Simone Athayde is a Brazilian Associate Professor at Florida International University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies and the Kimberly Green Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Dr. Athayde holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida. Dr. Athayde’s mission is to achieve excellence in the science-policy interface, as well as in science education and communication, towards reconciling social justice, biodiversity conservation and development, locally and globally. As an environmental anthropologist and interdisciplinary ecologist, her research examines the impacts of large infrastructure projects and climate change on indigenous peoples and local communities across the Amazon. Dr. Athayde has worked across the Amazonian region for over 20 years, supporting indigenous peoples and local communities’ self-determination, sustainable livelihoods, and territorial rights.

“Saving the Amazon is saving the planet, and it is our mandate as citizens of Planet Earth. It is a question of environmental and inter-generational justice and sustainability. There is no other choice”