Christopher (Kit) O Connor

I am a forest ecologist at the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment and the UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.  For the past five years I have been doing research and advising cooperators with the Coronado National Forest, the Nature Conservancy, and The Department of Defense on the effects of forest disturbance interactions in the Sky Island mountain ranges of southeast Arizona. Prior to moving to Arizona in 2009, I worked as a forest entomologist helping to develop sustainable forestry systems in the boreal forests of Quebec as part of a Fulbright Fellowship. I have lived and worked in most of the forested systems of North America, covering a diverse array of ecosystems including conifer forests in western Washington, hardwood forests of Michigan and Pennsylvania, subtropical forests in central Florida, and fire-prone forests across the Southwest.  I have a B.S. from Penn State University, an M.S. from the University of Quebec, and a PhD from the University of Arizona.

    In the fall of 2014 I taught " Introduction to Wildland Fire" and this semester I am working with Fort Huachuca and Naval Base Coronado to develop fire and flooding risk projections and management plans for a series of of climate change scenarios in the Southwest.