Todd Hawbaker
Todd J. Hawbaker is a Research Ecologist with the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center in Denver, Colorado.
Todd received his B.S. degree in animal ecology in 1998 from Iowa State University. After receiving his B.S., he worked for a couple of years burning and restoring tallgrass prairie in southwestern Minnesota and then pursued graduate school. He received his M.S. degree in forestry in 2003 and Ph.D. degree in forestry in 2009 from the University of Wisconsin. He joined the U.S. Geological Survey as a research ecologist in 2008. His current research with the USGS combines remote sensing with statistical and process-based ecosystem simulation models to understand the drivers behind ecosystem disturbances and quantify the impacts of disturbances on human and natural systems.
Professional Experience
Research Ecologist (Oct. 2012 - present), U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Denver, CO
Research Ecologist (Aug. 2008 - Oct. 2012), U.S. Geological Survey, Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center, Denver, CO
Graduate Research Assistant (Sep. 2004 - July 2008), University of Wisconsin, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Madison, WI
Research Intern (Sep. 2003 - Aug. 2004), University of Wisconsin, Department of Forest Ecology & Management, Madison, WI
Graduate Research Assistant (Jan. 2001 - Aug. 2003), University of Wisconsin, Department of Forest Ecology & Management, Madison, WI
Restoration Ecologist (May 1998 - Dec. 2000), Salix Ecological Resources, Windom, MN
Software Engineer & UNIX Systems Administrator (May 1993 - Oct. 1997), Engineering Animation Inc., Ames, IA
Education and Certifications
2009, PhD Forestry, University of Wisconsin – Madison. Dissertation title: Fire in the wildland-urban interface, a national comparison of patterns of fire occurrence and fire risk to homes.
2003, M.S. Forestry, University of Wisconsin – Madison. Thesis title: Road density and landscape pattern in Northern Wisconsin, USA; present and past perspectives on environmental constraints and...
1998, B.S. Animal Ecology, Iowa State University.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 26
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Rapid growth of the US wildland-urban interface raises wildfire risk
The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is the area where houses and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle, and where wildfire problems are most pronounced. Here we report that the WUI in the United States grew rapidly from 1990 to 2010 in terms of both number of new houses (from 30.8 to 43.4 million; 41% growth) and land area (from 581,000 to 770,000 km2; 33% growth), making it the fastest-growing l
Authors
Volker C. Radeloff, David P. Helmers, H. Anu Kramer, Miranda H. Mockrin, Patricia M. Alexandre, Avi Bar-Massada, Van Butsic, Todd Hawbaker, Sebastián Martinuzzi, Alexandra D. Syphard, Susan I. Stewart
Validation of the USGS Landsat Burned Area Essential Climate Variable (BAECV) across the conterminous United States
The Landsat Burned Area Essential Climate Variable (BAECV), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), capitalizes on the long temporal availability of Landsat imagery to identify burned areas across the conterminous United States (CONUS) (1984–2015). Adequate validation of such products is critical for their proper usage and interpretation. Validation of coarse-resolution products often reli
Authors
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Nicole Fairaux, Yen-Ju G. Beal, Todd Hawbaker
Evaluation of the U.S. Geological Survey Landsat burned area essential climate variable across the conterminous U.S. using commercial high-resolution imagery
The U.S. Geological Survey has produced the Landsat Burned Area Essential Climate Variable (BAECV) product for the conterminous United States (CONUS), which provides wall-to-wall annual maps of burned area at 30 m resolution (1984–2015). Validation is a critical component in the generation of such remotely sensed products. Previous efforts to validate the BAECV relied on a reference dataset derive
Authors
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Nicole M. Brunner, Yen-Ju G. Beal, Todd Hawbaker
Climate, wildfire, and erosion ensemble foretells more sediment in western USA watersheds
The area burned annually by wildfires is expected to increase worldwide due to climate change. Burned areas increase soil erosion rates within watersheds, which can increase sedimentation in downstream rivers and reservoirs. However, which watersheds will be impacted by future wildfires is largely unknown. Using an ensemble of climate, fire, and erosion models, we show that post-fire sedimentation
Authors
Joel B. Sankey, Jason R. Kreitler, Todd Hawbaker, Jason L. McVay, Mary Ellen Miller, Erich R. Mueller, Nicole M. Vaillant, Scott E. Lowe, Temuulen T. Sankey
Prediction of forest canopy and surface fuels from Lidar and satellite time series data in a bark beetle-affected forest
Wildfire behavior depends on the type, quantity, and condition of fuels, and the effect that bark beetle outbreaks have on fuels is a topic of current research and debate. Remote sensing can provide estimates of fuels across landscapes, although few studies have estimated surface fuels from remote sensing data. Here we predicted and mapped field-measured canopy and surface fuels from light detecti
Authors
Benjamin C. Bright, Andrew T. Hudak, Arjan J.H. Meddens, Todd Hawbaker, Jenny S. Briggs, Robert E. Kennedy
Mapping burned areas using dense time-series of Landsat data
Complete and accurate burned area data are needed to document patterns of fires, to quantify relationships between the patterns and drivers of fire occurrence, and to assess the impacts of fires on human and natural systems. Unfortunately, in many areas existing fire occurrence datasets are known to be incomplete. Consequently, the need to systematically collect burned area information has been re
Authors
Todd Hawbaker, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Yen-Ju G. Beal, Joshua Takacs, Gail L. Schmidt, Jeff T. Falgout, Brad Williams, Nicole M. Brunner, Megan K. Caldwell, Joshua J. Picotte, Stephen M. Howard, Susan Stitt, John L. Dwyer
Oil and gas development influences big-game hunting in Wyoming
Development from extracting oil and gas resources can have unintended effects on multiple ecosystem functions, with cascading effects on wildlife, ecosystem services, and local economies. Big-game hunting opportunities may be closely related to these effects, but empirical analyses of impacts of energy development on hunting are limited. We examined the influence of oil and gas development density
Authors
Monica Dorning, Steven L. Garman, James E. Diffendorfer, Darius J. Semmens, Todd Hawbaker, Kenneth J. Bagstad
A carbon balance model for the great dismal swamp ecosystem
BackgroundCarbon storage potential has become an important consideration for land management and planning in the United States. The ability to assess ecosystem carbon balance can help land managers understand the benefits and tradeoffs between different management strategies. This paper demonstrates an application of the Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS) model developed for local-scal
Authors
Rachel Sleeter, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Brianna Williams, Dianna M. Hogan, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang Zhu
High resolution mapping of development in the wildland-urban interface using object based image extraction
The wildland-urban interface (WUI), the area where human development encroaches on undeveloped land, is expanding throughout the western United States resulting in increased wildfire risk to homes and communities. Although census based mapping efforts have provided insights into the pattern of development and expansion of the WUI at regional and national scales, these approaches do not provide suf
Authors
Michael D. Caggiano, Wade T. Tinkham, Chad Hoffman, Antony S. Cheng, Todd Hawbaker
Total belowground carbon flux in subalpine forests is related to leaf area index, soil nitrogen, and tree height
In forests, total belowground carbon (C) flux (TBCF) is a large component of the C budget and represents a critical pathway for delivery of plant C to soil. Reducing uncertainty around regional estimates of forest C cycling may be aided by incorporating knowledge of controls over soil respiration and TBCF. Photosynthesis, and presumably TBCF, declines with advancing tree size and age, and photosyn
Authors
Erin Michele Berryman, Michael G. Ryan, John B. Bradford, Todd Hawbaker, R. Birdsey
Forest disturbance interactions and successional pathways in the Southern Rocky Mountains
The pine forests in the southern portion of the Rocky Mountains are a heterogeneous mosaic of disturbance and recovery. The most extensive and intensive stress and mortality are received from human activity, fire, and mountain pine beetles (MPB;Dendroctonus ponderosae). Understanding disturbance interactions and disturbance-succession pathways are crucial for adapting management strategies to miti
Authors
Lu Liang, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang Zhu, Xuecao Li, Peng Gong
Quantifying soil carbon loss and uncertainty from a peatland wildfire using multi-temporal LiDAR
Peatlands are a major reservoir of global soil carbon, yet account for just 3% of global land cover. Human impacts like draining can hinder the ability of peatlands to sequester carbon and expose their soils to fire under dry conditions. Estimating soil carbon loss from peat fires can be challenging due to uncertainty about pre-fire surface elevations. This study uses multi-temporal LiDAR to obtai
Authors
Ashwan D. Reddy, Todd Hawbaker, F. Wurster, Zhiliang Zhu, S. Ward, Doug Newcomb, R. Murray
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 26
No Result Found
Filter Total Items: 61
Rapid growth of the US wildland-urban interface raises wildfire risk
The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is the area where houses and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle, and where wildfire problems are most pronounced. Here we report that the WUI in the United States grew rapidly from 1990 to 2010 in terms of both number of new houses (from 30.8 to 43.4 million; 41% growth) and land area (from 581,000 to 770,000 km2; 33% growth), making it the fastest-growing l
Authors
Volker C. Radeloff, David P. Helmers, H. Anu Kramer, Miranda H. Mockrin, Patricia M. Alexandre, Avi Bar-Massada, Van Butsic, Todd Hawbaker, Sebastián Martinuzzi, Alexandra D. Syphard, Susan I. Stewart
Validation of the USGS Landsat Burned Area Essential Climate Variable (BAECV) across the conterminous United States
The Landsat Burned Area Essential Climate Variable (BAECV), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), capitalizes on the long temporal availability of Landsat imagery to identify burned areas across the conterminous United States (CONUS) (1984–2015). Adequate validation of such products is critical for their proper usage and interpretation. Validation of coarse-resolution products often reli
Authors
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Nicole Fairaux, Yen-Ju G. Beal, Todd Hawbaker
Evaluation of the U.S. Geological Survey Landsat burned area essential climate variable across the conterminous U.S. using commercial high-resolution imagery
The U.S. Geological Survey has produced the Landsat Burned Area Essential Climate Variable (BAECV) product for the conterminous United States (CONUS), which provides wall-to-wall annual maps of burned area at 30 m resolution (1984–2015). Validation is a critical component in the generation of such remotely sensed products. Previous efforts to validate the BAECV relied on a reference dataset derive
Authors
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Nicole M. Brunner, Yen-Ju G. Beal, Todd Hawbaker
Climate, wildfire, and erosion ensemble foretells more sediment in western USA watersheds
The area burned annually by wildfires is expected to increase worldwide due to climate change. Burned areas increase soil erosion rates within watersheds, which can increase sedimentation in downstream rivers and reservoirs. However, which watersheds will be impacted by future wildfires is largely unknown. Using an ensemble of climate, fire, and erosion models, we show that post-fire sedimentation
Authors
Joel B. Sankey, Jason R. Kreitler, Todd Hawbaker, Jason L. McVay, Mary Ellen Miller, Erich R. Mueller, Nicole M. Vaillant, Scott E. Lowe, Temuulen T. Sankey
Prediction of forest canopy and surface fuels from Lidar and satellite time series data in a bark beetle-affected forest
Wildfire behavior depends on the type, quantity, and condition of fuels, and the effect that bark beetle outbreaks have on fuels is a topic of current research and debate. Remote sensing can provide estimates of fuels across landscapes, although few studies have estimated surface fuels from remote sensing data. Here we predicted and mapped field-measured canopy and surface fuels from light detecti
Authors
Benjamin C. Bright, Andrew T. Hudak, Arjan J.H. Meddens, Todd Hawbaker, Jenny S. Briggs, Robert E. Kennedy
Mapping burned areas using dense time-series of Landsat data
Complete and accurate burned area data are needed to document patterns of fires, to quantify relationships between the patterns and drivers of fire occurrence, and to assess the impacts of fires on human and natural systems. Unfortunately, in many areas existing fire occurrence datasets are known to be incomplete. Consequently, the need to systematically collect burned area information has been re
Authors
Todd Hawbaker, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Yen-Ju G. Beal, Joshua Takacs, Gail L. Schmidt, Jeff T. Falgout, Brad Williams, Nicole M. Brunner, Megan K. Caldwell, Joshua J. Picotte, Stephen M. Howard, Susan Stitt, John L. Dwyer
Oil and gas development influences big-game hunting in Wyoming
Development from extracting oil and gas resources can have unintended effects on multiple ecosystem functions, with cascading effects on wildlife, ecosystem services, and local economies. Big-game hunting opportunities may be closely related to these effects, but empirical analyses of impacts of energy development on hunting are limited. We examined the influence of oil and gas development density
Authors
Monica Dorning, Steven L. Garman, James E. Diffendorfer, Darius J. Semmens, Todd Hawbaker, Kenneth J. Bagstad
A carbon balance model for the great dismal swamp ecosystem
BackgroundCarbon storage potential has become an important consideration for land management and planning in the United States. The ability to assess ecosystem carbon balance can help land managers understand the benefits and tradeoffs between different management strategies. This paper demonstrates an application of the Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS) model developed for local-scal
Authors
Rachel Sleeter, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Brianna Williams, Dianna M. Hogan, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang Zhu
High resolution mapping of development in the wildland-urban interface using object based image extraction
The wildland-urban interface (WUI), the area where human development encroaches on undeveloped land, is expanding throughout the western United States resulting in increased wildfire risk to homes and communities. Although census based mapping efforts have provided insights into the pattern of development and expansion of the WUI at regional and national scales, these approaches do not provide suf
Authors
Michael D. Caggiano, Wade T. Tinkham, Chad Hoffman, Antony S. Cheng, Todd Hawbaker
Total belowground carbon flux in subalpine forests is related to leaf area index, soil nitrogen, and tree height
In forests, total belowground carbon (C) flux (TBCF) is a large component of the C budget and represents a critical pathway for delivery of plant C to soil. Reducing uncertainty around regional estimates of forest C cycling may be aided by incorporating knowledge of controls over soil respiration and TBCF. Photosynthesis, and presumably TBCF, declines with advancing tree size and age, and photosyn
Authors
Erin Michele Berryman, Michael G. Ryan, John B. Bradford, Todd Hawbaker, R. Birdsey
Forest disturbance interactions and successional pathways in the Southern Rocky Mountains
The pine forests in the southern portion of the Rocky Mountains are a heterogeneous mosaic of disturbance and recovery. The most extensive and intensive stress and mortality are received from human activity, fire, and mountain pine beetles (MPB;Dendroctonus ponderosae). Understanding disturbance interactions and disturbance-succession pathways are crucial for adapting management strategies to miti
Authors
Lu Liang, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang Zhu, Xuecao Li, Peng Gong
Quantifying soil carbon loss and uncertainty from a peatland wildfire using multi-temporal LiDAR
Peatlands are a major reservoir of global soil carbon, yet account for just 3% of global land cover. Human impacts like draining can hinder the ability of peatlands to sequester carbon and expose their soils to fire under dry conditions. Estimating soil carbon loss from peat fires can be challenging due to uncertainty about pre-fire surface elevations. This study uses multi-temporal LiDAR to obtai
Authors
Ashwan D. Reddy, Todd Hawbaker, F. Wurster, Zhiliang Zhu, S. Ward, Doug Newcomb, R. Murray