Dr. Valerie Behan-Pelletier is a Research Scientist in Biodiversity in the Environment Program at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She is an expert on systematics and biodiversity of soil mites in ecosystems globally, and has a broad research interest in biodiversity and ecology of arthropods in soil and canopy habitats. She is currently engaged in major research initiatives on ancient forest canopy biodiversity in British Columbia, on tall-grass prairie soil biodiversity in the USA, and on arthropod biodiversity of tropical rainforest in Costa Rica. Dr. Behan-Pelletier teaches on mites at the Acarology Summer Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and has recently advised Ph.D. and postdoctoral students from Canada, USA, Norway and China. She is a member of the UNEP Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) Soil and Sediment Subcommittee exploring the interrelationships and interdependence of soil, freshwater and marine sediments. She is a member of the Advisory Committee for the IBOY sponsored Global Litter Invertebrate Decomposition Experiment, comparing plant litter decomposition and the contribution of invertebrates to this process in 35 countries. Valerie has been a recipient of Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship, is a past member of NSERC’s GSC on Evolution and Ecology, and is a recent member of the Scientific Committee of the Biological Survey of Canada. She is a graduate of University College Dublin, Ireland and McGill University, Montreal.