The Bryson Distinguished Professor

The Bryson Professorship is designed to attract new interdisciplinary talent to the intellectual confluence of disciplines related to climate, people, and the environment.  The Bryson Professor carries out research, teaching, and public service in the socially relevant environmental and climate sciences in the spirit of the integrative approach pioneered by Reid A. Bryson.

The Bryson Distinguished Professor holds a joint appointment in the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (IES) and in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS) and an appointment in the Center for Climatic Research (CCR) (other relevant departments may serve as the joint appointment home).  The Bryson Professor is selected by the CPEP Board and holds the position up to five years (although a limited number of annual extensions are possible in appropriate circumstances).

The first Bryson Professor was Jonathan Foley, AOS and IES (1993-2000). The second Bryson Distinguished Professor is Sara Hotchkiss, Assistant Professor of Botany and IES.  Her activities commenced July 2003.

Funding and Publications

Research Interests

Sara’s research uses paleoecological methods to study how rare events and slow changes shape ecological history.  Her work provides perspective on observations of modern ecosystems, predictions of ecosystem trajectories, and management planning.  Her current projects include studies of human-landscape interactions, climate history, vegetation history, disturbance, species invasion, and ecosystem development.  Geographically, her research covers the upper Midwest, Hawaii, and the Pacific.

Current Bryson Professor, Sara Hotchkiss