Biologist Dr. Toby Kiers wins Tyler Prize, calls fungi key to restoring degraded land and an untapped ally for the earth

Evolutionary biologist Dr. Toby Kiers, a world-renowned expert on mycorrhizal networks, is being awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for her “transformative” work, the Tyler Prize Executive Committee announced today.

“With 90% of our most diverse underground fungal systems unprotected, urgent action is needed to incorporate fungal data into global restoration plans,” said Kiers, calling for fungal networks to be put front and center of restoration goals. 

Fungi are critical to life on Earth. Long overlooked in conservation, they are key players in carbon sequestration, soil regeneration, and biodiversity. Left unprotected, scientists warn that ecosystems will collapse, climate change will intensify, and soils will deteriorate.

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“Thanks to Toby, millions more of us understand that soil is not inert matter,” said food and agriculture writer Michael Pollan. “It’s alive, and its vitality is intimately tied to our own. Her work reminds us that healthy food begins in healthy soil teeming with fungal networks that move nutrients beneath our feet. At a time when our health and the planet’s are being depleted by how we grow and eat, the Tyler Prize could not have found a more vital messenger.”

Library of solutions

Kiers is using her Tyler Prize win to urge world leaders, governments, decision-makers, and the private sector to recognize fungi as a “library of solutions” for planetary crises, pointing to the release of a new, high-resolution digital Underground Atlas. Created by the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), a non-profit Kiers co-founded in 2021, the Atlas allows decision-makers to identify underground fungal systems, data that facilitates restoration and biodiversity goals. 

Mapping biodiversity patterns of mycorrhizal fungi across the Earth’s underground ecosystems allows researchers to locate the most biodiverse sites on the planet, as well as those currently threatened. By 2050, it is projected that 95% of the world’s soils will be degraded: 24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost annually, according to scientists.

“Currently, over 40% of the world’s land is degraded, affecting roughly half of humanity—three billion people—and threatening global food and resource systems,” said Kiers, a University Research Chair and Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. “These fungi will be critical in restoring underground ecosystems across the Earth.”

Fungal interface

Born in New York, Kiers is an expert on how fungi, particularly mycorrhizal networks, function and interface with climate, soil health, and food systems. Her work, which combines science with cutting-edge technology and conservation efforts, has revealed that fungi help draw down ~13 billion tons of CO2—roughly one-third of global fossil fuel emissions.

“Toby is pioneering one of Earth’s last frontiers: the vast and mysterious world beneath our feet,” said Rashid Sumaila, Chair of the Tyler Prize Executive Committee. “By showing how fungi underpin Earth’s ecological balance, she’s redefined how we think about climate change.”

The Tyler Prize Executive Committee awarded her the USD $250,000 Prize for her “transformative research on the importance of mycorrhizal fungi in underground carbon flows, biodiversity, and climate resilience.” 

The youngest female winner in the history of the Prize, Kiers has “transformed how we understand fungal symbioses, built a highly effective global environmental science network, and inspired and forged new directions for conservation, legal action, and ecological understanding,” said the official citation.

About the Tyler Prize

Established in 1973, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement recognizes global leaders in the environment and sustainability. Often called the “Nobel Prize for the Environment,” past winners include Jane Goodall, Michael Mann, Daniel Pauly, and Gretchen Daily, among others.

Kiers will receive the Tyler Prize, which is administered by the University of Southern California, at a ceremony in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on April 23, 2026.