Jae-Chun Choe received his PhD in Biology under the guidance of E. O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler at Harvard University and taught at the University of Michigan and Seoul National University. He is currently a Distinguished Chair Professor at Ewha University. He has served as the President of the Ecological Society of Korea, President of Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Co-President of Climate Change Center, and the Founding Director of National Institute of Ecology. He is currently serving as the President of the Biodiversity Foundation established with the help of Jane Goodall, Co-President of National Assembly Climate Change Forum, and UNFCCC NAP Ambassador. He is an associate editor of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology and on editorial board of Evolutionary Psychology, Frontiers in Behavioral and Evolutionary Biology, Ecological Research, Journal of Ethology, and Journal of Insect Behavior. In addition to publishing nearly 150 scientific papers and 5 books in English, he has written or translated more than 50 books in Korean and given numerous public lectures. Most recently, he worked as the Editor-in-Chief for the Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior (published in 2019 by Academic Press) and joined the editorial board of a highly acclaimed International Review of Science, Inference.

최재천은 하버드대에서 에드워드 윌슨 교수의 지도로 진화생물학 박사 학위를 받고 하버드대 전임강사와 미시건대 조교수, 서울대 생명과학부 교수를 거쳐 현재는 이화여대 에코과학부 석좌교수로 일하고 있다. 현재 다섯 국제학술지의 편집위원을 맡고 있으며, 2019년 출간된 동물행동학 백과사전(Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior)의 총괄 편집장을 역임했다. 140여편의 논문과 6권의 영문 저서를 출간한 것 외에도 70권 이상의 책을 집필 또는 번역했다. 한국생태학회 회장, 초대 국립생태원 원장, 국제생물다양성협약(CBD) 의장, 유엔기후변화협약(UNFCCC) 명예대사를 역임했고, 현재 생명다양성재단과 국회기후변화포럼 대표를 맡고 있다.