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Dr.
Nalini Nadkarni is a Member of the Faculty at The Evergreen State College,
in Olympia, Washington, where she teaches in the Environmental Studies
program. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Brown University
(1976) and her PhD in Forest Ecology from the University of Washington
(1983). Her research is focused on the ecology of tropical and temperate
forest canopies, particularly the role that canopy-dwelling plants play
in forests at the ecosystem level. She carries out field research in Washington
State and in Monteverde, Costa Rica with the support of the National Science
Foundation and the National Geographic Society. She has published two
books and over 55 scientific articles in scientific journals in the area
of forest canopy ecology and forest ecosystem ecology. Nalini has presented
a number of endowed lectures at academic institutions around the country.
In
1994, she co-founded and is President of the International
Canopy Network, a non-profit organization that fosters communication
among researchers, educators, and conservationists concerned with forest
canopies. She spends a great deal of energy on public outreach to the
general public, children, and policy-makers on matters concerning forest
canopies and forest conservation. She has appeared in numerous television
documentaries, and was most recently featured as a canopy scientist in
the National Geographic television special on tropical forest canopies,
titled "Heroes of the High Frontier", which won the Emmy Award for Best
Documentary Film of 2001. A new project she initiated involves the creation
of a multi-disciplinary Forest Canopy Walkway project on The Evergreen
State College campus. In 2001, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship to
pursue her interests in communication of forest canopy research results
to non-scientists with collaborations of artists, musicians, physicians,
sports figures, and religious leaders. Nalini splits a single faculty position at Evergreen with her husband, Jack Longino, who studies tropical insect biodiversity. They have two children, Gus and Erika, who accompany them on research trips to the tropics. |
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Nalini
Nadkarni |
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