Professor Hurtt received his Ph.D from Princeton University in 1997. From 1998-2010, Dr. Hurtt worked at the University of New Hampshire in the Institute for the Study of Earth Oceans and Space and Department of Natural Resources, finally becoming Chair of the Natural Resources and Earth System Science Ph.D. Program, UNH's largest doctoral program, and Director the Complex Systems Research Center, UNH's main center focused on Earth System Science. In 2010, Dr. Hurtt joined the University of Maryland Department of Geography as Professor & Research Director, and in 2011 he was named Associate Director of the Joint Global Change Research Institute, and Associate Director of Research Innovations at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC). Previously, he led the international effort on global land-use harmonization for CMIP5 in preparation for the IPCC 5th assessment, a NASA interdisciplinary science investigation focused on the role of natural disturbances on the Earth's coupled carbon-climate-human system, the UMD/NASA-GSFC Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center, and has served as Chair of the University of Maryland Research Council. Dr. Hurtt is currently involved in multiple collaborative research projects including the North American Carbon Program, NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System, and DOE’s Energy Exascale Earth System Modeling (E3SM) project. He is co-chair of the Land Use Model Intercomparison Project (LUMIP) for CMIP6, Science Team Leader for the NASA Carbon Monitoring System, Science Team Member for the NASA-GEDI mission, Associate Editor of Global Biogeochemical Cycles, and Guest Editor for Environmental Research Letters. He is the recipient of numerous honors and distinctions, including most recently, the 2019-2020 University of Maryland Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award.
Areas of Interest
- Ecological theory and its applications
- Vegetation structure and dynamics
- Land-use, carbon, climate interactions
- Biodiversity and ecosystem services
- Integrated models and observations of coupled natural-human systems
- Earth System Science
- Geographical Sciences
Degrees
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Degree TypePh.DDegree DetailsEcology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 1997
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Degree TypeMSDegree DetailsEcology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 1994
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Degree TypeMSDegree DetailsEcology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 1992
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Degree TypeBADegree DetailsMiddlebury College, 1990
Course Name | Course Title | Semester | Syllabus |
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GEOG442 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2017 | Syllabus |
GEOG442 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2019 | Syllabus |
GEOG442 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2014 | |
GEOG442 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2015 | Syllabus |
GEOG442 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2018 | Syllabus |
GEOG442 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2016 | Syllabus |
GEOG415 | Land Use, Climate Change, and Sustainability | Spring 2018 | Syllabus |
GEOG415 | Land Use, Climate Change, and Sustainability | Spring 2019 | Syllabus |
GEOG615 | Land Cover and Land Use Change | Spring 2018 | Syllabus |
GEOG615 | Land Cover and Land Use Change | Spring 2019 | Syllabus |
GEOG642 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2017 | Syllabus |
GEOG642 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2019 | Syllabus |
GEOG642 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2015 | Syllabus |
GEOG642 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2018 | Syllabus |
GEOG642 | Biogeography and Environmental Change | Fall 2016 | Syllabus |
Course Name | Course Title | Semester | Syllabus |
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GEOG301 | Advanced Geographical Environmental Systems | Spring 2017 | Syllabus |
Dr. Hurtt is interested in the structure, function, and dynamics of ecological systems in the context of global change. His primary approach is to combine mathematics and data to develop models for scientific understanding and prediction. He has published on a wide range of topics including: the structure and dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems, latitudinal and elevational gradients in biodiversity, and ocean and terrestrial ecosystem models for use in studies of the global carbon cycle and global climate change. Current research is focused on the development and application of mathematical models to address issues such as: the sustainability of land-use practices and their effect climate, the effects of disturbances on ecosystem structure and function, terrestrial carbon sequestration and MRV, biodiversity and ecosystem services, and interactions between the biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and society.
Primary Investigator
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Research Director, Department of Geographical Sciences
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Science Team Leader, NASA Carbon Monitoring System
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Co-Chair, Land Use Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6)
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Guest Editor, Environmental Research Letters
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Associate Editor, Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Current Students
Former Students
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Dr. R. Quinn ThomasVirginia Tech
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Dr. Manoel CardosoInstituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Brasil
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Dr. Michael PalaceInstitute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire
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Dr. Ritvik SahajpalUniversity of Maryland
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Dr. Justin FiskApplied Geosolutions
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Dr. Katelyn DolanUniversity of Montana/NASA-GSFC
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Dr. Steve FlanaganTall Timbers Research Station
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Dr. Donal O'LearyNEON
Related Students (Listed by Student on Student's Profile)
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Rachel Lamb
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Lei Ma
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QUAN SHEN