My training in forest ecology and silviculture perhaps explains why those topics get so much attention in this course. I received my undergraduate degree in biology education from the University of Wisconsin and my PhD in ecology from Cornell University. Along the way I was a NATO Post-Doctoral Fellow at Oxford University, a Bullard Fellow at Harvard University, and the Prince Bernhard Professor of International Conservation at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. My field experience in tropical forests and forestry started in 1973 at the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia. I then conducted research in the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, as well as across the border in Kalimantan, Indonesia. I also worked for many years in lowland Bolivia, with shorter research stints in Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador. In Africa I worked for a year in the miombo woodlands of Zimbabwe, and then spent several field seasons in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Each year for the past few decades I taught a field course on research methods for local scientists. Recent courses were held in Suriname, Guyana, Belize, Mexico, and Indonesia. In addition to research on tropical forestry, I study fire ecology, ethnobotany, exotic invasive species, and savanna restoration. In addition to publishing scientific papers, I also write nature essays and even environmental fiction for the general public. My resume with a complete list of publications and other information is available at: https://people.clas.ufl.edu/fep/Links to an external site..