He discovered with colleagues Sandra Banack and James Metcalf in cyanobacteria AEG, a hypothesized backbone of peptide nucleic acids in the pre-RNA world early in the earth's history. They are studying possible health consequences of exposure to isomers of AEG and other cyanobacterial toxins, including beta-Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). Ethnobotany Although trained in evolutionary ecology, because of his fluency in Polynesian languages, Cox was encouraged by Harvard Professor Richard Evans Schultes to pursue ethnobotanical studies. He became increasingly focused on ethnomedicine after his mother died from breast cancer. Subsequently, with his colleagues Gordon Cragg, Michael Boyd, and others at the National Cancer Institute, they discovered the anti-HIV/AIDS properties of prostratin found in the bark of the mamala tree of Samoa. He was elected as president of the Society for Economic Botany and has been president of the International Society for Ethnopharmacology. Together with Michael Balick, he wrote, Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany., and for his ethnobotanical studies was awarded the E. K. Janaki Ammal Medal from India, and the Eloise Payne Luquer Medal by the Garden Club of America. He is a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, and appointed Adjunct Professor at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and at the College of Pharmacy by the University of Illinois, Chicago. Currently, he is searching for a cure for ALS, Alzheimer's, and other tangle diseases. Conservation In 1997 he received the Goldman Environmental Prize for the conservation efforts described in his book, Nafanua: Saving the Samoan Rainforest (New York: W.H. Freeman), which has been translated into German, Japanese, and Samoan. He speaks a variety of island languages and is internationally-renowned for his advocacy of indigenous peoples. Cox lived with his family in the village of Falealupo on Savai'i island in Samoa where he helped create a covenant with chiefs to protect their lowland rainforest from logging. In 1988, he was bestowed the Nafanua matai chief title by Falealupo, one of the highest legendary titles in Samoa, in honor of his conservation efforts. Dr. Cox founded the environmental nonprofit organization, Seacology, located in Berkeley, California, which has preserved over 1.5 million acres of island forests and coral reefs, and was named a Laureate for the Prince's Prize for Innovative Philanthropy in 2015 by Albert II, Prince of Monaco. At the request of