Bill is trained in ecosystem ecology and ecophysiology with a broad focus on western US ecosystems from deserts to rangelands to high elevation mixed conifer forests. He has over a decade of specialized training in multi-scale remote sensing techniques including tower-mounted, drone, aircraft, and satellite platforms. He holds a joint appointment as an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona, where he was recently honored with the 2023 ALVSCE Early Career Research Award. Bill is also on multiple NASA Science Teams including the NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Teams and he is co-leading a new NASA ARID Scoping study to outline a future NASA field campaign focused on western US ecosystems.
Bill received an MSc in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State University and his PhD in the Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group at the University of Montana. More detail on his previous research can be found through his Google Scholar. Bill is very excited to be joining MSI and is motivated to help develop a cutting-edge forest monitoring and research program. Bill has spent most of his life in the Rocky Mountains and he wants to help provide science people can use to better manage these fragile ecosystems in the face of rapid change.
Contact Bill at wksmith@mountainstudies.org
