Dr. Kiers Wins 'Green Nobel' for Championing Earth's Fungal Networks

LOS ANGELES, CA – January 14, 2026 – In a major acknowledgment of a long-overlooked ecological frontier, evolutionary biologist Dr. Toby Kiers has been awarded the 2026 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, often called the ‘Nobel Prize for Environment.’ The award recognizes her groundbreaking research into the vast, hidden networks of mycorrhizal fungi that underpin life on Earth.

In a move that translates scientific recognition into immediate action, the announcement was coupled with the launch of a pioneering initiative by Dr. Kiers' not-for-profit, the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN). The new “Underground Advocates” program, developed with New York University (NYU) Law, aims to equip scientists with the legal tools necessary to protect these critical, and largely unprotected, fungal ecosystems.

Dr. Kiers, a professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the youngest female recipient in the Tyler Prize's 53-year history, will receive the US $250,000 award at a ceremony in Amsterdam on April 23, 2026. Her win places her among a prestigious list of laureates including Jane Goodall and Michael Mann, signaling a paradigm shift that brings the subterranean world into the mainstream of environmental conservation.

A 'Green Nobel' for a Hidden World

The Tyler Prize Executive Committee honored Dr. Kiers for her “transformative research on the importance of mycorrhizal fungi in underground carbon flows, biodiversity, and climate resilience.” Her work has fundamentally changed our understanding of these organisms, recasting them from simple decomposers to shrewd agents in a complex “biological marketplace.”

Using innovative techniques like quantum dots to track nutrient flows in real-time, Kiers has demonstrated that fungi and plants engage in sophisticated trading. Fungi exchange vital nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen for carbon-rich sugars and fats from plants, making dynamic decisions based on supply and demand. This research has revealed a hidden economy that forms the bedrock of terrestrial ecosystems.

Kiers' contributions extend far beyond the lab. An acclaimed scientist with a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, a Spinoza Prize, and a Climate Breakthrough Award to her name, she has become a leading voice for the planet's underground. She co-led the development of SPUN’s “Underground Atlas,” a high-resolution digital map of the world's mycorrhizal biodiversity, providing an unprecedented tool for conservation.

“Toby’s work to translate scientific insight into real-world action, most recently with SPUN’s new Underground Advocates program, demonstrates her leadership in advancing global efforts to protect the fungal networks that sustain life on Earth,” said Rashid Sumaila, chair of the Tyler Prize Executive Committee.

The Underground Kingdom's Critical Role

For centuries, fungi have been the unsung heroes of life on Earth, often relegated to a footnote in biological and conservation sciences. Dr. Kiers' research has been instrumental in exposing the profound consequences of this oversight. Mycorrhizal networks are not merely a collection of threads in the soil; they are a planetary-scale biological infrastructure essential for global health.

These vast networks are climate powerhouses. Kiers' work has highlighted that fungi are responsible for drawing down approximately 13 billion tons of CO2 annually—an amount equivalent to roughly one-third of the world’s fossil fuel emissions. They act as a living circulatory system for ecosystems, transporting water and nutrients, enhancing soil health, and enabling plant life to thrive.

Despite their importance, these ecosystems are under severe threat from habitat loss, agricultural expansion, pollution, and climate change. Scientists warn that their collapse would trigger a cascade of devastating effects, including intensified climate change, widespread soil degradation, and a catastrophic loss of biodiversity. Dr. Kiers warns that a staggering 90% of the Earth's most diverse underground fungal systems remain completely unprotected by current conservation policies.

“With 90% of our most diverse underground fungal systems unprotected, urgent action is needed to incorporate fungal data into global conservation plans,” Kiers stated, urging world leaders to recognize fungi as a “library of solutions” for the planet's crises.

From Data to Defense: A New Conservation Blueprint

Addressing this critical protection gap is the core mission of the newly launched “Underground Advocates” program. The initiative represents a groundbreaking collaboration between SPUN and NYU Law’s More-than-Human-Life (MOTH) Program, forging a new model for conservation that directly connects scientific discovery with legal advocacy.

The program will train local scientists in biodiversity hotspots, providing them with the legal and policy skills to turn their research into enforceable protections. Using the detailed data from SPUN’s Underground Atlas, these advocates will be able to pinpoint what is at risk and make a compelling, evidence-based case for conservation in legal and policy arenas.

“By bringing together science, law and local knowledge, this collaboration unleashes a powerful force for the protection of ecosystems around the world,” said César Rodríguez-Garavito, NYU Law Professor and director of MOTH. The initiative aims to generate at least five new, locally-led conservation projects around the globe, creating a scalable blueprint for others to follow.

This approach is seen as a vital step in moving beyond simply documenting biodiversity loss. “To better incorporate fungi in policy and legal frameworks, rigorous datasets are needed,” said Giuliana Furci, a mycologist and foundress of the Fungi Foundation. “The Underground Advocates program can help put fungal data into action, using the Atlas to pinpoint what will be lost if decision-makers do not protect underground ecosystems.”

The initiative marks a pivotal moment, empowering communities on the front lines of conservation to defend the invisible yet indispensable world beneath their feet.