Professor Peter B. Reich stands as a preeminent figure in ecological science with his distinguished appointments as Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota. He simultaneously serves as Director of the Institute for Global Change Biology at the University of Michigan, maintaining this significant joint affiliation while continuing his long-standing commitment to Minnesota where he has been a faculty member since 1991. Reich earned his educational foundation with a B.A. in creative writing and physics from Goddard College in 1973, followed by an M.S. from the University of Missouri in 1977, and ultimately his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1983. His academic journey includes previous professorships at the University of Wisconsin from 1985 to 1991 and a nine-year tenure as Chief Scientist at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University from 2011 to 2021, establishing his international reputation across multiple continents.
Reich has fundamentally transformed ecological understanding through his pioneering work on plant functional traits and the global plant economics spectrum, most notably articulating the world-wide 'fast-slow' plant economics spectrum framework that has become foundational in contemporary ecology. His highly influential 1997 Science paper on functional diversity and ecosystem processes has garnered over 4,180 citations, while his 2014 Journal of Ecology manifesto on plant economics has accumulated more than 3,500 citations, demonstrating exceptional scholarly impact. His research integrates physiological, biogeographical, and ecosystem perspectives to develop quantitative frameworks that explain how plant traits influence biodiversity patterns and ecosystem functioning across scales. Reich's leadership in establishing standardized protocols for plant functional trait measurement has enabled unprecedented global collaboration and data comparability in ecological research, creating a robust scientific infrastructure for the field.
As a member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology, Reich continues to shape ecological science through major collaborative initiatives including current NSF-funded projects examining biodiversity stability on a changing planet. He has mentored over thirty Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers, many of whom have established distinguished careers at institutions worldwide, while also providing scientific guidance across numerous international collaborations spanning Argentina, Australia, China, and Europe. Reich's leadership extends to co-founding the educational platform MinuteEarth, which has reached over 500 million viewers, demonstrating his commitment to science communication and public engagement. His current research focuses on understanding how biodiversity influences ecosystem stability and functioning in the context of global environmental change, maintaining his position at the forefront of ecological science as he bridges fundamental research with practical applications for environmental stewardship.
