His work includes the compilation of the most comprehensive database on the ecology of the world’s birds and he is among the most cited 1% of scientists of the past decade in ecology and environmental science. He received the 2008 Whitley Gold Award for grassroots conservation, and was named Turkey’s 2010 Scientist of the Year. In 2011, Cagan was named by National Geographic as an Emerging Explorer, “one of 14 visionary young trailblazers who are pushing the boundaries of discovery, adventure and global problem-solving while still early in their careers.”