William J. Parton, PhD.

Senior Research Scientist

Natural Resource Ecology Lab

Professor Emeritus

Forest and Rangeland Stewardship


Fields of Expertise

Ecosystem Dynamics

Areas of Interest

Ecosystem models, Climate-human activity-land use change intersection


Biography

Dr. Bill Parton’s primary research activities center around the study of greenhouse gas emissions, predictive modeling to help stakeholders (i.e. ranchers and farmers) make informed decisions on how the climate will affect them in the coming year, and how land use change effects the carbon cycle. He is the primary author of the ecosystem models: Century, DayCent, ForCent, and is currently working on the development of PhotoCent. Additionally, he is working on the Grass-Cast Project which is a predictive above-ground grassland plant production (ANPP) model that uses current weather data, the DayCent model and precipitation forecasts to help ranchers predict what the grass production will be for the grazing season. Dr. Parton has published over 150 papers and book chapters. He is fellow for the Ecological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union and was honored as a Resident Distinguished Ecologist at Colorado State University. He has had numerous projects funded by NSF, USDA, DOE, EPA and NIH.