Daniel C. Nepstad

Daniel C. Nepstad
Senior Scientist
Woods Hole Research Center
149 Woods Hole Road
Falmouth, MA 02540-1644
Phone: 508-540-9900 x131
Fax: 508-540-9700

Education

Ph.D. - Yale University
1989, Forest Ecology

M.S. - Michigan State University
1983, Plant Ecology & Botany

B.A. - Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan
1979, Biology

Professional Experience

  • 1999 - present: Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center
  • 1993 - 1999: Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center
  • 1990 - 1993: Assistant Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center
  • 2000 - present: Lecturer, Yale University, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
  • 1995 - present: Scientist and Founding President. Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (Amazon Institute of Environmental Research), Belém, Brazil.
  • 1995 - present: Visiting Professor. Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brasil. Núcleo de Altos Estudos Amazônicos.

Research Interests

A tropical forest ecologist, Nepstad has studied Amazon forests and strategies for their conservation for the last 21 years. His research includes forest fires and “savannization”, the analysis of public policies to conserve the Amazon’s natural resources, the prediction of future trends of Amazon forests and people, and the environmental certification of the region’s cattle ranchers and soy farmers. Based in Belém, Brazil, he leads the Center’s Amazon program. In 1995, he co-founded the Amazon Institute of Environmental Studies (Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia), which is now the largest independent research institution in the Amazon region. He has published more than 75 scientific articles and books on the Amazon. In 1994 he was awarded a Pew Scholars Fellowship in Conservation.

Ten recent publications

Alencar, A., L. Solórzano and D. Nepstad. 2004. Modeling forest understory fire in an eastern Amazon landscape. Ecological Applications 14(4) Supplement: S139-S149.

Asner, G., D. Nepstad, G. Cardinot, D. Ray. 2004 Drought stress and carbon uptake in an Amazon forest measured with space-borne imaging spectroscopy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 101 (16): 6039-6044.

Carvalho, G. D. Nepstad, D. McGrath, M. Santilli, M. Vera Diaz. 2002. Brazil's Amazon development policy: scenarios of environmental impact and alternatives. Environment 44: 34-45.

Mendonça, M.J.C. de, M del C V Diaz, D Nepstad, R Seroa, A. Alencar, J.C. Gomes, R. A. Ortiz. 2004. The economic cost of the use of fire in the Brazilian Amazon. Ecological Economics 49: 89-105.

Nepstad, D., P. Lefebvre, U. L. Silva Jr., J. Tomasella, P. Schlesinger, L. Solorzano, P. Moutinho, D. Ray. 2004 Amazon drought and its implications for forest flammability and tree growth: a basin-wide analysis. Global Change Biology 10: 704-717.

Nepstad, D., D. McGrath, A. C. Barros, A. Alencar, M. Santilli, M. C. Vera. Frontier governance in Amazonia. 2002. Science 295: 629-630.

Nepstad, D., P. Moutinho, M. B. Dias-Filho, E. Davidson, G. Cardino, D. Markewitz, R. Figueiredo, et al. 2002. The effect of partial throughfall exclusion on canopy processes and biogeochemistry of an Amazon forest. J of Geophys. Res. 107, No. D20, 8085, doi:10.1020/2001JD000360, 2002.

Nepstad, D., C. Azevedo-Ramos, A.C. Barros, D. McGrath, C. Pereira, F. Merry. 2004. Managing the Amazon timber industry. Conservation Biology 18(2): 1-3.

Nepstad, D., G. Carvalho, A. C. Barros, A. Alencar, J. P. Capobianco, J. Bishop, P. Moutinho, P. Lefebvre, U. L. Silva Jr. 2001. Road paving, fire regime feedbacks, and the future of Amazon forests. Forest Ecol & Mgt. 154: 395-407.

Nepstad, D.C., Veríssimo, A., Alencar, A., Nobre, C.A., Lima, E., Lefebvre, P., Schlesinger, P., Potter, C., Moutinho, P.R.d.S., Mendoza, E., Cochrane, M., Brooks, V., 1999. Large-scale impoverishment of Amazonian forests by logging and fire. Nature 398: 505-508.

Synergistic activities/Achievements, awards, other activities

  • Coordinator of “Amazon Scenarios” project, involving 8 institutional users and 10 institutional collaborators.
  • Results of research are communicated directly to Brazilian policymakers through IPAM’s public policy program; IPAM is asked to present scientific evidence in 2 to 3 Brazilian congressional hearings each year, and 3 to 4 ministerial level meetings.
  • Support for development of a system for environmental certification of the Amazon's large-scale cattle ranches and soybean farms.
  • Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Pará’s Center for Higher Amazon Studies (UFPA/NAEA), in Amazonia’s major multi-disciplinary program in environmental studies. Teach ecosystem ecology, and course on Amazon fire.
  • Pew Scholar in Conservation & Environment (1994-97)