Peter H. May received his PhD in Resource Economics from Cornell University in 1986. Professor and former chairman of the Department of Development, Agriculture and Society-DDAS of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro-UFRRJ, May has been Visiting Scholar at the Energy and Resources Group of the University of California-Berkeley, and at the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
He acted as Program Officer (Rural Poverty and Resources) at the Ford Foundation’s Rio Office and as Forestry Officer (Non-Wood Forest Products) at the FAO in Rome. He also served as Executive Secretary of the Brazilian Agroforestry Network-REBRAF and is currently an Associate Director of Friends of the Earth-Brazilian Amazon.
Author and editor of 11 books in ecological economics and environmental policy, May founded and served as the first President of the Brazilian Society for Ecological Economics-ECOECO.
He has been engaged during 25 years of resident research, teaching and consultancy in Brazil in research, consultancy, project administration and training in the economics and management of natural resources for sustainable rural development. His specific areas of expertise include: environmental valuation, cost-benefit analysis, economic instruments, payment and compensation for ecosystem services, conservation finance, utilization and marketing of forest products, forest product certification, agroforestry systems and watershed management. Besides his experience in Brazil, he has also undertaken short-term assignments in Central America and the Caribbean, Peru and Thailand.