Dr. Simone Athayde is a Courtesy Associate Professor and Fulbright Amazonia Scholar at the University of Florida. She is trained as an environmental anthropologist and interdisciplinary ecologist, interested in advancing theoretical and methodological approaches for inter- and trans-disciplinary research and co-production of knowledge between the biophysical and the social sciences, as well as between academia and society. She holds a bachelor's degree in Biology, Specialization in Environmental Education and two master's degrees, in Botany (UFPR, Brazil) and in Ethnobotany (University of Kent, UK). In 2010, she earned her doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Ecology from University of Florida (UF), with concentration in Anthropology and a certificate in Tropical Conservation and Development (TCD). She has carried out extensive training and research activities in collaboration with universities, NGO's, and indigenous organizations, as well as long-term ethnographic and participatory research among Indigenous peoples across the Amazon. Dr. Athayde is currently a Coordinating Lead Author of the Methodological Assessment on the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature and its Contributions to People for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) coordinated by the United Nations (UN). She is also a Lead Author of the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA), an initiative of the United Nations Sustainable Solutions Networks. Her work has been widely published and recognized with awards from the University of Florida Tropical Conservation and Development Program, from the International Society of Ethnobiology, from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture, and from the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UF.