Alastair Fitter is an ecologist who works principally on below-ground  processes in relation to environmental change, with a focus on the  mycorrhizal symbiosis that is largely responsible for phosphate uptake  in the majority of land plants. He is currently Pro-Vice-Chancellor for
Research at the University of York and a member of Council of the  Natural Environment Research Council.  He recently chaired a working  group on Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in Europe for the European  Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC); the group’s report was  published in 2009.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a  past-President of the British Ecological Society.