When Paulo Barreto was an infant, his family moved from the poor-stricken northeast Brazil to the Amazon. He grew up seeing the transformation of the landscape by cattle ranching and logging and became interested in sustainable development. Now, he is senior researcher at the Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (IMAZON) where he started his 23-years career.
His research has informed the creation of millions of hectares of protected areas in the Amazon and improvements of policies that have helped the reduction of Amazon deforestation.
He published more than 70 academic and technical publications and disseminated the results to all types of stakeholders. His research has appeared more than 200 times in news media such as The Economist, Reuters, BBC and Globo News TV channel. He writes a blog about sustainable development in the Amazon. He holds a MSc in Forest Sciences from Yale University and a BSc in Forest Sciences from The Amazon Rural University in Brazil.
