Andrew Balmford is a conservation scientist whose main research interests are the costs and benefits of effective conservation, quantifying the changing state of nature, identifying efficient conservation responses, and exploring how conservation might best be reconciled with activities such as farming. He tackles these questions through fieldwork, analyses of large databases, and modelling. To have most impact, he focuses his research in developing countries and collaborates closely with conservation practitioners and colleagues in other disciplines.

He was awarded the Zoological Society of London’s Marsh Award for Conservation Biology in 2000, and in 2002, Scientific American listed him amongst the top 50 visionaries building a better world. In 2014, he was listed as one of Thomson Reuters’ Highly Cited Researchers. He helped to set up the Cambridge Conservation Forum, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative and the annual Student Conference on Conservation Science. His 2012 book, Wild Hope, highlights success stories in conservation and argues that cautious optimism is essential in tackling environmental challenges.