Robert Waide, LNO Executive Director

Facilitates development of cross-site and synthesis activities Develops interactions with non-LTER sites and programs Oversees operations of LNO and administer Cooperative Agreement Phone: 505.277.2649 Email: rwaide@lternet.edu

As Executive Director of the LTER Network Office, Bob manages a staff of 14 who work in support of the LTER mission. He is responsible for facilitating cross-site and network-wide research efforts with each of the 26 LTER sites, and for representing the Network in interactions with NSF, other government agencies, international networks, foreign governments, Congress, and the media. His responsibilities include identifying and pursuing new opportunities to advance science in the LTER Network, working to increase the influence of LTER science on public policy, and planning for the long-term future of the LTER program. Bob serves on the LTER Executive and Coordinating Committees (ex officio), the Network Information System Advisory Committee, and the 2006 All Scientists Meeting Program Committee, of which he is co-chair.

After undergraduate work at the University of Illinois, Bob received his M.S. and PhD in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin, focusing on tropical ecology. A post-doctoral position at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh led to a research appointment in the Terrestrial Ecology Division at the Center for Energy and Environment Research of the University of Puerto Rico, where he became Director of the Terrestrial Ecology Division (later renamed the Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies) in 1982. He was one of the founding scientists and the original principal investigator for the Luquillo Experimental Forest LTER program, which was funded in 1988. He continued in that position until 1997, when he moved to the LNO at the University of New Mexico. He is a Professor in the Department of Biology at UNM.

Bob's research spans a variety of topics, including 1) long-term population dynamics of tropical organisms, 3) trophic dynamics in tropical ecosystems, 3) the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function, 4) the effect of changes in land use and land cover on regional climate, 5) the relationship among abiotic gradients, disturbance, and ecosystem structure and function, and 6) the use of remotely-sensed data to estimate biodiversity.

Bob's wife and companion of 24 years, Valli Rivera, and his daughters, Valiangelic and Dayanara, are the joys of his life, and occupy his non-work moments. He is involved in his wife's theater career as a driver, roadie, and part-time critic. In Puerto Rico, he and Valli wrote scripts for a television comedy show, but here he confines his sense of humor to the workplace. In his spare time, Bob likes to hike and golf. He is a fan of the Chicago Cubs.