2025 Early Career Alumni Award: Ahmed A. H. Siddig

Ahmed A. H. Siddig PhD ’15 is a recipient of the 2025 College of Natural Sciences (CNS) Early Career Alumni Award.  

Ahmed earned his PhD from CNS’s Department of Environmental Conservation in 2015. During this time, he conducted his dissertation field work at the Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA, receiving support from summer students and scientists there. These formative years have had a lasting effect, as he continues to collaborate with colleagues at UMass and Harvard Forest to this day. 

"I am deeply honored to receive the 2025 CNS Early Career Alumni Award. My time at the Department of Environmental Conservation was shaped by the invaluable mentorship of Professor Aaron Ellison and the inclusive support of many faculty members, especially my advisory committee members Curt Griffin, Bethany Bradley, and Scott Jackson,” Ahmed expressed. “I am also grateful for the steadfast encouragement of my family, colleagues, and students—all of whom have contributed to my growth as a scientist. This award reaffirms my commitment to advancing science and building supportive communities, guided always by the values I learned at UMass.” 

Following graduation from UMass, Ahmed received the prestigious DAAD Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience (PRIME) Fellowship, which took him to British Columbia and Freiberg, Germany, where he built upon his UMass doctoral research focusing on the ecology of salamanders in New England's hemlock forests and climate resilience in Sub-Saharan savanna-forest systems. 

Ahmed returned to his native Sudan in 2017 to take an assistant professor position in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Khartoum, quickly rising to associate professor by 2019. His research there examines the effects of climate and land-use change on savanna ecosystems, which millions of people rely on for natural resources.  

His leadership extends beyond research: he founded the Graduate Students Research Club, served as Director of Training and Teaching Assistants, and launched the Academic Inspiration & Mentoring (AIM) for Young Sudanese Scientists in Time of Crisis program. Through these programs, he has already supported more than 500 young scholars. For these and other achievements, Ahmed was awarded the 2020-2021 Deanship of Scientific Research Award for Excellence from the University of Khartoum. 

Ahmed continues to be actively engaged at UMass and in Massachusetts. In the fall of 2024, he organized a number of virtual workshops with CNS focused on the challenges of working amidst ongoing violence in Sudan, among other topics. In addition, Ahmed was awarded the prestigious Bullard Fellowship at the Harvard Forest (2024-2025). He is using this opportunity to leverage the forest’s Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site to pilot similar forest monitoring initiatives in Sudan, particularly in conflict-affected areas. His project focuses on assessing tree diversity and conservation status—a critical step toward building long-term ecological resilience in conflict-affected geographies. 

To date, Ahmed has published 32 journal articles and four chapters for four different books. In 2022, he was elected to join the Arab-German Young Academy (AGYA) of Sciences and Humanities, where he is currently overseeing many interdisciplinary projects. Ahmed was also recently selected, through a competitive process, to serve in the capacity-building task force for the prestigious Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an international body that steers biodiversity science and policy worldwide. 

Michael A. Fox, PhD, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, highlights the effect Ahmed’s efforts have had on his native Sudan and around the world: “An internationally recognized leader in forest ecology, Ahmed’s work on biodiversity conservation and resilience provides needed expertise as communities across the globe confront changing environmental landscapes, including in his home country of Sudan. Even as an early career alumnus, Ahmed’s work is making a significant global impact and aligns with the university’s strategic plan to train our graduates to innovate and engage for the Common Good.” 

Ahmed sees this honor as a way to provide aspiration in difficult times: “I hope this recognition will inspire young Sudanese scholars, especially those facing today’s challenges, to remain resilient and hopeful in pursuing their own paths in science and service."