Simon A. Levin

Simon A. Levin is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, where he has been affiliated since 1992. He also holds an Adjunct Professorship at Cornell University. His research bridges ecological theory, evolutionary biology, and environmental economics, focusing on macroscopic patterns in ecosystems, infectious disease dynamics, and sustainable management of global commons.

• B.A., Johns Hopkins University
• Ph.D., University of Maryland (Mathematics)

Levin’s work integrates mathematical modeling with ecological data to study resilience, pattern formation, and multiscale processes in natural systems. He explores how individual-level ecological and evolutionary mechanisms generate collective outcomes at ecosystem and biosphere scales, emphasizing the importance of scale mismatches in conservation challenges.

Recent publications highlight his contributions to epidemic modeling coupled with human behavior, spatial ecology of savanna-forest boundaries, and network-based analyses of social-ecological systems. His 2025 work on risk compensation and surveillance systems demonstrates how behavioral feedbacks influence disease containment strategies.

• MacArthur Award (1988)
• Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences (2005)
• A.H. Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences (2004)
• National Academy of Sciences member
• Fellow of AAAS and American Academy of Arts and Sciences

As director of the Princeton Center for BioComplexity, Levin mentors over 100 graduate students and postdocs. His lab investigates topics like microbial interactions, climate-driven ecosystem shifts, and prosocial behavior in resource governance.