Awards & Distinctions

Name of award, awarding organizations, date, etc, indicated

  • 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.

Last updated