Robert Goodland is a tropical ecologist and Chief of the newly created Environmental Division in the Latin America Office of the World Bank in Washington, D.C. He started environmental assessments of tropical development projects for the World Bank in 1972, while creating a Department of Ecology in the then new University of Brasilia. He has held a position as Chairman of Environmental Assessment at Cary Arboretum in Millbrook, New York, as well as professorships at the University of Brasilia, INPA Manaus; the Organization of Tropical Studies, Costa Rica; and McGill University, Montreal. He has published many books on various topics, including environmental aspects of the Trans-Amazon Highway, the cerrado ecosystem of Brazil, tropical hydro-projects and agriculture, tribal peoples, wildland management, and cultural property. Dr. Goodland received his Ph.D. in tropical ecology from McGill University, Montreal.