Dr. Ariel Lugo is a scientist, ecologist and Director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) within the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, based in Puerto Rico. He is a founding Member of the Society for Ecological Restoration and Member-at-Large of the Board of the Ecological Society of America.

Educational background

A native of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, Dr. Lugo earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in biology, both from the University of Puerto Rico

University of Puerto Rico

The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...

. He later earned a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina

Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...

 at Chapel Hill.

Scientific field

In 1974, Dr. Lugo joined the Department of Natural Resources in Puerto Rico as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Resource Analysis after completing post-doctoral research studies on wet forests in El Verde, Puerto Rico and mangroves in Florida. He has worked on a wide range of tropical and sub-tropical ecosystems: hardwood forests, mangroves, floodplain wetlands, sand pine forests, prairie lakes and palm wetlands. His current research focuses on the role of tropical forests in global processes, and on comparisons between tropical tree plantations and natural forests.

Before joining the Department of Natural Resources, Dr. Lugo served in a variety of leadership positions. He was the Acting Deputy Chief of International Forestry. He had also served as the Acting Director of IITF and as Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology in the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources . Amongst the first positions of leadership in which he served, was that of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Resource Analysis (1973-1974).

Environmental issues

Dr. Lugo has over 300 publications in scientific journals and books, has served on federal interagency committees, and is frequently required to appear as an expert witness in federal court cases involving environmental issues. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Conservation Ecology; Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change; Forest Ecology and Management; Restoration Ecology; Journal of Sustainable Forestry; Acta Cientifica (as Editor); and Journal of the Litoral.

Written works

Among the written works in which Lugo is either the author or co-author are the following:

• "Natural Sinks of Co2: Palmas Del Mar, Puerto Rico"; Ariel E. Lugo and Joe Wisniewski
• "Big-Leaf Mahogany: Genetics, Ecology and Management (Ecological Studies)"l by Ariel E. Lugo, Julio C. Figueroa Colón and Mildred Alayón
• "Tropical Forests: Management and Ecology (Ecological Studies)}; by Ariel E. Lugo and Carol Lowe
• "Los sistemas ecologicos y la humanidad (Serie de biologia) (Spanish Edition)"; by Ariel E. Lugo
• "Ecological Development in the Humid Tropics: Guidelines for Planners{; by Ariel E. Lugo, John R. Clark and R. Dennis Child
• "LOS BOSQUES DE PUERTO RICO (TEXT IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH - INSTITUTO DE DASONOMIA TROPICAL APARTADO AQ - SERVICIO FORESTAL DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, DEPARTAMENTO DE RECURSOS NATURALES)"; by ARIEL E LUGO
• "Institute of tropical forestry : the first fifty years (SuDoc A 13.88:IITF-GTR-7)"; by Ariel E. Lugo
• "Readings on Ecological Systems: Their Function and Relation to Man]"; by Ariel E. Lugo
• "People and the Tropical Forest; A Research Report from the United States Man and the Biosphere Program"; by Ariel E. Lugo and John J. Ewel
• "Los Bosques de Puerto Rico (Departemento de Recursos Naturales; --Puerta de Tierra, Puerto Rico"; by Ariel E. Lugo

Currently

Dr. Lugo serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Litoral; Journal of Sustainable Forestry; Forest Ecology and Management; Conservation Ecology; and Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change.

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican scientists and inventors