I am a Professor Emeritus of Geography (with a courtesy appointment in Agronomy) and former dean of the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. I was trained as an economic geographer and climatologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previous positions include the Department of Agricultural Meteorology at the University of Nebraska (1991-1997), Resources for the Future, Inc. in Washington DC (1987-1991), and the Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois (1984-1987). My research focused on:
The potential for agriculture in developed and developing countries to adapt to climate variability and change
The role of scale in understanding the vulnerability of complex systems, especially agro-ecosystems, to environmental change
How land use change may influence the uptake and release of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere
The use of experimental long-term climate forecasts to assist decision making under conditions of uncertainty
The development of methodologies for detecting the impacts of observed 20th century climate change on natural and managed ecosystems
My research involved a combination of simulation modeling and field-based case studies.