Steward Pickett is Distinguished Senior Scientist and plant ecologist at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies. He holds a PhD from the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign. He directs the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, an urban Long-Term Ecological Research program. He also conducts research on riparian corridors in South Africa. He has written books on ecological heterogeneity, natural disturbance, humans and ecosystems, conservation, and philosophy of ecology. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served as Vice President for Science in the Ecological Society of America.