Robert Nasi was born in 1959 in Nice, France. He graduated as a forest engineer from the French National Forestry School and achieved a PhD in the field of ecology from the University of Paris Sud – Orsay. Since 1982, he has been living and travelling extensively in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, undertaking research activities in the fields of ecology and management of tropical forests. He joined CIFOR in August 1999 and held several research and management positions in the organization (principal scientist, biodiversity program leader, program director). He is director general of CIFOR and managing director of World Agroforestry (ICRAF).