Societal Dimensions of Environmental Science

Ricardo Ric Lopez has led the way in the field of Applied Ecology and the Environmental Sciences for the past 25 years. During his tenure in academia and public service, Ric has been a leader on diverse applications of field-based geospatial science and analyses, working closely with a multitude of partners, collaborators, and decision makers, from the tropics to temperate regions, bringing his expertise to bear on specific local, regional, and global environmental issues. This body of collaborative work includes numerous applications to the needs of society, by providing needed assessments of (1) terrestrial, aquatic, and wetland ecosystems; invasive plant species; (2) multi-scale indicators of sustainability; and (3) solutions to risk-based landscape ecology challenges. A native of California, Lopez spent much of his life in a variety of other geographies, working in and writing about varied and complex landscapes, and working with research and community leaders to find new ways of solving the current and future socio-ecological problems that face humanity. Dr. Lopez earned a B.S. in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution at the University of California, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. He is currently the Director of The US Forest Service's Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry in Hilo, Hawai'i, which provides scientific and technical information needed to restore, conserve, and sustain tropical forests and wetlands of the Pacific through an integration of research, education, and application.