Research Geographer, Western Geographic Science Center, US Geological Survey

Ben is developing projections of land use and land cover change, disturbance, and carbon stocks and fluxes using the LUCAS-CA model as part of the Climate Change & Fire Projections Team. He is supporting the integration of the new statistical fire model into LUCAS-CA. He is also developing refinements to the LUCAS model for use in nationwide wildfire risk modeling and will serve as the interface for integrating the latest advances in land use modeling into the project. Ben has been conducting scientific research on land use and land cover change and the impacts on ecosystem carbon balance for more than 15 years. He has authored over 70 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Currently, he leads two large national research projects aimed at developing future land use and land cover scenario projections and the impacts on ecosystem carbon balance. Ben holds a master’s in Geography from California State University–East Bay.