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Co-Director and Lead Scientist of the Global Landscapes Initiative, Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota

Paul West is the co-director and lead scientist of the Global Landscapes Initiative at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment. His research develops solutions for increasing global food security while decreasing the negative effects of agriculture on water, climate, and biodiversity. He leads the team’s efforts to get its science out of the ivory tower and into the hands of people effecting change.

Before joining the U of M, Paul worked 17 years at The Nature Conservancy. He earned his PhD in limnology and marine science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research is published in leading science journals, including Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

His main hobbies revolve around rediscovering the wonders of the world through the eyes of his two young daughters.

Experience

  • –present
    Co-Director and Lead Scientist of the Global Landscapes Initiative, Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota