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.