Ruth S. DeFries (born October 20, 1956) is an environmental geographer who specializes in the use of

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

to study Earth's habitability under the influence of human activities, such as

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

, that influence regulating biophysical and biogeochemical processes. She was one of 24 recipients of the 2007 MacArthur Fellowship, and was elected to the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 2006.

Life

DeFries received her Ph.D. in 1980 from the Department of Geography and

Environmental Engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering Academic discipline, discipline related to environmental science. It encompasses broad Science, scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiolo ...

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

and her B.A. in Earth Science in 1976 from Washington University in St. Louis. In April 2016,

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

named her a University Professor, its highest academic rank. She had previously been the Denning Family Professor of

Sustainable Development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

in Columbia's Department of

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

, and Environmental Biology. Before moving to Columbia in 2008, she was a professor at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

with joint appointments in the Department of Geography and the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center.

An Ecomodernist Manifesto

In April 2015, DeFries joined with a group of scholars in issuing ''An Ecomodernist Manifesto''. The other authors were: John Asafu-Adjaye, Linus Blomqvist, Stewart Brand, Barry Brook, Erle Ellis, Christopher Foreman, David Keith, Martin Lewis, Mark Lynas, Ted Nordhaus,

Roger A. Pielke, Jr. Roger A. Pielke Jr. (born November 2, 1968) is an American political scientist and a nonresident senior fellow at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. Before he was a professor of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Env ...

, Rachel Pritzker, Joyashree Roy, Mark Sagoff, Michael Shellenberger, Robert Stone, and Peter Teague

Works

Books

* The Big Ratchet: How Humanity Thrives in the Face of Natural Crisis (2014) Basic Books

Scientific papers

DeFries is the author or co-author of over 100 scientific papers on such topics as: impacts of tropical fires on air quality and

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

; land use, nutrition, and food security; land use and conservation in the tropics; climate and tropical agriculture; processes of tropical deforestation and degradation; methods for remote sensing of land cover; and reviews and conceptual papers.

Awards

* 2007 MacArthur Fellows Program * 2015 Breakthrough Paradigm Award * 201
Honorary Doctorate
(Faculty of Science
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
(

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

))

References

http://www.ruthdefries.e3b.columbia.edu/

External links

Homepage at University of Maryland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Defries, Ruth 1957 births Living people American geographers MacArthur Fellows Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty University of Maryland College of Behavioral and Social Sciences people Columbia University faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American women academics American women geographers Fellows of the Ecological Society of America 21st-century American women Washington University in St. Louis alumni