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Dr Joanne Littlefair is awarded the 2025 Linnean Society Bicentenary Medal
10 April 2025
We're delighted to announce that Dr Joanne Littlefair has been awarded the 2025 Linnean Society Bicentenary Medal.
Each year, the Linnean Society celebrates researchers, naturalists, artists, conservationists and science communicators with medals and awards, aiming to highlight contributions from people with a range of backgrounds and experience who are dedicated to the understanding and protection of the natural world. The Bicentenary Medal is awarded to an early-career scientist in recognition of excellent research in the natural sciences.
Dr Joanne Littlefair says: ‘I’m really delighted to receive this early career award from one of the oldest and most prominent natural history societies. I’m honoured to lead a team working to understand the wonderful diversity of species on earth and to create methods to monitor and protect them. Thank you!’
Dr Joanne Littlefair has developed an exceptional research programme that addresses critical questions in biodiversity discovery and monitoring by using large-scale genomics and bioinformatics tools for ecosystem assessment. Her team led the first studies to adapt molecular biodiversity monitoring by isolating DNA from the air. This research is truly interdisciplinary and has significant implications for conservation, forensic science and bio-aerosols, demonstrating the feasibility of low contact sampling for a wide range of understudied taxa and ecosystems. The huge potential and scope of her work has been recognised by her exceptional early-career grant success, with Joanne being awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, as well as an ERC Starting Grant.
Read more about all of the Linnean Society 2025 award recipients and their research here.
Read more about the Bicentenary Medal here.
The Linnean Society was founded in 1788, and is the oldest existing learned society devoted to the science of natural history. It is a not-for-profit organisation focusing on delivering charitable objectives of science, heritage and education through activities, events and publications. Their collections and programmes bring the current challenges of the natural world, such as biodiversity loss and climate change, to people of all ages and backgrounds.