Gretchen Daily, PhD
- Bing Professor of Environmental Science, Department of Biology
- Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
- Faculty Affiliate at the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions
- Co-Founder and Faculty Director, Natural Capital Project
- Director, Center for Conservation Biology
Biography
Gretchen C. Daily (she/her) is co-founder and Faculty Director of the Stanford Natural Capital Project. Founded in 2005, the Natural Capital Project (NatCap) is a global partnership whose goal is to integrate the values of nature into planning, policy, finance, and management. Its tools and approaches are now applied in 185 nations through NatCap’s free, open-source InVEST Software Platform.
Daily is the Bing Professor of Environmental Science in the Department of Biology at Stanford University, the Director of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford, and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
Daily’s work is focused on understanding human dependence and impacts on nature and the deep societal transformations needed to secure people and nature. Her work spans fundamental research and policy-oriented initiatives to open inclusive and green development pathways. She co-develops pragmatic approaches, engaging with governments, multilateral development banks, investors, businesses, farmers and ranchers, communities, and NGOs.
Together with many colleagues, Daily has published about four hundred scientific and popular articles, and thirteen books, including Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems (1997), The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Profitable (2002), Natural Capital: Theory and Practice of Mapping Ecosystem Services (2011), The Power of Trees (2012), One Tree (2018), Green Growth that Works: Natural Capital Policy and Finance Mechanisms Around the World (2019), and Rural Livelihood and Environmental Sustainability in China (2020 in English).
Daily is a fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts, and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.
She has received numerous international honors including the 2020 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, 2017 Blue Planet Prize, 2019 BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award, 2012 Volvo Environment Prize, 2010 Midori Prize for Biodiversity, and the 2009 International Cosmos Prize.