J. Vanderlei Martins received the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil. He joined the Group of Studies of Air Pollution, Institute of Physics (USP), in 1990 and conducted research in environmental and atmospheric applied physics, developing nuclear analytical techniques using particle accelerators for material analysis, including aerosols and tree rings. He has participated in several ground-based and aircraft field experiments studying properties of aerosols from biomass burning, urban, and biogenic emissions, as well as their effects on clouds and radiation. In 2000, he joined the MODIS aerosol group, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, through the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET-UMBC), and in 2001, he was elected as a representative member of the International Radiation Commission where he serves to this date.