Posted on November, 06 2009

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – WWF Brazil has given a special award to Dr. Carlos Nobre, who has conducted pioneering research on the impacts of climate change on the Amazon and helped deepen the world’s understanding of global warming.

WWF Brazil last month awarded Dr. Nobre with the 2009 WWF Brazil Environment Personality Award for his research.

Dr. Nobre currently serves as Head Researcher and General Coordinator of the Scientific Centre of the Brazilian National Space Research Institute -INPE's Terrestrial System.

He received the award on Oct. 13, during the visit of the Darwin Expedition to Rio de Janeiro, with a ceremony on board the clipper 'Stad Amsterdam' moored at the Mauá Pier. The exhibition is retracing the journey made by naturalist Charles Darwin to the Southern Hemisphere during the 19th century.

In addition to his work as an INPE researcher, Dr. Nobre is the executive secretary of the Brazilian Climate Change Research Network (Rede CLIMA), executive coordinator of the Global Climate Change Research Programme run by the FAPESP and President of the Scientific Committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).

Dr. Nobre was also one of the authors of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2007 along with former US Vice-president Al Gore. In 2007 he received the Conrado Wessel Foundation Environment Award. In 1991 Dr. Nobre formulated his pioneering hypothesis on possible savannization of the Amazon which today is an important reference theory worldwide.

"The award is a way of recognising and paying homage to personalities that have carried out consistent, systematic work in the environmental field in alignment with the terms of WWF Brazil's mission and with the organization's ideals" said Álvaro de Souza, president of WWF Brazil’s board.

"The choice of Dr. Carlos Nobre is the fruit of a scientific career that has made a great contribution towards a better understanding of the relations between tropical forests and climate, the effects of deforestation on climate change and the potential impacts on the Amazon stemming from global warming" said Álvaro de Souza.

The WWF Brazil Environment Personality Award is given bi-annually for outstanding work in the conservation of nature and in fostering the country's sustainable development. The first edition of the Award went to Marina Silva, at that time, Brazil’s Minister for the Environment.

The Darwin Expedition is an initiative of the Dutch Public Television Network VPRO, the Darwin Expedition is part of the commemorations for the 150th anniversary of the publication of "The Origin of Species". With support from the WWF Network, the expedition is re-tracing the route of HMS Beagle in its voyage to the Southern Hemisphere with Darwin aboard. By May 2010, the vessel will have visited 12 countries altogether.

The expedition, with the participation of biologist Sarah Darwin, the naturalist's great-great-grand-daughter, left England at the end of August and arrived in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil on Sep. 30th. The expedition then went to Salvador, Bahia where it stayed from Oct. 5-7, and on the 12th arrived in Rio where it tied up at the Mauá Pier. It remained there until Oct. 17, and then continued around the southernmost tip of the continent towards Chile.