Forest Isbell, Ph.D.

Forest Isbell is the director of the MnDRIVE Environment program and an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. He is a fellow at the Institute on the Environment and has served as associate director of Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve for the past seven years. He has contributed to several international science-policy efforts, including serving as a lead author on two recent reports of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and as an author on two recent expert information documents for the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award and is recognized as one of the most highly cited researchers globally in the field of Environment and Ecology. His research considers how human activities erode or restore both biodiversity and ecosystem services at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In addition, he investigates how global environmental changes alter plant communities and ecosystem processes and how both ecosystems and people depend on biodiversity.