John Aber

Last updated
John D. Aber
Born
Los Angeles, California
Alma mater Yale University
Known forEcosystem Analysis, Nitrogen Saturation, Restoration ecology
Scientific career
Fields Ecology, Environmental science
Institutions University of New Hampshire

John D. Aber is University Professor Emeritus [1] of Natural Resources & the Environment at the University of New Hampshire, and was also for many years affiliated with the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at UNH. His fields of study included Ecosystem Analysis and Modeling, Global Change, Acid Rain, Nitrogen Deposition and Sustainable Agriculture. [2] [3]

Contents

Career

Aber received a Bachelor's degree in engineering and applied science (computer science) from Yale University in 1971 and Master's and Ph.D. degrees in 1973 and 1976 in Forest Ecosystem Analysis from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (now the School of the Environment). [2] [3] His thesis work was performed as part of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study, with which he maintained an affiliation for many years.  He was a professor at the University of Virginia (1977–78) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1979-1987) before moving to the University of New Hampshire in 1987. Aber served in administration at UNH as provost and vice president of academic affairs (2009-2013) and Vice President for Research and Public Service (2003-2007). In 1996 he was a Charles Bullard Fellow at Harvard University

Aber was selected in 2012 as one of four recipients of the Wilbur Cross Medal by the Yale Alumni Association. [4] The medal celebrates a lifetime of academic achievement. He was also named a Distinguished Alumnus of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2003. At the University of New Hampshire, Aber received the Distinguished Professor Award in 2003 and was named one of 4 University Professors in 2009. In 2017, he received the USEPA Region 1 Lifetime Merit Award.

Research area

Most of Aber's research career focused on the carbon, nitrogen and water dynamics of forested ecosystems as impacted by major sources of pollution, including acid rain and ozone, and the impact of a changing climate. He was a principal investigator at the NSF Long-term Ecological Research sites at Hubbard Brook in New Hampshire, and at the Harvard Forest in central Massachusetts.  He used a combination of field measurements, advanced remote sensing techniques and computer modeling to predict the future of forests, especially in the Eastern U.S. and Ireland. Working with many close colleagues and graduate students, Aber was engaged in 56 funded projects over a 40 year period with support provided primarily by NASA, the National Science Foundation and the USEPA.

Aber also worked with colleagues at the Harvard Forest on the Wildlands and Woodlands Project focused on maintaining 70% of the New England landscape in forest cover, and with colleagues at UNH on defining just what it means to be a sustainable university.  While at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Aber worked with William Jordan and others at the university’s Arboretum to develop a scientific approach to restoration ecology. He was for a short while Director of a Center for Restoration Ecology at the Arboretum.

Aber's final funded project applied concepts learned from four decades of forest research to sustainable management of an agroecosystem located at New Hampshire's Organic Dairy Research Farm. The project focused on reducing dependence on external sources of energy and materials to help close the carbon and nutrient cycles on the farm.   

Aber retired from UNH in May 2021 and is pursuing a life-long interest in the writing of popular science. He has recently published a book through Yale University Press, and continues to post essays to the Substack site listed below. Both are titled Less Heat More Light and focus on providing accessible and hopefully interesting presentations on the science of weather, climate and climate change.

Bibliography

  1. Restoration Ecology: A Synthetic Approach to Ecological Research, William R. Jordan, III (Editor), Michael E. Gilpin (Editor), John A. Aber (editor), 1987, Cambridge University Press
  2. Terrestrial Ecosystems (2nd Edition), John D. Aber, Jerry M. Melillo, March 9, 2001, Academic Press [5] First Edition 1991, Saunders College Publishing
  3. Forests in Time: The Environmental Consequences of 1,000 Years of Change in New England, David R. Foster (Editor), John D. Aber (Editor), 10, March, 2004, Yale University Press [5] [6]
  4. The Sustainable Learning Community: One University's Journey to the Future, John Aber (Editor), Tom Kelly (Editor), Bruce Mallory (Editor), 2009, University Press of New England
  5. Wildlands and Woodlands: A Vision for the New England Landscape by David R. Foster, John D. Aber (Contributor), Elizabeth A. Colburn (Contributor), Charles T. Driscoll (Contributor), Malcolm L. Hunter Jr. (Contributor), Lloyd C. Irland (Contributor), Aaron M. Ellison (Contributor), William S. Keeton (Contributor) ... , September 1, 2010, Harvard University Forest [5]
  6. The Agroecosystem Project at the Organic Dairy Research Farm, University of New Hampshire: Summary of Results and Proposals for Applications. Aber, J.D., M.M. Smith, A.M. Leach, W.H. McDowell, M.D. Shattuck, N.A. Williamson, D.M. Hoffman and J.M. Davis. 2020. University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA - Available through ResearchGate.
  7. Less Heat More Light: A Guided Tour of Weather, Climate and Climate Change, Aber, J.D., Yale University Press, 2023
  8. Less Heat More Light: Essays on Weather, Climate and Climate Change. https://lessheatmorelight.substack.com/

Aber has authored or co-authored more than 200 scientific publications. See link to Google Scholar below.

Related Research Articles

Agroecology is an academic discipline that studies ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. Bringing ecological principles to bear can suggest new management approaches in agroecosystems. The term can refer to a science, a movement, or an agricultural practice. Agroecologists study a variety of agroecosystems. The field of agroecology is not associated with any one particular method of farming, whether it be organic, regenerative, integrated, or industrial, intensive or extensive, although some use the name specifically for alternative agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agroecosystem</span>

Agroecosystems are the ecosystems supporting the food production systems in farms and gardens. As the name implies, at the core of an agroecosystem lies the human activity of agriculture. As such they are the basic unit of study in Agroecology, and Regenerative Agriculture using ecological approaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landscape ecology</span> Science of relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems

Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems. This is done within a variety of landscape scales, development spatial patterns, and organizational levels of research and policy. Concisely, landscape ecology can be described as the science of "landscape diversity" as the synergetic result of biodiversity and geodiversity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecosystem ecology</span> Study of living and non-living components of ecosystems and their interactions

Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components such as chemicals, bedrock, soil, plants, and animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restoration ecology</span> Scientific study of renewing and restoring ecosystems

Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interruption and action. Effective restoration requires an explicit goal or policy, preferably an unambiguous one that is articulated, accepted, and codified. Restoration goals reflect societal choices from among competing policy priorities, but extracting such goals is typically contentious and politically challenging.

Thomas W. Swetnam is Regents' Professor Emeritus of Dendrochronology at the University of Arizona, studying disturbances of forest ecosystems across temporal and spatial scales. He served as the Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research from 2000 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human impact on the nitrogen cycle</span>

Human impact on the nitrogen cycle is diverse. Agricultural and industrial nitrogen (N) inputs to the environment currently exceed inputs from natural N fixation. As a consequence of anthropogenic inputs, the global nitrogen cycle (Fig. 1) has been significantly altered over the past century. Global atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) mole fractions have increased from a pre-industrial value of ~270 nmol/mol to ~319 nmol/mol in 2005. Human activities account for over one-third of N2O emissions, most of which are due to the agricultural sector. This article is intended to give a brief review of the history of anthropogenic N inputs, and reported impacts of nitrogen inputs on selected terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

James J. Kay was an ecological scientist and policy-maker. He was a respected physicist best known for his theoretical work on complexity and thermodynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael J. Kennish</span>

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References

  1. "John Aber Awarded University Professorship", UNH Campus Journal, April 22, 2009, retrieved February 19, 2015
  2. 1 2 "John D. Aber in the University of New Hampshire" . Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "John D. Aber in the University of New Hampshire Department of Natural Resources & the Environment" . Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  4. "Yale University Graduate School to honor four alumni". October 5, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "Good Reads" . Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  6. "Forests in Time" . Retrieved 18 February 2015.