About Dennis

Dr. Dennis Ojima is a Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability; Senior Research Scientist, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University; and University Director of the North Central Climate Science Center at Colorado State University for the Department of Interior. His research area involves application of social ecological system approaches to climate and land use changes on ecosystems around the world, carbon accounting, and adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change. These research efforts have led extensive international work in Senegal, Ethiopia, China, Mongolia, and Central Asia training researchers and managers in topics related to carbon sequestration, adaptation technologies, and modeling land use and climate change impacts on ecosystem dynamics. His work on carbon sequestration involved direct work with the Clinton Initiative on Carbon Poverty Reduction project led by Dr. James Baker and led to a various interventions with Guyana and other countries associated with the project. This also led to consultations with the World Bank, US AID, and collaborative activities with ESRI. He is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow since 1999, is serving on the National Research Council Board on Environmental Change and Society, and was Resident Senior Scholar at the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment in Washington, DC. He co-led the development of the Global Land Project (2001-2005) and co-chaired the GLP (2005-2006). He served as co-convener of the technical report and the synthesis chapter of the Great Plains Regional Assessment for the 3rd US National Climate Assessment (2012-1014). He has been recognized for his international contributions in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment receiving which received the 2005 Zayed International Prize for the Environment and the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2013 was honored as a Champion of the Environment by the Mongolian Minister of the Environment and Green Development. Professor Ojima received his BA and Master’s Degrees in Botany from Pomona College (1975) and the University of Florida (1978), and his PhD from the Rangeland Ecosystem Science Department at Colorado State University in 1987.

Website CV

Education

PhD, Ecosystem Science - Colorado State Universtity
Fort Collins, CO, 1987

Awards, Honors, Grants

  • Bren School of Environmental Sciences and Management’s Zurich Distinguished Visitor, UC Santa Barbara, 2011
  • Department of Interior Award: Partners in Conservation Award for contribution on “Scanning the Conservation Horizon: A Guide to Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment”, 2011
  • National Research Council Board member for Board on International Scientific Organizations , 2009-2012
  • National Research Council Board member for Board on Environmental Change and Society, 2009 -
  • Nobel Laureate 2007 Peace Prize , 2007
  • Zayed International Prize for the Environment, 2005
  • Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow, 1999
  • Ecological Society of America Governing Board, Member at Large 2005 – 2007,