily was Tuesday named winner of the annual Sophie Prize for her “radical and constructive involvement” in efforts to prevent the extinction of plants and animals.
Daily, professor at Stanford University in California, was the 11th winner of the prize created 1997 by Norwegian best-selling author Jostein Gaarder and his wife Siri Dannevig.
The prize worth $100,000 will be given to Daily in an award ceremony due in Oslo June 12.
The jury cited Daily for being a “visionary and focused on finding practical solutions,” noting that she has for instance proposed using “market forces in the fight against the loss of biological diversity and destruction of our ecosystems”.
Daily, born 1964, has been compared to Rachel Carson who wrote a ground-breaking book “Silent Spring” (1962) that inspired many environmentalists.
Last year, the prize was given to former Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson.