William Wallace Covington, Ph.D. - Regents' Professor
Director, Ecological Restoration Institute
Research Interests
Ecological Restoration, Evidence Based Conservation, Adaptive Environmental Assessment,
Cooperative Conservation
Applied Restoration and Conservation of Frequent Fire Forests of the West
Dr. Covington directs NAU's Ecological Restoration Institute, which provides real
work experience, formal course work, and senior practicum or thesis opportunities
for undergraduates in virtually all disciplines at the university. He has received
national and international recognition for his work in forest ecosystem health,
restoration ecology, and fire effects on forest ecosystems. He has been recognized
as Outstanding Teaching Scholar by NAU for his dedication to involving undergraduates
in his applied research projects and bringing research results into the classroom
and into the field.
Dr. Covington presents invited testimony before congressional and state natural
resources committees, gives presentations, and provides continuing education at
all levels from the Washington Offices of conservation agencies (e.g., the Forest
Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service) to the field
level. Annual field trips are attended regularly by leaders such as the Secretary
of Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Chief of the Forest Service, the
Director of the National Park Service), as well as regional, state, and local stakeholders
in conservation management. His work on restoration of ecosystem health and natural
resource conservation is often cited in the national news media. As an example,
an article from the journal Science discusses Dr.
Covington's efforts to restore the fire-adapted ecosystems of the West.
Education
B.A., University of North Texas, 1969
Biology, senior thesis in oncology/tissue pathology
M.D.-Ph.D. program, University of Texas
(1968-1970-not completed) Pediatric oncology
M.S., University of New Mexico, 1972
Watershed ecosystem analysis, physiological ecology
M.Ph. in Forestry, Yale University 1974
Natural resource conservation
Ph.D., Yale University, 1976
Applied forest ecosystem analysis
Contact Information
Office: Building 82 - Room 121
Phone: 928.523.6635
Email: Wally.Covington@nau.edu
Select Publications
Profile in Science by Malakoff, David. 2002. Arizona ecologist puts stamp on forest
restoration debate. Science 297:2194-2196.
Noss, R.F., P. Beier, W.W. Covington, R.E. Grumbine, D.B. Lindenmayer, J.W. Prather,
F. Schmiegelow, T.D. Sisk, and D.J. Vosick. 2006. Recommendations for Integrating
Restoration Ecology and Conservation Biology in Ponderosa Pine Forests of the Southwestern
United States. Restoration Ecology 14:4-10.
Fulé, P.Z., J.E. Crouse, A.E. Cocke, M.M. Moore, and W.W. Covington. 2004. Changes
in canopy fuels and potential fire behavior 1880-2040: Grand Canyon, Arizona. Ecological
Modelling 175:231-248.
Covington, W.W. 2003. Restoring ecosystem health in frequent-fire forests of the
American West. Ecological Restoration 21:1: 7-11
Covington, W.W., P.Z. Fulé, S.C. Hart, and R.P. Weaver. 2001. Modeling ecological
restoration effects on ponderosa pine forest structure . Restoration Ecology 9(4):421-431.
Covington, W. W., 2000. Helping western forests heal. Nature 408:135-136.
Some of Dr. Covington's publications are also listed at the Ecological Restoration Institute's Publication Library.