Risto Kalliola is a professor of geography at the University of Turku. He has made a long career on biogeographical, ecological and resource management studies in Amazonia and northern Europe. He is interested in the role of scientific understanding in the use of renewable natural resources and in land use planning. Kalliola is one of the founder members of the multi-disciplinary University of Turku Amazon Research team (UTU-ART) which has over three-decades long research history in Amazonia.