Martin Doyle, an associate professor of geography in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, is among 19 rising national stars in environmental science recently named 2008 Leopold Leadership Fellows.
Doyle is an environmental geographer with training in hydrology and engineering; he specializes in river system science.
Based at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment, the Leopold Leadership Program was founded in 1998. Each year the program selects up to 20 mid-career environmental scientists from across the United States as fellows. The fellows receive intensive communication and leadership training to help them deliver scientific information more effectively to journalists, policymakers, business leaders and the public.
The fellows are selected through a highly competitive process on the basis of their exceptional scientific qualifications, demonstrated leadership ability and strong interest in communicating science beyond traditional academic audiences.
Doyle’s research is at the interface of science and the political economy of ecosystem restoration. He published a paper earlier this year in the journal Science focused on the environmental benefits of the decommissioning of aging infrastructure such as old bridges, dams and roads. His research seeks to understand how science, policies and markets interact to destroy or restore naturally functioning ecosystems and where these interactions can be influenced to increase the potential to sustain or restore ecosystems.
Doyle teaches courses in river processes, environmental geography and river restoration. He advises graduate students in geography, environmental engineering and ecology.
