Academy Professor Ilkka Hanski (b. 1953) passed away on Tuesday morning, 10 May, after a long illness. Known as the father of metapopulation theory, Ilkka Hanski, who also held the honorary title of , was one of the world’s top ecologists and evolutionary biologists, widely respected as an expert both in the academic community and among the general public.
Ilkka Hanski led the on the Viikki Campus, an since 2000. Hanski studied a broad range of biodiversity topics. In his latest research, he examined the impact of biodiversity in human environments on allergies and other inflammatory diseases.
Many esteemed honours
During his career, Ilkka Hanski received several esteemed prizes and awards. The most significant one is the 2011 , granted by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for excellence in research fields outside the scope of the Nobel Prize. He also received the as well as the for biodiversity research, granted by the European Science Foundation. In February 2016, Professor Ilkka Hanski was granted the in ecology and conservation biology.
Professor Hanski was a member of the UK’s and the in the US. He also received several Finnish awards for his scientific work, for science education and for popularising research in his field.