He sets his coffee cup on the table, a hint of a playful smile appearing on his face. But instead, he veered off into biology—searching for a deeper understanding of life and how it all connects. With this insight comes an urge to care for them, but somehow, we have lost that connection and sense of intertwinedness,” Carl continues. A pioneer in thoughtWhen Carl Folke started his PhD studies in the 1980’s, the links between ecosystems and human activities or society were poorly studied. Already in his master's thesis in 1983, Carl looked at the value of a wetland on the island of Gotland.