David W. Roubik

Dave woke up one morning and decided he wanted to be a tropical

entomologist. He was about four years old then, so he had a long way to go.

When his parents gave the OK, he took some Spanish classes when he was 10,

then graduated to more Spanish in school, and more science. And more travel.

Travel to the tropics was essential. First with Spanish class, then as an

exchange student, then to South America in French Guiana for his Ph.D.

studies, and then to Panama, with a hardcore job in tropical entomology and

a big order to fill: follow a request presented by the US Congress to get

somebody studying those 'killer bees' and what could be expected from them,

once they came up to North America as they were expected to do, from Brazil.

Smithsonian had the right place- the famous Tropical Research Institute in

Panama, and Dave had the right credentials. His plan was to seek the most

protected, forested environments in the American tropics, and study, for

comparison, similar settings in the Old World, then try to solve an

important problem or two. By the time some of the answers were being given,

Dave had learned to study plants, animals, people, agriculture and tropical

nature, and make TV nature shows, on a world scale; after 30 years with

Smithsonian, he's just getting warmed up. In his worldview, many 'little

things' have immense and fascinating roles. Dave likes to write, when it essential to convey to those not so lucky to have been 'held up on the shoulders of the world' to see what is around. He thanks his teachers, his wife and family for being able to say and write something useful.