George M. Woodwell founded the Woods Hole Research Center in 1985 in Woods Hole, MA as an institute for global environmental research. He remains its President and Director and is currently running major research programs to study the ecological effects of ionizing radiation on vegetation, and the role that biotic systems, especially forests, play in global warming. Photos from top, Scott McKiernan, Holly Smith Pedlosky, Star Black.

PROFESSION
I'm an ecologist.

...IN KID'S TERMS
I work on how the world works. I want to find out what keeps it wholesome. What it is that keeps the wind blowing and the rain raining and the plants growing?

AGE
67

FAMILY
Married to Katharine, Administrator of Woods Hole Research Center, with 4 children, aged 30-38

LAST ENVIRONMENTAL BOOK READ
Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development by Herman E. Daly

BEST ENVIRONMENTAL BOOKS READ
The Crystal Desert by David G. Campbell. From a literary and popular standpoint, it's a gem of a book. But there are many outstanding books including The Fourth Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond and Our Stolen Future by Theo Colburn, Dianne Dumanoski and John Peterson Meyers.

FAVORITE WEB SITE
I lead a full life and there hasn't been time yet for me to discover the Web.

FAVORITE NATURE SPOT
Oh my, I haven't traveled the world enough to be an authority, but I like the coast of New England. I love the changing landscape, the diversity, the water, the views, the history of the place. It's the place where I have lived and was brought up. I haven't wanted to live in any other place.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEROS
William Vogt, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Ed Wilson, Jared Diamond and so many more.

BIGGEST ENVIRONMENTAL MILESTONE
When we discovered in the mid-1960s that we could take the government to court on major environmental issues -- and succeed. That brought basic ecology to the front pages of the newspapers and into everybody's house and consciousness.

MOST WORRISOME ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM
There isn't one problem. There is an array of major problems which has to include the expansion of the human population and influence over the world. That is closely coupled with the progressive toxification and biotic impoverishment of the earth. The loss in the capacity of the Earth for supporting life reduces the potential for people to improve their circumstance. All of these trends are leading to accelerating human impoverishment.

ONE THING PEOPLE CAN DO
It's important for people to understand the complexity of the challenge. It's going to take coordinated action, mutual respect, and life by the Golden Rule to establish a circumstance where people can live in a finite world, and enjoy expanding influence on their lives and environment.