Sweden's Royal Academy of Sciences on Thursday named American scientist Robert Trivers the winner of the 2007 Crafoord prize in biosciences, while his countryman Wallace S. Broecker won the 2006 prize in geosciences.
The two scientists will receive the annual $500,000 prize from Sweden's Queen Silvia at an April ceremony in Lund, in southern Sweden.
Broecker, a professor at Columbia University in Palisades, New York, was honored for his research into the processes of climate changes and the interaction between the atmosphere, the ocean ice and living organisms. Trivers, a professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, won for his work in explaining the social behavioral patterns of animals.
The academy said it chose Broecker, 75, because of his "innovative and pioneering research" in explaining how the ocean, atmosphere and biosphere interact with the climate.
The academy cited Trivers, 63, "for his fundamental analysis of social evolution, conflict and cooperation" among animals, which it said laid the foundation for modern sociobiology.
The award is named after Holger Crafoord, the Swede who designed the first artificial kidney. It has been given annually since 1982 for scientific research in areas not covered by the Nobel Prizes, including mathematics, astronomy and biosciences.