I am the Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It's my job to find ways to make the science that happens here at the Museum useful to people involved in biodiversity all over the world. I've met with people in Vietnam, Bolivia, Madagascar, Guatemala, and Cuba.

I talk to people: government officials, university professors, park officials, people who live in or near parks. Together we look at the overall threats to their biodiversity and decide on the best places to put aside as protected areas.

In college, I majored in language but I also studied both anthropology and science. Through anthropology I learned about people's customs and needs. Science taught me how to come up with solutions to help the environment. In my work, I try to balance both.