NAKASHIZUKA Toru is a Japanese scholar specializing in ecology. He is currently President of the Forest Research and Management Organization. After graduating from the Faculty of Science, Chiba University, he completed a Doctorate Program in Biology at the Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University in 1983. His previous positions include Researcher at the Forestry Research Institute, Senior Researcher at the International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, and later Professor at the Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, before being appointed to his current position in 2006. His key research interests include plant ecology, forest ecology and biodiversity.