Acting on tip-offs, Bambang Hero Saharjo regularly trudges deep into the Indonesian forest to hunt for traces of illegal fires. The conflagrations, started by companies looking to clear land cheaply to plant cash crops such as palm oil, fill the skies with carbon and threaten the health of his countrymen.

Armed with forensic evidence and satellite images, he then testifies against the wrongdoers in court. The rewards for his work include death threats and lawsuits. His wife worries he may not live long enough to see their teenage daughters get married.

Most academics would crumple under the weight of such moneyed hatred, but not Bambang, as he likes to be known. The forestry fires specialist from Bogor Agricultural University, near Jakarta, was in London last week to collect the John Maddox prize, an accolade awarded annually to those who champion science in the face of harassment and intimidation. It is named after the late Sir John Maddox, a former editor of the science journal Nature who famously edited without fear or favour. Its recipients are chosen by an illustrious panel, which this year included Lord Rees, the Astronomer Royal, and the neuroscientist Sir Colin Blakemore.