William R. Travis - CU Dept. of Geography

William R. Travis, Ph.D.
(Formerly known as William E. Riebsame.)
Associate Professor, Department of Geography
Director, Center for Science and Technology Policy Research
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0488
Phone: (303) 492-6312
Email: william.travis@colorado.edu
Webpage: http://spot.colorado.edu/~wtravis

 

Curriculum Vitae |  Working Papers & Presentations   |  Teaching  |  Research  |   Miscellany

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News / Working Papers / Presentations

A series of articles and working papers on social response to extreme climate change:

"Going to Extremes: Propositions on the Social Response to Extreme Climate Change http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/admin/publication_files/resource-2668-2010.03.pdf

working paper (PDF): "Geoengineering the Climate: Lessons from Purposeful Weather and Climate Modification"

working paper (PDF): "Elements of a Severe Climate Change Early Warning System"

Teaching

I teach in the environment and society field of Geography, including classes in natural hazards, land use, and human ecology.

Recently-taught courses:

  • Geography 3402: Natural Hazards. Examines the physical, economic and social effects of extreme events such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods, with emphasis on social responses including preparedness, risk assessment, warning, mitigation, and recovery.
  • Geography 2412: Environment and Culture. A MAPS (minimum academic preparedness standards) class introducing 500 students a year to the themes, theories, and problems of the interaction of nature and society.
     
  • Geography 4742: Land Use. A critical thinking senior seminar on the legal and social theory of property and land use, the driving forces and patterns of American land use, and public sector planning as a shaper of geographical outcomes.

Research

My research examines the interaction of environment and society, in two main realms: (I) social response to climate change and extreme events; and (II) coupled social and natural systems, including land use and anthropogenic transformations of land cover, with a focus on the American West. Here are some representative projects:

I: Human Dimensions of Climate Change and Extreme Events

Extreme Climate Change: Recent climate studies and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) point to the potential, albeit small, for extreme climate change over the next century as anthropogenic global warming ramps up and geo-physical "tipping points" are encountered. While the bulk of impacts and adaptation studies should logically focus on the more likely, less extreme, scenarios, some attention must be paid to the possibility of severe, abrupt, and quite disruptive climate change. How will social systems respond to the threat of extreme climate change? What can we learn from human response to typical natural risks, like hurricanes and floods, that would help us anticipate human response to, say, rapid sea level rise (if Greenland melts), mega-droughts, and super-hurricanes? Do we need a rapid climate change warning system? This recent article in Climatic Change addresses such questions:

Climate Change severity Index

A proposed Climate Change Severity Index
(Click in the box above for the table).

"Going to Extremes: Propositions on the Social Response to Extreme Climate Change http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/admin/publication_files/resource-2668-2010.03.pdf

Climate Change, Adaptation, and Land Use: If the IPCC assessments are correct, then at least modest global warming is likely to continue for decades and will inevitably affect regional resource and development systems. This working paper examines the links between global warming and land use in the Interior West:

Working paper (PDF): "Global Warming and Western Land Use"

The Impacts of Global Warming on Aspen, Colo.: This project, funded by the City of Aspen, Colo., examined the likely effects of global warming on the central Rocky Mountains, with particular attention to snowpack and skiing. The Center of the American West in cooperation with the Aspen Global Change Institute, Stratus Consulting (Boulder, CO), and the Rural Planning Institute (Durango, CO), used projections of climate and snowpack to assess the effects on skiing, water resources, and the local economy. Post-Doc Hannah Gosnell and I focused on adjustments to climate change among ski managers and water users, detailing ways that they might adapt to changes in seasonal snow cover and runoff, and how the local economy might adjust as seasons shifted. Click here to access the full report.

For more articles on adjusting to global warming and other environmental hazards, see my Vita (link near the top of this page). Here are a few oldies but goodies:

"Research in Climate and Society Interaction."

"Sustainability of the Great Plains in an Uncertain Climate"

"Human Response to Climate Change: The Role of Decisionmaker Perception"


II: Recent Land Transformations in the American West

Exurban Groth in Bozeman, Mt.

Exurban development patterns south of Bozeman, Montana.
The American West is the nation's fastest-growing region, and development is rapidly spreading across the region's plains, mountains and deserts. My research addresses the patterns and driving forces of land transformation, and the consequences for ecological and social health.

Urban edge landscapes are especially undergoing profound changes with resort development and the emergence of an exurban land use pattern in non-metropolitan areas. This interest started with a grant from the U.S. Forest Service to study land use and cover change on the forest fringe in Colorado's mountains (with two colleagues, David Theobald and Hannah Gosnell). We hypothesized that private land adjacent to federal lands was undergoing the greatest change, from traditional ownership and use to amenity ownership and use, with implications for land management and ecological processes like fire and wildlife migration. Theobald developed a land use simulation model that he then applied to various Rocky Mountain landscapes.

Related publications:

  • W.R. Travis (2007): New Geographies of the American West: Land Use and Changing Patterns of Place (Island Press). 
  • W.R. Travis, D.M. Theobald, and D. Fagre(2002) Transforming the Rockies: Human Forces, Settlement Patterns, and Ecosystem Effects. In Jill S. Baron, ed., Rocky Mountain Futures: An Ecological Perspective pp. 1-24. (Washington, DC: Island Press).
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  • P.N. Limerick, W.R. Travis and T. Scoggin: "Boom and Bust in the American West." Report from the Center No. 1, Center of the American West, University of Colorado, Boulder. 21 pp.
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  • W.E. Riebsame (2001) "Geographies of the New West." In P. Brick, S. Van de Wetering, and D. Snow, eds. Beyond the Great Divide: Collaborative Conservation and the New Environmental Debate. (Washington, DC: Island Press).
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  • Theobald, D.M., N.T. Hobbs, T. Bearly, J. Zack, T. Shenk, and W.E. Riebsame (1999): Incorporating Biological Information into Local Land-use Decision Making: Designing a System for Conservation Planning. Landscape Ecology 15: 35-45.
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  • W. E. Riebsame, general editor, et al. (1997) Atlas of the New West. (New York: W.W. Norton).
  • W. E. Riebsame, H. Gosnell, and D. M. Theobald (1996) "Land Use and Landscape Change in the U.S. Rocky Mountains I: Theory, Scale and Pattern." Mountain Research and Development 16: 395-405.
  • D.M. Theobald, H. Gosnell, and W.E. Riebsame (1996) "Land Use and Landscape Change in the U.S. Rocky Mountains II: A Case Study of the East River Valley, Colorado."16: 407-418.

Land Ownership Dynamics

Miscellany

The Nature Conservancy: I am a member of the board of trustees of The Nature Conservancy-Colorado Chapter.

My Astronomy Clubs:

Bill Travis at Fox Park with telescope

18 inch Starmaster dobsonian telescope with Zambuto mirror at Fox Park, Wyo.
That’s a 20 inch Starmaster in the background.

Click here for a short bio.

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Revised July, 2008