# Awards & Distinctions

* 2025 Awarded King Charles III Coronation Medal. Nominated by Joyce Murray.
* 2024 Appointed as “Extraordinary Professor” by the University of Pretoria’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development.
* 2023 Named among the 100 most influential Africans in 2024.
* 2023 Winner of the Prince Albert I Medal in Science, Oceanographic Institute of Monaco
* 2023 Named as Co-Winner of Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, alongside Daniel Pauly
* 2023 Named Pierre Edward Trudeau Fellow, The Trudeau Foundation.
* 2022 Named as American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow
* 2022 Winner of the Royal Society of Canada Miroslaw Romanowski Medal.
* 2021 Winner of SSHRC Partnership Award - Impact Category.
* 2021 Named University Killam Professor, University of British Columbia
* 2021 Named Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate.
* 2020 Named Distinguished International Professor, National University of Malaysia.
* 2019 Inducted to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada.
* 2019 Appointed as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Interdisciplinary Ocean and Fisheries Economics.
* 2018 Murray A. Newman Research Award, Coastal Ocean Research Institute
* 2018 UBC President’s Award for Public Education Through Media
* 2018 Appointed Member of High-Level Panel on Building a Sustainable Ocean Economy
* 2017 Volvo Environment Prize.
* 2017 Peter Benchley Award - Excellence in Science.
* 2016 UBC Killam Research Prize in the Sciences.
* 2016 – 2018 named Hokkaido University Ambassador.
* 2013 - Named ‘Science without Borders’ Fellow by Brazilian Science.
* 2013 American Fisheries Society Excellence in Public Outreach Award Recipient.
* 2013 Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies International Roundtable Award.
* 2012 2nd Johan Hjort Chair in Marine Economics and Management. Appointed by the Nordic Centre of Excellence (NorMER – University of Oslo).
* 2010 Top 10 most cited articles in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, from 2005-2010. Awarded by Elsevier Publishers.
* 2010 Japan International Fisheries Research Society Yamamoto Prize Award, First Prize to: Sebastian Villasante & Rashid Sumaila for their paper: “Estimating the Economic Benefits of Cooperative and Non-cooperative Management of *Illex argentinus* Fishery in the Patagonian Marine Ecosystem”. Awarded by the International Institute of Fisheries economics and Trade.
* 2010 National Geographic Ocean Restoration Advisory Council Member. Awarded by the National Geographic Society.
* 2009 Leopold Leadership Fellow.
* 2008 Pew Marine Conservation Fellow.
* 2007 Peter Wall Senior Early Career Scholar (Associate professor level).
* 2007 Craigdarroch Award for Societal Contribution to project members of Coasts Under Stress project. 
* 2007 Nominee for the Conference of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA/BC’s) Distinguished Academics Awards.
* 2006 Zayed International Prize for the Environment awarded to the authors of the “Millennium Ecosystem Assessment” for Scientific and Technological Achievements, Dubai-United Arab Emirates.
* 2005 Lifetime membership in the North American Association of Fisheries Economists.
* 2005 Honorary member of the UBC Food Co-op.
* 2005 W\.F. James Professor of Pure and Applied Sciences Chair for 2004, St. Francis Xavier University.
* Visiting professor of Natural Resource Economics and Management, University of Namibia.
* 2002, 2003, 2004 UBC Author.
* 1994-1997 The Norwegian Research Council PhD Fellowship.
* 1991 and 1993 Recipient of the “Meltzers Hogskolefond” award for outstanding students at Norwegian Universities.
* 1982-1986 Best student in B.Sc. degree program.