Dr. Steve Schwartzman, Director of Tropical Forest Policy at Environmental Defense Fund, works directly with Amazonian indigenous forest peoples, civil society, government officials and international policy makers to protect tropical rainforests. He has been actively engaged in the Brazilian Amazon for over two decades. Schwartzman initiated EDF’s efforts to create large-scale market-based incentives for tropical countries to reduce their deforestation through the UNFCCC. He leads a team of experts who work on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in developing countries.

He received his PhD in anthropology from the University of Chicago based on fieldwork with the Panará Indians in the Xingu Indigenous Park.