Maria Uriarte is a Professor in the Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology at Columbia University. She also serves as adjunct faculty in the Dept. of Ecology, University of São Paulo, Brazil. Prof. Uriarte studies the processes that drive forest dynamics in tropical regions, with a focus on forest recovery after natural disturbance events (hurricanes) and human land use and the consequences of these dynamics for ecosystem services. Her current projects are based in Puerto Rico and Brazil.