Craig D. Allen is a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, and is Station Leader of the USGS Jemez Mountains Field Station based at Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. Craig conducts research on the ecology and environmental history of Southwestern landscapes, and works on ecosystem management and ecological restoration with diverse land managers. He is a core principal investigator with the USGS Western Mountain Initiative, studying global change in western US mountains (see westernmountains.org), with extensive international collaborations. Ongoing research activities, involving a variety of colleagues and collaborators, include: long-term monitoring and research on vegetation and ecological landscape changes; exploring the effects of climate change on ecological disturbances such as fire, forest die-off, and erosion; developing a global understanding of climate-induced tree mortality; linkages among vegetation and runoff and erosion processes in semi-arid watersheds; and ecological restoration of Southwestern forests, woodlands, and grasslands. Craig’s place-based but broad-ranging ecological research approach, scaling up from intensive local landscape studies to address global issues, is highlighted at: www.fort.usgs.gov/CAllen/

Environmental Policy, Aspen environment forum, Environment,