Emilio M. Bruna is a Distinguished Teaching Scholar and Professor of Ecology & Latin American Studies the University of Florida (USA). He received his doctorate from the University of California, Davis in 2001, after which he was an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Fellow at Brazil's Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia before joining the UF Faculty in 2002. His research focuses on (1) the effects of deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the tropics on plant demography and plant-animal interactions, and (2) the structure of scientific institutions and collaborative networks. In addition to his research and teaching, Bruna has also served in numerous leadership positions for the scientific community: from 2014-2020 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Dryad Digital Repository and he served as Editor-in-Chief of Biotropica from 2013-2020. He recently completed his term as President of the Association for Tropical Biology & Conservation and in 2023 will begin a three-year term as Secretary of the Ecological Society of America. Bruna’s research collaborations and teaching have been recognized with the Outstanding Article Award from the US Chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology, the Julie S. Denslow Prize from the ATBC, the John L. Harper Prize from the British Ecological Society, and recognition as Graduate Advisor & Teacher of the Year by the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.