Biography

Dennis Ojima has been active in global environmental change research and assessments for 30 years. His research involves application of social ecological system approaches to climate and land use changes on ecosystems, carbon accounting, food security, and adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change. He recently organized a training seminar for over 80 Young Fulbright Scholars on approaches to respond to climate change. He is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow since 1999, has served on the National Research Council Board on Environmental Change and Society (BECS) and Board of International Science Organizations (BISO), Resident Senior Scholar at the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment, co-convener of the technical report and the synthesis chapter of the Great Plains Regional Assessment for the US National Climate Assessment (2013-2014). He has received recognition for his contributions to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005 Zayed International Prize for the Environment) and the 2007 Noble Peace Prize for efforts associated with the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 2013, he was honored as a Champion of the Environment by the Mongolian Minister of the Environment and Green Development and he continues to collaborate with research and training efforts in Mongolia. Currently, he is Incoming President of the Ecological Society of America (2020-2021).