Professor Bruce Clarkson is recognised as one of New Zealand’s foremost authorities on ecological restoration, making significant contributions to conservation through his ongoing research, education, protection, and restoration of native plants and ecosystems over a 40-year career. Since 2016 he has led ‘People, Cities and Nature’, a research programme focusing on restoring damaged or depleted indigenous ecosystems in urban environments. His research has guided biodiversity and restoration projects including the Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park and Hamilton’s Gully Restoration Programme, and he has contributed to many other North Island conservation and restoration projects. He is Chair of the Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park Advisory Group, a trustee of the Rotokare (Taranaki) Sanctuary, and patron of the Aongatete Forest Restoration Trust and the Pirongia Te Aroaro o Kahu Restoration Society. He is also the elected Chair of the Australasian Chapter of the International Society of Restoration Ecology and a member, by appointment of the Minister of Conservation, of the Interim Oversight Group for the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy and the Wildlife Act Review Strategic Oversight Group.