Ariel Lugo

Ariel E. Lugo
Born	Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Fields	Forestry, Ecology
Institutions	International Institute of Tropical Forestry, US Forest Service
Alma mater	University of Puerto Rico; University of North Carolina

Ariel E. Lugo is a scientist, ecologist and Director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) within the USDA United States Forest Service, based in Puerto Rico. He is a founding member of the Society for Ecological Restoration and Member-at-Large of the Board of the Ecological Society of America.

A native of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Lugo earned Bachelor’s and master's degrees in biology, both from the University of Puerto Rico. He later earned a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In 1974, Lugo joined the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Resource Analysis after completing post-doctoral research studies on wet forests in El Verde, Puerto Rico and mangroves in Florida. He has worked on a wide range of tropical and sub-tropical ecosystems: hardwood forests, mangroves, floodplain wetlands, sand pine forests, prairie lakes and palm wetlands. His current research focuses on the role of tropical forests in global processes, and on comparisons between tropical tree plantations and natural forests.

Before joining the Department of Natural Resources, Lugo served in a variety of leadership positions. He was the Acting Deputy Chief of International Forestry. He had also served as the Acting Director of IITF and as Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology in the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources. Amongst the first positions of leadership in which he served, was that of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Resource Analysis (1973-1974).

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