Biology Professor Nalini Nadkarni, director of the University of Utah’s Center for Science and Mathematics Education, has been honored by an Italian foundation for her work in tree conservation. Every two years, the Bardini and Peyron Monumental Parks Foundation gives awards to several individuals who distinguish themselves for “safeguarding of the Earth’s environmental balance and creating a mass ecological culture.” Nadkarni was cited for her “basic research on rainforest ecosystem ecology in her study sites in Costa Rica and Washington state; for conceiving and developing the ‘Big Canopy Database’ to share and collaboratively manage canopy data from researchers around the world; and for her teaching with deep love and enthusiasm to her students and readers how important trees are in the life of western society, and in what ways they have an influence on the market and life styles.” Famed primatologist-conservationist Jane Goodall also was among this year’s awardees.