Overview
John W. Terborgh is a James B. Duke Professor of Environmental Science and is Co-Director of the Center for Tropical Conservation at Duke University. He is a member of the National Academy of Science, and for the past thirty-five years, he has been actively involved in tropical ecology and conservation issues. An authority on avian and mammalian ecology in neotropical forests, Dr. Terborgh has published numerous articles and books on conservation themes. Since 1973 he has operated a field station in Peru's Manu National Park where he has overseen the research of more than 100 investigators. Dr. Terborgh earlier served on the faculties of the University of Maryland and Princeton University. In June 1992 he was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship in recognition of his distinguished work in tropical ecology, and in April 1996 he was awarded the National Academy of Science Daniel Giraud Elliot medal for his research, and for his book Diversity and the Tropical Rainforest. He has served on several boards and advisory committees related to conservation, including the Wildlands Project, Cultural Survival, The Nature Conservancy, The World Wildlife Fund and both the Primate and Ecology Specialist Groups of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences
·
2015 - Present
Environmental Natural Science,
Nicholas School of the Environment
Professor Emeritus in the Division of Environmental Natural Sciences
·
2025 - Present
Environmental Natural Science,
Nicholas School of the Environment
Recent Publications
High-quality surrounding landscapes mitigate avian extirpations from forest remnants.
Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · April 2026 The species-area relationship (SAR) has long been used to predict extirpation rates from habitat loss, but these rates depend not only on habitat area but also on the surrounding landscape and species' habitat specialization. We collated global data from f ... Full text Open Access CiteAuthor Correction: Tree diversity is changing across tropical Andean and Amazonian forests in response to global change.
Journal Article Nature ecology & evolution · March 2026 Full text Open Access CiteTree diversity is changing across tropical Andean and Amazonian forests in response to global change.
Journal Article Nature ecology & evolution · February 2026 Climate and atmospheric changes are impacting forest function and structure worldwide, but their effects on tropical forest diversity are unclear. Nowhere is the scientific challenge greater than in the Andes and the Amazon, which together include the worl ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring at Cocha Cashu Biological Station, Manu Peru
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Conservation International · 2013 - 2017From fruit to sapling: constructing a long-term, basin-wide,community-level, ontogentically & phenomenologically integrated picture of tree recruitment in western Amazonian lowland rainforests.
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2008 - 2012DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Novel Approaches to the Study of the Community Ecology of Tropical Trees
Inst. Training Prgm or CMECo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2006 - 2009View All Grants
Education
Harvard University ·
1963
Ph.D.
Harvard University ·
1960
M.A.
Harvard University ·
1958
B.A.