Dr. Alvim is a Brazilian agronomist and plant physiologist who has worked mainly with tropical perennial crops, such as cacao, coffee, rubber and oil palm. He holds a PhD degree in Plant Physiology from Cornell University (1948). He served as director of one of the world's largest centers for research and extension on tropical agriculture: the Cocoa Research Center (CEPEC/CEPLAC), located in Ilhéus, Brazil. Before joining CEPLAC, Dr. Alvim was a researcher and university professor in Costa Rica and Peru, employed by the Interamerican Institute of Agricultural Sciencies (IICA/OAS) He published extensively on physiological problems of tropical crops, land use systems for the wet tropics, agricultural development and ecological problems in frontier areas (mainly in the Amazon Region and Atlantic Forest Region of Brazil). He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and a correponding member of the American Society of Plant Physiology. From 1976 to 1985 he was closely associated with the network of international agricultural research centers, serving as member of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), as well as board member of the International Center of Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), in Cali, Colombia and the International Council for Agroforestry Research (ICRAF), in Nairobi, Kenya. He also was a member of the Comittee on Management of Global Genetic Resources of the U.S. National Research Council, as well as of the Scientific Advisory Board of the DNA-Plant Technology Corporation (USA), and counselor for the World Council of Culture (Mexico).