About the Authors

Coping with Global Climate Change: The Role of Adaptation in the United States

Author Bios

Dr. William E. Easterling
Dr. William E. Easterling is the Director of the Institutes of Environment and a professor of geography and agronomy at Pennsylvania State University.   Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State, Dr. Easterling held appointments in the Department of Agricultural Meteorology at the University of Nebraska (1991-1997), Resources for the Future, Inc. in Washington, DC (1987-1991), and the Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois (1984-1987).  He received his doctorate in geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Dr. Easterling's research concerns the interactions of human activities with their climatic and biotic environment, particularly the potential effects of climate changes from greenhouse warming on agroecosystem productivity and adaptation in both developed and developing countries. He also serves or has served on numerous national and international scientific advisory committees and assessment projects, including those of the National Research Council, the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U. S. Department of Energy. He served as the Acting Director of the Department of Energy's National Institute for Global Environmental Change (1996-1998), and he was a convening lead author for the Third Assessment Report of the United Nations/World Meteorological Organization's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In the winter of 2003, he co-chaired newly elected Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell's Transition Committee on Conservation and Natural Resources and was elected to serve as the Chair of the Penn State University Research Council for 2003-2004.

Brian H. Hurd, New Mexico State University
Brian H. Hurd is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business at New Mexico State University. Dr. Hurd earned his PhD and MS degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of California, Davis, and holds a BA from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Dr. Hurd is the author of numerous articles, book chapters and conference presentations on natural and environmental resource economics, water resource economics, and climate change vulnerability and adaptation. He is a delegate to the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR), and is a member of the American Agricultural Economics Association, the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, the American Water Resources Association, and the Western Agricultural Economics Association. 

Joel B. Smith, Stratus Consulting Inc.
Joel B. Smith is the Vice President of Stratus Consulting Inc. Mr. Smith received a BA from Williams College, and received an MPP from the University of Michigan.

Mr. Smith has examined climate change impacts and adaptation issues for the U.S. Country Studies Program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Office of Technology Assessment, the Electric Power Research Institute, the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

Before joining Stratus Consulting, Mr. Smith was the deputy director of the U.S. EPA's Climate Change Division. He was a coeditor of EPA's Report to Congress: The Potential Effects of Global Climate Change on the United States, published in 1989; As Climate Changes: International Impacts and Implications, published by Cambridge University Press in 1995; Adaptation to Climate Change: Assessments and Issues, published by Springer-Verlag in 1996; and Climate Change, Adaptive Capacity and Development published by Imperial College Press in 2003. Mr. Smith worked for the EPA from 1984 to 1992. Besides working on climate change issues, he also served as an analyst examining oceans and water regulations, and was a special assistant to the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation.