Chris Larsen's CV

Other Personal Data
Country of Birth: Canada
Citizenship: Canadian
Status in USA: Permanent Residency ("Green Card")
Marital Status: Married

Educational Background
PhD in Geography, McMaster University, 1994. Dr. Glen MacDonald, major advisor.
Title: Spatial and temporal variations in fire frequency in the boreal forest of northern Alberta.

MSc in Geography, McMaster University, 1989. Dr. Glen MacDonald, major advisor.
Title: A fine-resolution palaeoecological record of boreal forest fire and vegetation dynamics.

BSc in Geography, University of Calgary, 1984.

Present Position
Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University at Buffalo
Research Scientist, National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis

Employment History
2001 to present, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University at Buffalo
1994 to 2001, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University at Buffalo
1986 to 1993, Teaching Assistant, Department of Geography, McMaster University
1984 to 1985, Research Assistant, Department of Biology, University of Calgary

Honours
McMaster University, Geography Department Scholarship (1986 - 1994)
McMaster University Centennial Scholarship (1991)
University of Guelph, Bell-Sargant Fellowship (1989)

Professional Organisations
American Association of Geographers
American Quaternary Association
Ecological Society of America
International Association for Landscape Ecology

Scholarly and Professional Activities
Session Organiser or Chair
1998. Temperate rain forest dynamics. Organiser and Chair. The Association of American Geographers.
1997. Remote sensing and climate. Chair. AAG Middle States and CAG Ontario Geography Meeting.
1996. Dendroecology I: Forest dynamics. Organiser. The Association of American Geographers Meeting.
1996. Dendroecology II: Treeline dynamics. Chair. The Association of American Geographers Meeting.

Invited Speaker
1999. SUNY Alfred, Department of Environmental Studies
1999. University of Quebec at Montreal, Department of Biology
1998. Pennsylvania State University, Department of Geography
1995. McMaster University, Department of Geography

Judge
2000. Student presentation competition, Biogeography Specialty Group, AAG Annual Meeting.
1998. Student presentation competition, Biogeography Specialty Group, AAG Annual Meeting.
1998. Graduate student research grant competition. AAG Biogeography Specialty Group.
1997. Graduate student paper competition co-ordinator. AAG Middle State & CAG Ontario Geographers

Scientific Reviewer
Arctic, Alpine and Antarctic Research
Canadian Journal of Forest Research
Ecology
Ecoscience
Geocarto International
Global Ecology and Biogeography
International Journal of Wildland Fire Research
Journal of Ecology
Journal of Environmental Management
Journal of Geographysical Research - Atmospheres
Journal of Vegetation Science
Middle States Geographer
National Science and Engineering Research Council (Canada)
National Science Foundation (Atmospheric Sciences; Geography and Regional Science; Geology and
Paleontology; Global Change)
National Science Foundation: invited panel member to review IGERT pre-proposals
Northwest Science
Water, Air and Soil Pollution

Textbook Reviewer
John Wiley & Sons
Prentice Hall

Administrative Responsibilities
UB Geography Department, graduate student admissions committee (February 2002 - present)
UB Science and Engineering Library, Budget Committee (1996 - present)
UB (University at Buffalo) Environment and Society Institute. Undergraduate curriculum task force (1999)
UB Geography Department, graduate student admissions committee (Fall 1998)
UB Geography Department, weekly colloquia series organisation (1997/98)
UB Institute for Environment and Society, Curriculum Committee (1997)
UB Environmental Task Force (1995-96)

Research Funding

Grants obtained

1998. Spatial and temporal movement patterns of white-tailed deer in a fragmented suburban landscape. SUNY UB Faculty of Social Sciences Research Development Matching Funds. $2173 US.

1998. Spatial and temporal movement patterns of white-tailed deer in a fragmented suburban landscape. Town of Amherst. $2173 US.

1997. Page charges for article in Ecology. SUNY UB Julian Park Publication Fund. $550 US.

1996. Spatial patterns of lightning and human-caused fires in western Canada. Ling Bian co-PI. National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis. $2500 US

1996. Spatial and temporal pattern of human and lightning caused fires on Vancouver Island. British Columbia Ministry of Forests. $4000 CDN.

1995. History of forest disturbance in the temperate rainforest of west-central Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Forest Renewal, Province of British Columbia. $30,000 CDN.

1992. Quantitative assessment of fire risk in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta. Institute for Risk Research, University of Waterloo. $3000 CDN.

1992. Dendroclimatic research in northern Alberta. Northern Studies, McMaster University. $2500 CDN.

1991. Paleomagnetic research in northern Alberta. Northern Studies, McMaster University. $2700 CDN.

1990. Lake coring in northern Alberta. Northern Studies, McMaster University. $3250 CDN.

1988. A fire history of Wood Buffalo National Park. Parks Canada. $5000 CDN; $75,000 CDN support.

1987. Fire history field research, northern Alberta. Northern Studies, McMaster University. $2200 CDN.

Grants not obtained
2000. High-resolution, multi-proxy records of climate, vegetation and fire over the past 2000 years in the boreal forest of Alberta, Canada. Submitted to NSF Earth Systems History. $391,642.

1996. History of forest disturbance in the temperate rainforest of central Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Submitted to Forest Renewal, Province of British Columbia. PI: Chris Larsen $34,000 CDN.

1996. Enhancement of the SUN Platform in the Geographic Information and Analysis Laboratory. Submitted to SUN Microsystems, Inc. PD David Mark. Co-PIs Abrahams, Batta, Bian, Calkins, Larsen, McConnell and Rogerson. $200,875.

1996. Establishment of a Geographic Information Systems Field Technical Support Center for the New England Cluster of the National Park Service at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Submitted to the National Parks Service. PIs Hugh Calkins and David Mark. Co-PIs Bian and Larsen.

Courses Taught at University at Buffalo
GEO 101 Physical Environmental Geography #
GEO 106 Physical Environmental Geography II: Human Impact on the Environment *#
GEO 352 Introduction to Soil Science
GEO 355 Introduction to Biogeography *
GEO 355/515 Landscape Ecology *#
GEO 356/544 Environmental Change *#
GEO 534 Graduate Readings in Biogeography *#

* Course created by Chris Larsen
# Course regularly taught.

Graduate Committees

Major advisor

Graduated
Robicheau, Kevin. 2002. MA. The effects of forest type, precipitation, and temperature on defoliation
caused by Lymantria dispar in Massachusetts from 1978-1996.
Butler, Rachael. 2000. MA. Spatial and temporal analysis of landscape patterns in Amherst, New York
Olney, Chris. 1997. MA. A 670 year record of fire and vegetation dynamics in a coastal Douglas-fir forest,
southeastern Vancouver Island.
Pew, Kelly.1997. MA. The spatial pattern of human-caused wildfires in the temperate rainforest of
Vancouver Island, Canada: a GIS application.

In progress
Kronenfeld, Barry. PhD. A comparison of forest classification methods, eastern USA.
McFail, Lisa. MA. Changes in wetland cover in Onondaga County in response to lake-level changes.
Miller, Wendy. MA. Cognitive mapping of trail use.
Wang, Yi-Chen. PhD. Modeling and analysis of presettlement land survey records.

Committee member

Graduated
Feng, Jiu. 2000. PhD (Biol). Molecular approaches for conservation of endangered Caprini species in Asia.
Lee, Tae Soo. 2000. MA (Geog). Application of a GIS-based watershed model to estimate runoff and
bacteria loads in Cazenovia Creek, NY.
Neave, Melissa. 1999. PhD (Geog). Modeling the impact of small mammal disturbances on the
surface hydrology of a semiarid piedmont surface in southern New Mexico.
Parkansky, Steven. 1999. PhD (Geog). Deer problems in a suburban community: deer population, deer-
vehicle collisions, and public opinion.
Barclay, David. 1998. PhD (Geol). Tree-ring and glacial records of Holocene climate change, northern
Gulf of Alaska region.
Kracker, Laura. 1998. PhD (Geog). The quantification and classification of aquatic landscape structure..
McCabe, Scott. 1998. MA (Geog). Influence of coniferous and deciduous stands on surface soil properties.
Hurd, Robert. 1997. MA (Geog). Variations in soil organic matter in response to slope orientation.

External member

Larocque, Isabelle. 1999. PhD. Geography, University of Quebec in Montreal. Historique de la distribution
et de la regeneration apres feu des communautes boreales.

Publications

(a) Peer Reviewed

Pew, K.L and Larsen, C.P.S. 2001. GIS analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of human-caused wildfires in the temperate rain forest of Vancouver Island, Canada. Forest Ecology and Management 140: 1-18.

Larsen, C.P.S., Morris, W.A. and MacDonald, G.M. 2000. Records of geomagnetic secular variation since 1200 AD and the potential for chronological control of lake sediments in northern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 37: 1711-1722.

Larsen, C.P.S. 2000. Area burned reconstruction and expression: a comparison of methods. In: Innes, J.L., Verstraete, M.M., and Beniston, M. (Eds.). Biomass Burning and its Inter-Relationships with the Climate
System. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Advances in Global Change Research Vol. 3. Boston, pp. 321-339.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1998. An 840-year record of fire and vegetation in a boreal white spruce forest. Ecology 79: 106-118.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1998. Fire and vegetation dynamics in a jack pine and black spruce forest reconstructed using fossil pollen and charcoal. Journal of Ecology 86: 815-828.

Larsen, C.P.S., Pienitz, R., Smol, J.P., Moser, K.A. Cumming, B.F., Blais, J.M., MacDonald, G.M. and Hall, R.I. 1998. Relations between lake morphometry and the presence of laminated sediments: a re-examination of Larsen and MacDonald (1993). Quaternary Science Reviews 17: 711-717.

Reed, W.J., Larsen, C.P.S., Johnson, E.A. and MacDonald, G.M.. 1998. Estimation of temporal variations in historical fire frequency from dendrochronological time-since-fire map data. Forest Science 44: 465-475.

Larsen, C.P.S. 1997. Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern Alberta. Journal of Biogeography 24: 663-673.

Sugita, S., MacDonald, G.M. and Larsen, C.P.S. 1997. Reconstruction of fire disturbance and forest succession from fossil pollen in lake sediments: potential and limitations. In: Clark, J.S., Cachier, H., Goldammer, J.G. and Stocks, B. (Eds.). Sediment Records of Biomass Burning and Global Change. NATO
ASI Series Vol. I 51, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 387-412.

Larsen, C.P.S. 1996. Fire and climate dynamics in the boreal forest of northern Alberta between AD 1850 and 1989. The Holocene 6: 449-456.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1995. Relations between tree-ring widths, climate, and annual area burned in the boreal forest of Alberta. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 25: 1746-1755.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1993. Lake morphometry, sediment mixing and the selection of sites for fine resolution palaeoecological studies. Quaternary Science Reviews 12: 781-792.

Johnson, E.A. and Larsen, C.P.S. 1991. Climatically induced change in fire frequency in the southern Canadian Rockies. Ecology 72: 194-201.

MacDonald, G.M., Larsen, C.P.S., Szeicz, J.M., and Moser, K.A. 1991. The reconstruction of boreal forest fire history from lake sediments: a comparison of charcoal, pollen, sedimentological and geochemical indices. Quaternary Science Reviews 10: 53-71.

(b) Accepted or In Press

Moser, K.A., Smol, J.P., MacDonald, G.M. and Larsen, C.P.S. (Accepted Nov. 2001).
19th Century eutrophication of a remote boreal lake as a consequence of climate warming. Journal of Paleolimnology.

Whitlock, C. and Larsen, C.P.S. (Accepted July 00). Fire history reconstruction based on particulate charcoal records. In: Smol, J.P., Birks, H.J.B. and Last, W.M. (Eds.). Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments: Biological Techniques and Indicators (Vol. II). Kluwer Academic Publishers.

(c) Submitted for Peer Review

Stuart-Williams, H.L., Larsen, C.P.S., MacDonald, G.M. and Schwarcz, H.P. Relations between climate and a 227-year oxygen isotope record from varved lake sediments in northern Alberta. Submitted to The Holocene.

(d) In Preparation for Peer Review

Larsen, C.P.S. Fire, climate and vegetation dynamics over the past 750 years in the boreal forest of northern Alberta. In preparation for Ecology.

Larsen, C.P.S. and Morris, W.A. Climatic variations over the past 800 years inferred from total terrestrial pollen accumulation rates in the boreal forest of northern Alberta. In preparation for Quaternary Research.

Moser, K.A., Taylor, S.J., Larsen, C.P.S., MacDonald, G.M. and Smol, J.P. A paleolimnological investigation of the response of a boreal lake in northern Alberta to the last 200 years of forest fires. To be submitted to Journal of Ecology.

(e) Not Peer Reviewed

Larsen, C.P.S. 2000. Vestal Fire. Book review. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 90: 195-196.

MacDonald, G.M. and Larsen, C.P.S. 1995. Palaeoecological studies of past fires. Proceedings of the Impacts of Fire on the Landscape Science Workshop. Ontario Aviation, Flood and Fire Management Branch Publication No. 315: 73-77.

MacDonald, G.M., Larsen, C.P.S., Szeicz, J.M. and Dale, K. 1994. Post Little Ice Age warming and the western Canadian boreal forest: An analogue for future climate change? In: Riewe, R. and Oakes, J.(Eds). Biological Implications of Global Change: Northern Perspectives. Canadian Circumpolar Institute Environmental Research Series, Edmonton, pp. 25-35.

(f) Unpublished Reports

Larsen, C.P.S. 1989. A fire history analysis of Wood Buffalo National Park. Canadian Parks Service, Prairie and Northern Region. Winnipeg. Contract No. K2585-C9-014. 84pp.

Presentations at Meetings

Larsen, C.P.S. 2000. Centennial-scale relations between climate and pollen productivity: an 840-year record from northern Alberta. The Association of American Geographers, Pittsburgh, PA.

Kronenfeld, B. and Larsen, C.P.S. 2000. Mapping forest biomes in the eastern USA using forest inventory analysis data. The Association of American Geographers, Pittsburgh, PA.

Larsen, C.P.S. and Pew, K.L. 1998. A GIS model of the spatial pattern of human-caused wildfires in the temperate rainforest of Vancouver Island, Canada. Wengen Workshops on Global Change Research: Biomass Burning and its Inter-Relationships with the Climate System, Wengen, Switzerland.

Larsen, C.P.S. and Pew, K.L. 1998. Spatial variation in human-caused wildfire frequency in the temperate rain forest of Vancouver Island. The Association of American Geographers, Boston, MA.

Szeicz, J.M., MacDonald, G.M., Case, R.A. and Larsen, C.P.S. 1998. Holocene aridity patterns in the western interior of Canada. Geological Society of America, Toronto, ON.

Larsen, C.P.S. 1997. Judgment and error in the decision whether humans have altered the natural fire cycle in Wood Buffalo National Park. International Conference in Critical Geography, Vancouver, BC.

Larsen, C.P.S. 1996. Fire and climate dynamics in the boreal forest of northern Alberta from 1850 to 1989. The Association of American Geographers, Charlotte, NC.

Larsen, C.P.S. 1995. Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency. The Association of American Geographers, Chicago, IL.

MacDonald, G.M. and Larsen, C.P.S. 1995. Palaeoecological studies of fire regimes. Ontario Ministry of the Environment Fire Workshop, Sault Ste. Marie ON.

Moser, K.A., Larsen, C.P.S., MacDonald, G.M., Taylor, S.J., and Smol, J.P. 1995. A paleolimnological investigation of forest fires in northern Alberta, Canada. The Association of American Geographers, Chicago IL.

Larsen, C.P.S. 1994. Fire-climate dynamics in northern Alberta since 1850. International Boreal Forest Research Association, Saskatoon SK.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1994. Fine resolution fossil pollen and charcoal records from two boreal forest lakes in Alberta. American Quaternary Association, Minneapolis MN.

Sugita, S., MacDonald, G.M. and Larsen, C.P.S. 1994. Quantitative reconstruction of fire disturbance and forest succession from lake sediments: potential and limitations. NATO Advanced Research Workshop: Sediment Records of Biomass Burning and Global Change, Algarve, Portugal.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1993. The long term persistence of differences in fire frequencies in Picea glauca and Pinus banksiana forests. Ecological Society of America, Madison WI.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1993. A 1000 year fossil pollen record of boreal forest fire and succession. The Association of American Geographers, Atlanta GA.

Moser, K.A., Taylor, S., Gladdy, J., Larsen, C.P.S., MacDonald, G.M., and Smol, J.P. 1993. A high resolution record of past forest fire activity and limnological changes from northern Alberta. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Edmonton AB.

Larsen, C.P.S. 1992. An assessment of the relationship between area burned and fire weather over various temporal scales, northern Alberta. Canadian Association of Geographers, Vancouver BC.

MacDonald, G.M., Larsen, C.P.S., Szeicz, J.M. and Dale, K. 1992. The response of the boreal forest to post Little Ice-Age warming: an analogue for future climate warming? Canadian Arctic Global Change Research Workshop, Edmonton AB.

Moser, K.A., Larsen, C.P.S., MacDonald, G.M. and Smol, J.P. 1992. Two hundred years of fire history recorded in the fossil record of the Rainbow Lakes Region, Wood Buffalo National Park, northern Alberta, Canada. International Diatom Symposium, Renesse, The Netherlands.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1989. Rates of change in boreal forest composition: integrating millennial to semi-decadal scales using palaeoecological data. American Institute of Biological Sciences, Toronto ON.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1988. A one thousand year record of boreal forest fire-vegetation dynamics. National Student Conference on Northern Studies, Ottawa ON.

Larsen, C.P.S. and MacDonald, G.M. 1988. High resolution pollen, charcoal and geochemical analysis of varved lake sediments from the Canadian boreal forest: a long-term record of fire-vegetation dynamics. International Palynological Congress, Brisbane, Australia.

MacDonald, G.M., Larsen, C.P.S., Carlson, D., Szeicz, J.M. and Moser, K.A. 1988. The reconstruction of fire history from lake sediments: a comparison of visual charcoal analysis, automated charcoal counting, chemical-thermal analysis and trace-element analysis. Canadian Association of Geographers, Halifax NS.

MacDonald, G.M., Larsen, C.P.S., Szeicz, J.M. and Moser, K.A. 1988. The reconstruction of fire history from lake sediments. International Palynological Congress, Brisbane, Australia.

Johnson, E.A., Gregory, D., Larsen, C.P.S. and Pruden, M. 1987. Climatically induced change in fire frequency between 1586 and 1984 in the southern Canadian Rockies. Ecological Society of America, Columbus OH.

January 2003