JOHN KRICHER is a biology professor emeritus at Wheaton College, where he taught ecology, ornithology, and vertebrate evolution for 38 years. The New Neotropical Companion is his most recent book. Kricher is also the author of Tropical Ecology, which is now the most widely used textbook on tropical ecology worldwide. The Balance of Nature: Ecology's Persistent Myth, Galapagos: A Natural History, and A Field Guide to Eastern Woods are among his other works. Kricher is a past president of the Association of Field Ornithologists, the Wilson Ornithological Society, and the Nuttall Ornithological Club, as well as a fellow of the American Ornithologists Union. He has served on the American Birding Association's board of directors.