Alaka Wali is Curator of North American Anthropology at The Field Museum. She received her BA at Harvard University and her PhD at Columbia University. She has conducted research in both Central and South America and in the urban United States on the human-environment interface and led programmatic efforts to build partnerships with community -based organizations to promote greater understanding of cultural and social assets, improve quality of life, and develop more effective stewardship of natural resources.   She is the author of two books, over 40 articles and monographs,and has received numerous grants for research.  She has curated or co-curated a wide variety of exhibitions for The Field Museum on contemporary cultural practices.