Howie Epstein

Howard Epstein is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, specializing in the ecology of arctic tundra, dry grasslands and shrublands, and temperate forests. His research focus is on vegetation dynamics, nutrient cycling, and plant-soil-atmosphere interactions. Dr. Epstein received his B.A. degree in Computer Science from Cornell University in 1986. He received an M.S. degree in Rangeland Ecosystem Science from Colorado State University in 1995 and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Colorado State in 1997. He conducted postdoctoral studies at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado. Dr. Epstein came to the faculty of the University of Virginia in 1998. He teaches courses in the Fundamentals of Ecology, Terrestrial Ecology, and Ecology of Grasslands and Tundra. He has published ~175 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He led the annual production of the Tundra Greenness essay for the NOAA Arctic Report Card from 2012-2018, and he has contributed to several international reports, including the 2019 IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and the Cryosphere. He served on the Board of Directors for the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. from 2013-2019. He has regularly traveled to the Alaskan, Canadian, and Russian Arctic for field research.