Simone Athayde is a Core Faculty and Research Scientist at the Tropical Conservation and Development Program (TCD) in the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida (UF). She is also a Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Tocantins (UFT) in Brazil and a Coordinating Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) of the United Nations. Her research interests focus on systems’ thinking, participatory development, sustainability science, environmental governance, biocultural diversity, indigenous and local knowledge systems, and socio-environmental justice. She is the UF leader of the Amazon Dams International Research Network (ADN), an international transdisciplinary group of actors collectively studying the social-ecological transformations of hydropower development across Amazonian watersheds.