As an applied ecologist, my goal is to use science to solve real-world problems related to ecosystem management and conservation. I conduct research on forests and savannas in Florida, but also in South American (principally Bolivia), South Africa, and Southeast Asia. I hold joint appointments at UF with the School of Forest Resources and Conservation and the Center for Latin American Studies. Off campus, I hold a professorship in international conservation at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and am a Senior Research Associate with the Center for International Forestry (CIFOR) in Indonesia. My research ranges from ethnobotany and natural history to biomechanics and physiological ecology, but my principal interest is in the tropical forest silviculture. So as to promote adoption of the improved forest management methods that my research and that of my students and collaborators reveals, I am much involved in market-based mechanisms for conservation and development including forest product certification and carbon offsets.