Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., is world renowned as a pioneer in the study of consciousness and transfonnative experience. He received a doctorate in clinical psychology at Harvard University, where he was an associate of Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass). Metzner has since practiced psychotherapy and pursued consciousness research in a rich variey of settings. Today, Metzner teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where he was academic-dean.Jor-ten-years..-H@.is..the-author of numerous books, including The Psychedelic Experience, Maps of Consciousness, The Unfolding Self, and The Well of Remembrance. He is editor of a new book, Ayahuasca: Human Consciousness and the Spirits of Nature (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1999), which includes contributions by Charles Grob, Dennis McKenna, and others. Metzner is also active in the ecophilosophy and green psychology movements. He is founder of the Green Earth Foundation, an educational and research organization dedicated to the healing of humanity's relationships with the Earth.