Don Falk Bio

Don Falk is an Associate Professor with the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona. Don’s research focuses on fire history, fire ecology, dendroecology, and restoration ecology, including multi-scale studies of fire as an ecological and physical process. Don received a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Oberlin College, a M.A. in Environmental Policy from Tufts University, and his Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. He holds joint appointments in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and the Institute for Earth and Society at the University of Arizona. Before coming to the University of Arizona, Don served as the first Executive Director of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER). Prior to SER, Don was co-founder and Executive Director of the Center for Plant Conservation, originally at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and now at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Don is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has received research support and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Joint Fire Science Program, US Forest Service, and the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program. In 2003 he was appointed by Governor Janet Napolitano to the Arizona Forest Health Council. Don’s publications include numerous journal articles and three books, including Genetics and Conservation of Rare Plants (Oxford University Press, 1991) Restoring Diversity (Island Press, 1996), and Foundations of Restoration Ecology (Island Press, 2006).