I have had a very long standing intellectual interest in the broad area of Complex Adaptive Systems with a more specific focus on complex biological systems. Many years ago these interests led me to to the rather unusual choice of founding a Network Biology driven novel Drug Discovery and Development company, Connexios Life Sciences (www.connexios.com), which I currently head. More recently, aided and abetted by a long term relationship with NCF, I have become very interested in the emerging area of Social Ecological Systems Research. I am currently collaborating with several researchers at NCF to put together a research program in this area which one hopes will be of relevance to the multiple conservation programs at NCF and beyond. In addition, I am deeply interested in Global Environmental History and its intersection with the broad discipline of World-History and nurse the fond hope that I might one day meander into a project that will allow me to indulge these interests more seriously!