Dr. José Luís Camargo is a faculty in the Graduate Program of Ecology and Botany at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA, Brazil) and the former Scientific Coordinator of the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragment Project (BDFFP). Created in 1979, the BDFFP is an international initiative to understand the consequences of tropical forest fragmentation, to promote monitoring and identification of the biodiversity in a complex system, and to give opportunities for research and formation of young scientists and conservationists. He is an associate researcher of three Research Groups at INPA (BDFFP, Amazonian Seeds, and AFEX - Amazon Fertilization Experiment).

Dr. Camargo graduated in Ecology from the State University of São Paulo (1987) and his Master's in Ecology (1992) from the traditional Botany School at the University of Cambridge. He completed his formation (1998) in Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD group, ABDL; Rockefeller F.) and his Doctorate in Ecology (2004) from the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA). His main research interest is understanding tropical forest dynamics in a mosaic of vegetation composed of intact and fragmented mature and secondary-growth forests. He primarily intends to amplify the knowledge of the auto ecology of Amazonian trees, their lifecycle, reproductive and vegetative phenology, and the description of fruits, seeds, and seedlings. He invests time in teaching in the Graduate Programs, advising several master's and Ph.D. students, and collaborating with other scientists from several national and international institutions.