Christopher Field named first faculty director of Stanford's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve

Biologist Christopher Field has been appointed the first faculty director of Stanford University's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, a 1,189-acre research site in the foothills west of the main campus that serves as a natural laboratory for biologists.

Field is a professor of biological sciences at Stanford and director of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology, which is located on campus. Since joining Carnegie as a staff scientist in 1984, he has simultaneously conducted research and taught in Stanford's Department of Biological Sciences.

"Jasper Ridge is really a door to the natural world," Field says. "As a university, we have a responsibility to educate our students about the world of ideas, the world of technology and the natural world. I would love to see a day when no student graduates without benefit of at least one Jasper Ridge experience."

As faculty director, Field will be responsible for providing academic leadership for Jasper Ridge's research, education and conservation programs, and with further integrating the preserve into the university's mission and structure. Philippe Cohen, administrative director of Jasper Ridge, will continue to manage day-to-day operations at the preserve.

Jasper Ridge is the site of 67 ongoing field studies ranging from global climate change to molecular biology to geophysics. Each year, the preserve hosts thousands of student and community visitors.

"Jasper Ridge is an amazing resource," says Iain Johnstone, senior associate dean for the natural sciences in Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences. "The proximity of the preserve to the main campus, as an island of natural habitat in a largely urbanized region, provides the university with enormous opportunity and responsibility. We are thrilled that Chris will bring his internationally acclaimed scientific and leadership talents to the inaugural directorship."

A leader in the emerging field of global ecology, Field is coordinating worldwide efforts to assess the effects of humans and the carbon cycle on the global environment. His research includes the Jasper Ridge Global Change Experiment, which explores the simultaneous interaction of four important components of global change—warming, elevated carbon dioxide, nitrogen deposition and precipitation—on plant ecosystems.

The new faculty director position is the outcome of a 2004 strategic plan initiated by the Jasper Ridge community, with a subsequent external review funded by the National Science Foundation and the School of Humanities and Sciences.

In its report, the external review committee noted that the preserve provides "an extraordinary opportunity for Stanford University to make pivotal contributions to the understanding and solution of issues that are confronting natural areas everywhere on our urbanizing planet. These issues include the impact of habitat fragmentation and climate change on biological diversity, effects of urban development on regional ecological processes, and the challenges of developing coordinated land-management strategies."

The committee called for an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to solving these issues as exemplified by the Stanford Institute for the Environment, which brings together faculty, staff and students involved in environmental research, education and outreach. The institute is the centerpiece of a university-wide interdisciplinary Initiative for the Environment that was launched in 2001 to tackle climate change, sustainability and other global challenges.

"Jasper Ridge will play a central role in Stanford's new environmental initiative," notes Barton H. "Buzz" Thompson, a director of the institute and the Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural Resources Law. "Chris has exactly the expertise, reputation and skill needed to lead Jasper Ridge's expanded role. He's a perfect choice."

In addition to strengthening ties between Jasper Ridge and Stanford's environmental initiative, the new faculty director is charged with translating broad strategic plans for the preserve into specific objectives.

"I am interested in seeing the university take a serious look at sustainability of university operations as well as the global environment," Field says. "Jasper Ridge already provides leadership—especially with its Leslie Shao-ming Sun Field Station setting standards for high-performance green buildings. I hope to help make the preserve's sophisticated approach an asset for the management of all of the university's lands.

"Everybody in the Stanford community is a stakeholder," he continues "including people who don't think they are invested in environmental research. Whether we are driving along the freeway, enjoying a hike on the Dish hill or researching the world of the future, we are all benefiting from Jasper Ridge and its connection to Stanford."

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