Nalini Nadkarni is an ecologist, avid science communicator, and, as a National Geographic Explorer at Large, an ambassador who represents science and nature awareness throughout the world. She has pioneered novel access techniques to study the plants, animals, and microbes that live in the tropical and temperate rainforest treetops in Costa Rica and Washington State, galvanizing biologists to study what has been called the “last biotic frontier.” A professor at the University of Utah, she has published more than 150 journal articles and three books. She has appeared in public media such as Science Friday; Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me; RadioLab, and Playboy Magazine, and is the subject of the PBS documentary “From Earth to Sky.” Her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the AAAS Award for Public Engagement, the National Science Foundation Award for Public Service, the Wilson Award for the Advancement of Social Justice, the Archie Carr Medal for Conservation and the Rachel Carson Award for Conservation. She divides her time between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Monteverde, Costa Rica.