Paul West
Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1710 University Avenue, Room 206
Madison, WI 53726 USA
608-262-5961 tel
608-265-4113 fax
and
Technical Advisor - Global Freshwater Team
The Nature Conservancy
pwest@tnc.org

Paul is a graduate student at the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.His research focuses on sustainably managing ecosystems to both benefit people and conserve biodiversity. His current work focuses on quantifying the tradeoffs of several ecosystem services – including agriculture production, carbon storage, regional climate regulation, water flow regulation, nitrogen leaching, and biodiversity conservation – under different management and policy scenarios. Paul is advised by Steve Carpenter and Jon Foley.

Paul takes a three-pronged approach to his work. First, he uses analytical approaches and computer models to develop new methods for quantifying ecosystem services. Current work with SAGE colleagues spans several disciplines, including climate, agriculture, and water. Second, he uses visualization to convey complex ideas into simple, intuitive graphics. Third, Paul puts new research into practice through has work as a scientist on The Nature Conservancy's Global Freshwater Team, where he is currently the lead scientist working with IBM, and SAGE to develop a decision support system called Water for Tomorrow, which can guide management and policy decisions within river basins. Paul's previous 15 years with the Conservancy ranged from researching the effectiveness of different land management techniques in forests and grasslands, assessing ecological integrity of ecosystems, and helping launch the Conservancy's Upper Mississippi River program. He has led several large-scale biodiversity planning efforts for the upper Midwest and southern Canada that now help direct over $60 million dollars of public and private funding each year in Wisconsin alone.

Paul has two B.S. degrees and an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he concentrated in soil science and restoration ecology. He received the Dr. Laurel Salton Clark Memorial Fellowship from the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and NASA, and a Sponsored University Research award from IBM.  He is also active in the Resilience Alliance Young Scholars (RAYS) program. Paul's hobbies include photography, music, biking, hiking, and canoeing.  He also enjoys enjoys rediscovering the wonders of the world through the eyes of his two young daughters.