Evolutionary ecologist Anurag Agrawal, who received his doctorate in population biology at UC Davis in 1999 under major professor Richard "Rick" Karban, is the winner of the sixth David Starr Jordan Prize for his innovative research involving plant-animal interactions. The international award, given approximately every three years, comes with a $20,000 prize and a commemorative medal.

Agrawal, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, also serves as the associate director for the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future and director of the Cornell Chemical Ecology Group.

The coveted award, sponsored by Cornell, Indiana University and Stanford University, memorializes Jordan (1851-1931), a leading American biologist who was educated at Cornell, taught zoology at Indiana; and served as president of both Indiana and Stanford universities.

The prize singles out a young scientist, age 40 or under, who is making novel innovative contributions in one of Jordan's fields of interest: Evolution, ecology, population and organismal biology.

The awards committee, comprised of Cornell, Indiana and Stanford scientists, described Agrawal as "one of the foremost authorities on the community and evolutionary ecology of species interactions."

"Dr. Agrawal has made highly influential contributions, including empirical and conceptual advances in our understanding of plant defense against herbivory, impacts of genetic

diversity on community processes, co evolutionary interactions between monarch butterflies and milkweeds and deciphering the success of invasive plants," the committee announced.

Agrawal's work has been published in more than 100 papers, been cited 3000 times and been presented at 75 invited lectures. He has served as an associate editor for several major journals, including Ecology, Ecology Letters, PLoS Biology and Quarterly Review of Biology.

As the recipient of the David Starr Jordan Prize, he will lecture at the sponsoring institutions, beginning Feb. 18 at Cornell. The three universities established the joint endowment in 1986 and have awarded the prize since 1987. "The intent of the David Starr Jordan Prize is to recognize scientists who are making research contributions likely to redirect the principal foci of their fields," the awards committee said.

Born in 1972 in Allentown, Penn., Agrawal completed his undergraduate work in biology and his master's degree in conservation biology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he became intrigued with plant-animal interactions. He then headed out to California in 1994 to study with Karban, a noted expert on plant-animal interactions. Karban, now a newly elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, teaches field ecology and community ecology.

"It was an amazing time being a graduate student at UC Davis and working with Rick Karban a great foundation and nothing but great memories!" Agrawal said.

While at UC Davis, Agrawal won the 1999 Young Investigator Award, sponsored by the American Society of Naturalists. He went on to win the National Science Foundation's 2004 Early Career Award and the Ecological Society of America's 2006 George Mercer Award.

After receiving his doctorate from UC Davis, Agrawal accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Amsterdam before becoming an assistant professor of botany at the University of Toronto. He joined the Cornell faculty in 2004.