Romanian President honours University of Stirling scientist

A University of Stirling scientist has received a prestigious honour from the Romanian President in recognition of his research team’s environmental management efforts across Europe.

Professor Andrew Tyler, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, was bestowed the Order of Cultural Merit at the Romanian Embassy in London.

The national decoration – recommended by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – recognises Professor Tyler’s leadership on DANUBIUS-RI – a project that provides interdisciplinary research, education and training focused upon river-sea systems across Europe.

Funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, the project is led by the Romanian Institute for Marine Geology and Geoecology (GeoEcoMar) and is composed of 30 partners from 16 countries. Professor Tyler leads the UK’s contribution, which involves the development of an observation node and supersites in the Thames and Tay estuaries to support the overall project.

Dr Michael Schultz, retired Natural Environment Research Council representative on the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures, and Dr Chris Bradley, Senior Lecture at the University of Birmingham, were also honoured for their contributions to DANUBIUS-RI.

Professor Andrew Tyler, right, received the prestigious award at the Romanian Embassy in London.

The awards were presented by Dan Mihalache, the Romanian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Court of St James's, on behalf of President Klaus Iohannis, on November 29.

Professor Tyler said: “I am absolutely delighted to receive this honour from the Romanian Government and very proud to be working with Romania on such a prestigious and transformative programme.”

Professor Tyler, right, received the recognition from Romanian Ambassador, Dan Mihalache, left.

River-sea systems are of major importance for food and energy production, transport, and societal wellbeing, but they face pressures at local, regional and global scales. DANUBIUS-RI provides a set of harmonised methods, protocols, instruments, data acquisition and management to ensure the quality and consistency of scientific output. Ultimately, the project improves understanding and management of these complex systems to deliver more resilient and sustainable environments at a time when they are experiencing increasing pressures from a multitude of pollutants, with impacts compounded further by the forces of climate change and extreme events. Such an event was witnessed recently in the Venice lagoon, another DANUBIUS supersite.

Professor Maggie Cusack, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, said: “Everyone within the Faculty is thrilled to learn that Professor Tyler has been recognised by the Government of Romania. The honour is well-deserved and reflects the outstanding international, interdisciplinary work he leads.”