After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology and her master’s in entomology, Dr. Rattis completed her Ph.D. in ecology and developed a focus on landscape ecology. She spent a year and a half working at the Tanguro Field Station in an area in Brazil known as the arc of deforestation, after which she spent 18 months working at Woodwell’s campus. Since returning to Brazil in 2018, Dr. Rattis has worked to raise funding and engage relevant stakeholders—such as those in the financial sector, farmers, and banks—to support more research on the limits on agriculture intensification.
Motivated by her love for the diversity of the Amazon and the Cerrado, Dr. Rattis is now the manager of the Tanguro Field Station. She was named one of Nexo Journal’s “Ten Brazilian Scientists You Must Know” in 2019 and received the Marcio Ayres award for the best scientific paper published by a young scientist in Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation between 2016-2018. She co-advises a master’s student and two undergraduate students and supports four postdocs working at IPAM and Woodwell. Dr. Rattis is also writing a book about agriculture and sustainability in Brazil.
Outside of her research, Dr. Rattis raises chickens and enjoys growing vegetables and trekking.