Heraldo was born in the city of Sao Paulo, near the southern coast of Brazil. Always having a love of nature, he entered into Ecology when he started his undergraduate degree at the University of Sao Paulo. As a biologist, he dreamed of coming to Manaus to see the rainforest, and so after getting his bachelor’s degree, he applied to and was accepted at INPA to pursue his master’s degree. The rainforest turned out to be all he’d dreamed about and more, and so he’s never left.

When he first arrived at INPA, he studied myrmecophytes, or “ant plants.” These are plants which provide ants with convenient, secure shelter for which, in return, the ants may either provide nutrients to the plant and/or serve to defend it against attackers. His advisor at INPA, however, convinced him to take a look at leaf-cutter ants, instead. Leaf-cutter ants interact with many different species of plants in the forest, not just the myrmecophyte plants, and so are a more important influence on the overall ecology of the forest.