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# Conservation biology loses a leader: Navjot Sodhi, 1962-2011
- URL: https://livesinnature.org/conservation-biology-loses-a-leader-navjot-sodhi-1962-2011/
- Published: 2011-06-14T03:36:25.000Z
- Updated: 2011-06-14T03:36:25.000Z
- Author: Rhett Ayers Butler
- Tags: Mongabay Features, Obituaries and tributes, obituary, #Migrated-1793998921717, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-11-06 21:02

![](https://photos.mongabay.com/11/0614navjot.jpg)

Over the weekend I received very sad and unexpected news: my friend Navjot Sodhi, a scientist whose mentorship and research made him a leader in the field of conservation biology, died after a short battle with an aggressive blood cancer. He was 49.

Navjot leaves behind his wife Charanjit, children Ada and Darwin, and bevy of friends, colleagues, and admirers.

Navjot’s contributions to conservation biology were substantial. He authored or co-authored more that 100 academic papers in journals ranging from *Nature* to *Science* to *Auk*; wrote or edited six books; and mentored a generation of young scientists who are already making significant contributions to science.

Navjot’s recent research has focused on biodiversity and extinction, especially in the tropics, but over his career he worked on a broad range of conservation biology questions. At times, his work was provocative, in one case raising the ire of Singapore’s government when he ranked the city-state dead last on environmental performance among 178 countries. That paper might have cost a lesser scientist his visa.

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