Dr. Mark Plotkin is a renowned ethnobotanist who has studied traditional Indigenous plant use with elder shamans (traditional healers) of Central and South America for much of the past 30 years. As an ethnobotanist—a scientist who studies how and why societies come to use plants for different purposes—he has conducted the majority of his research with the Trio Indians of southern Suriname, a small rainforest country in northeastern South America. He has also worked with shamans from Mexico to Brazil.

Dr. Plotkin has a long history of collaboration with organizations to promote conservation and awareness of the natural world. His positions include Research Associate in Ethnobotanical Conservation at the Botanical Museum of Harvard University; Director of Plant Conservation at the World Wildlife Fund; Vice President of Conservation International; and Research Associate at the Department of Botany of the Smithsonian Institution.

He is currently President of the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), a nonprofit organization he co-founded with conservationist and wife Liliana Madrigal in 1996.