Luisa Maffi

Luisa Maffi, PhD, is a linguist, anthropologist, and ethnobiologist. She is one of the developers of the concept and field of biocultural diversity and has conducted fieldwork in Africa (Somalia), Mesoamerica (Mexico), and Asia (China, Japan). Luisa cofounded and directs Terralingua, an international NGO devoted to sustaining the biocultural diversity of life—the world's heritage of biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity—through research, education, policy-relevant work, and on-the-ground action. Among her key publications are the edited book On Biocultural Diversity: Linking Language, Knowledge, and the Environment (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001), the coedited volume Ethnobotany and Conservation of Biocultural Diversity (New York Botanical Gardens Press, 2004), and the coauthored book Biocultural Diversity Conservation: A Global Sourcebook (Earthscan, 2010).