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Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President

Jefferson Science Fellow Lecture

Science and Environmental Security in Foreign Policy:  A Year in the Jefferson Science Fellowship program

Dr. Richard Marston
Dr. Richard Marston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Geography
Monday, October 1, 2012
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Little Theatre
K-State Union

Biographical Sketch

Richard Marston is University Distinguished Professor of Geography  at Kansas State University.  Marston, a Certified Professional Hydrologist, joined K-State in 2005 and received the university's highest academic ranking of distinguished professor in 2006. He served as Department Head for six years.  Dick earned degrees in geography from UCLA (B.A. 1974) and Oregon State University (M.S. 1976, Ph.D. 1980).  The American Institute of Hydrology first certified Marston as Professional Hydrologist #488 in 1984, and he has been recertified several times. Dick has been appointed Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Geomorphology, since 1999. He served as the 102nd President of the Association of American Geographers in 2005-06.  Dick is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Geographical Society, Explorers Club, Geological Society of America, and Royal Geographical Society.  The Association of American Geographers recognized him in 2003 with the Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors.  He co-organized the 43rd Annual Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium held in Jackson, WY, 21-23 September 2012.

Dr. Marston’s expertise centers in geomorphology (study of landforms), mountain geography and water resource geography.  Marston pursues geographic studies that separate the effects of human activities on landforms and water resources from change that would have occurred without human influence.  He has studied trans-border water resource issues in the El Paso region.  He has also focused on landform stability with respect to adjustment to environmental change, including the effects of mining, wildfires, deforestation and reforestation, grazing, agriculture, river regulation, and military maneuvers.  These studies have been undertaken in France, Brazil, Mexico, the Himalayas of Nepal-India-Pakistan, and in the American West and Great Plains.  Richard has spent six summers mentoring students and conducting research on the Juneau Icefield in southeast Alaska.  While serving on independent scientific review panels in Australia and northern California, he examined human impacts on streams, wetlands and related biotic resources.

Abstract

Richard A. Marston, University Distinguished Professor in the K-State Department of Geography, recently finished his 12-month residence as a Jefferson Science Fellow in Washington, D.C.  Marston was one of 13 scientists and engineers to be selected for the program in 2011-12 (79 overall since 2004), and the second K-State professor in as many years.  Marston served as a science advisor in the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), Office of The Geographer and Global Issues (GGI). He followed international developments related to environmental security that involved  water resources and geohazards, including glacier changes in the Himalayas and construction of hydropower dams. In addition to supporting his colleagues in GGI and INR in general, Richard interacted with other offices in the Department of State, including the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary, the Water Team (largely the Bureau of Oceans and International Scientific and Environmental Affairs), the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, and Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights…Maria Otero's office. Richard is part of a group working on a possible Global Dialogue on Emerging Science and Technology (GDEST) on Himalayan watershed management. Marston will discuss the scope of the Jefferson Science Fellowship Program and his experience in it, in hopes of inspiring other K-State science and engineering faculty to apply.