Breadcrumb
Bio
Dr. Timothy Kittel is a research ecologist and climate scientist. After receiving his PhD in Ecology from the University of California, Davis, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University. Dr. Kittel has since held research positions at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (Colorado State University), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), before joining INSTAAR in 2004.
Dr. Kittel has worked for more than 30 years in the field of global change science, with contributions to our understanding of climate-biosphere interactions and historical climatic change and to the modeling of regional ecosystem and climate dynamics. Dr. Kittel's work on climate change impacts has been included in IPCC and US National Assessments. His current research is on approaches for handling climate change uncertainty in biodiversity conservation and on the nature of recent climate change in high mountain regions. Dr. Kittel has published more than 85 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in ecology and climate dynamics, along with 39 climatic and ecological public-access datasets.
Dr. Kittel's teaching emphasizes field instruction in ecology and conservation biology. He has taught field courses for the University of Colorado-Boulder, Columbia University of New York, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and Semester-at-Sea (University of Pittsburgh/University of Virginia-Charlottesville). He currently teaches Winter Field Ecology and Field Methods in Vegetation Ecology in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and study abroad courses on conservation in practice in Brazil.
Education
- PhD Ecology: University of California, Davis, 1986
Research
Research interests
- Global environmental change—conservation planning in the context of climate change
- Earth system science—terrestrial biosphere-climate interactions
- Climate analysis—climate change in high mountain systems
- Ecosystem geography
Research highlights
Biodiversity conservation planning and climate change.
- Assessment of the complexity of species and system vulnerability to climate change (key publications: in Regional Environmental Change; in Vulnerability of Ecosystems to Climate, Elsevier).
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Development and implementation of a framework to address highly uncertain futures - through integration of scenario planning, vulnerability assessment, and no-regrets approaches (key publications: in BC Journal of Ecosystems and Management; in Vulnerability of Ecosystems to Climate, Elsevier).
Climate change in Colorado's Front Range (Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research Program, NWT-LTER).
- Analysis of elevational, seasonal, and decadal dependence in surface temperature and precipitation trends in subalpine vs. alpine sites (key publication in Plant Ecology and Diversity).
Development of climate data quality and analysis protocols for agency monitoring programs.
Publications
For additional publications, see Tim's Google Scholar profile.
Observations and simulations of the seasonal evolution of snowpack cold content and its relation to snowmelt and the snowpack energy budget
Publication Date: 2018-05-03
Type: Journal Article
Contrasting long-term alpine and subalpine precipitation trends in a mid-latitude North American mountain system, Colorado Front Range, USA
Publication Date: 2015-11-02
Type: Journal Article
Forecasting net ecosystem CO2 exchange in a subalpine forest using model data assimilation combined with simulated climate and weather generation
Publication Date: 2013-06-01
Type: Journal Article
The Vulnerability of Biodiversity to Rapid Climate Change
Type: Chapter
The Vulnerability of Biodiversity to Rapid Climate Change
Type: Chapter
The development and analysis of climate datasets for national park science and management: A guide to methods for making climate records useful and tools to explore critical questions. Appendix E, in: 2012. Sierra Nevada Network Climate Reporting Protocol: Version 1.0. Natural Resource Report NPS/SIEN/NRR—2012/543.
Type: Chapter
Climate vulnerability of ecosystems and landscapes on Alaska's North Slope
Publication Date: 2011-03-01
Type: Journal Article
A vulnerability-based strategy to incorporate climate change in regional conservation planning: Framework and case study for the British Columbia Central Interior
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Sensitivity of ecological models to their climate drivers: Statistical ensembles for forcing
Publication Date: 2006-02-01
Type: Journal Article
Historical climate statistics
Type: Chapter
Simulating the response of natural ecosystems and their fire regimes to climatic variability in Alaska
Publication Date: 2005-09-01
Type: Journal Article
VEMAP phase 2 bioclimatic database. I. Gridded historical (20th century) climate for modeling ecosystem dynamics across the conterminous USA
Kittel TGF; Rosenbloom NA; Royle JA; Daly C; Gibson WP; Fisher HH; Thornton P; Yates DN; Aulenbach S; Kaufman C...
- Kittel TGF
- Rosenbloom NA
- Royle JA
- Daly C
- Gibson WP
- Fisher HH
- Thornton P
- Yates DN
- Aulenbach S
- Kaufman C
Publication Date: 2004-10-07
Type: Journal Article
Validation of simulated runoff from six terrestrial ecosystem models: Results from VEMAP
Publication Date: 2004-04-01
Type: Journal Article
Existing Degrees of Consolidation
Dirmeyer PA; Feddes RA; Hall FG; Halldin S; Hoff H; Houser P; Hutjes RWA; Jenne R; Leese J; Kittel T...
- Dirmeyer PA
- Feddes RA
- Hall FG
- Halldin S
- Hoff H
- Houser P
- Hutjes RWA
- Jenne R
- Leese J
- Kittel T
Type: Chapter
Infilling sparse records of spatial fields
Publication Date: 2003-12-01
Type: Journal Article
Carbon sequestration studied in western U.S. mountains
Publication Date: 2002-10-01
Type: Journal Article
Climates of the Rocky Mountains: Historical and Future Patterns
Type: Chapter
Problems in evaluating regional and local trends in temperature: An example from eastern Colorado, USA
Publication Date: 2002-03-30
Type: Journal Article
Temporal variability of climate at the US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites
Publication Date: 2002-01-16
Type: Journal Article
Relative climatic effects of landcover change and elevated carbon dioxide combined with aerosols: A comparison of model results and observations
Publication Date: 2001-12-16
Type: Journal Article
Analysis of 200 mbar zonal wind for the period 1958-1997
Publication Date: 2001-11-16
Type: Journal Article
Ancient blue oaks reveal human impact on San Francisco Bay salinity
Publication Date: 2001-03-20
Type: Journal Article
Land-atmosphere energy exchange in Arctic tundra and boreal forest: available data and feedbacks to climate
Eugster W; Rouse WR; Pielke RA; McFadden JP; Baldocchi DD; Kittel TGF; Chapin FS; Liston GE; Vidale PL; Vaganov E...
- Eugster W
- Rouse WR
- Pielke RA
- McFadden JP
- Baldocchi DD
- Kittel TGF
- Chapin FS
- Liston GE
- Vidale PL
- Vaganov E
Publication Date: 2000-12-01
Type: Journal Article
Global and regional modelling of Arctic-boreal vegetation distribution and its sensitivity to altered forcing
Publication Date: 2000-12-01
Type: Journal Article
Coupled atmosphere-biophysics-hydrology models for environmental modeling
Publication Date: 2000-06-01
Type: Journal Article
Pages
Teaching
Dr. Kittel is the Faculty Director for the CU Boulder Education Abroad Program global seminar Conservation Biology and Practice in Brazil's Atlantic Forest.