FORT COLLINS - William Parton, a senior scientist with Colorado State University's (CSU) Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory and co-Principal Investigator of the Shortgrass Steppe (SGS) Long-Term Ecological Research site, who has spent the past 35 years working on the development of ecosystems models, was early this year elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Parton's ecosystem computer models, Daycent and CENTURY, developed through his research at SGS, are used extensively around the world to determine the potential impact of future climatic changes on ecosystems at the local, regional and global scale. Additionally, these models are designed to evaluate the impact of land use changes on ecosystems.
AGU is a worldwide scientific community that advances, through unselfish cooperation in research, the understanding of Earth and space for the benefit of humanity. The number of Fellows elected each year is limited to no more than 0.1 percent of the total membership of the organization.
Parton's research is primarily involved with the biogeosciences branch of AGU. Within this branch, scientists study nutrient and carbon cycling, human impact on the environment and the development of computer modeling that simulates ecosystem dynamics.
Parton has published more than 150 papers and book chapters. Recent papers have documented climatic changes in Colorado during the last 100 years. He has served on numerous national and international committees concerned with the impact humans have on the environment. Parton was awarded his fellowship certificate during the Honors Ceremony May 24 at the Joint Assembly in Acapulco, Mexico.