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| Terry L. Root, PhD |
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Professor of Biological Sciences, by courtesy; FSI Senior Fellow
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ADDRESS |
troot@stanford.edu
(650) 736-1296 (phone)
(650) 323-2174 (fax)
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CESP
Stanford University
Encina Hall E411
Stanford, CA 94305-6055 |
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RESEARCH INTERESTS |
| rare and endangered species; the influence of global warming on wildlife; biogeography conservation and management; factors limiting the distribution of wintering birds |
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Research into just such questions resulted in President George H. Bush honoring her in 1990 with the prestigious Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation. In 1992 she was chosen as 1 of only 10 people around the world to be selected as a Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment, 1 of 20 people to be selected as an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow in 1999, and co-awardee with Stephen H. Schneider in 2002 of the Conservation Achievement Award from National Wildlife Federation, and in 2006 of the Banksia International Award from the Australian Banksia Environmental Foundation. These awards highlight how Dr. Root's research is helping us to understand complex real-world problems, her inclination to work with interdisciplinary teams, and her outreach to decision makers and the general public.
Dr. Root's work focuses on large-scale ecological questions investigating factors shaping the ranges and abundances of animals and plants. This research led to her book Atlas of Wintering North American Birds: An Analysis of Christmas Bird Count Data. This continent-wide examination helped reveal the importance of scale in ecological research, prompting further investigation of the integration of large- and small-scale studies. Her small-scale studies have focused on possible mechanisms, such as physiological constraints, that may be helping to generate the observed large-scale patterns. Her work demonstrated that climate and/or vegetation are important factors shaping the ranges and abundances of birds. Given this finding, it is not surprising that in a meta-analysis of about 150 articles, Dr. Root and co-authors found that both animals and plants around the globe are changing in concert with the increasing global temperature. Species are shifting their ranges poleward and up in elevation, and they have already changed the timing of spring events (e.g., migration, blooming) by ~5 days/decade over the last 30 years. She and co-workers have also used species to show us that humans are indeed causing a measurable and large part of the increase in local temperatures with which species are associated.
Dr. Root did her Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New Mexico, after which she worked as a scientific programmer at Bell Laboratory and on NASAs Voyager Project. Returning to school, she obtained her Masters degree in Biology at the University of Colorado in 1982 and her Ph.D. in Biology from Princeton University in 1987. She was on the faculty as an Assistant and Associate Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at The University of Michigan from 1987 to 2001. From 2001 to 2006 she was a Senior Fellow/University Faculty in Stanfords Freeman-Spogli International Institute and a Professor by courtesy in the Biological Sciences Department. Beginning in 2006 she moved to Stanfords Woods Institute for the Environment and continues as a Professor by courtesy in biology.
She was a Lead Author of the 2001 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working Group 2 Third Assessment Report, with responsibility for the impacts of climate change on wildlife. She currently is a Lead Author of the 2007 International Panel on Climate Change, working group 2 Fourth Assessment Report, with multiple responsibilities. She has served on the National Research Council Committees. In 1989 she became an Elective Member of the American Ornithologists Union (AOU), the largest professional ornithology society in North American. She was elected to the Governing Council of the AOU in 1993 and she became a Fellow of AOU in 1995. Dr. Root has directly advised 28 graduate students, both at the Master and Ph.D. levels. Courses she has taught include conservation biology, wildlife biology, ecology, leadership and communication skills, ornithology, and others.
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STANFORD DEPARTMENT |
OTHER AFFILIATIONS |
| Biological Sciences |
Senior Fellow Woods Institute for the Environment |
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Only the 5 most recent displayed. View the complete list of publications.
