Colin Polsky, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Research & Active Pedagogy
Associate Professor
Graduate School of Geography
Clark University
Worcester, MA 01610-1477
Email: cpolsky@clarku.edu
Phone: (508) 421-3828
Office: Jefferson Academic Center, Room 206
Professor Colin Polsky joined the faculty as assistant professor in 2003. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. (Geography) degrees from the Pennsylvania State University, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and his B.S. (mathematics) and B.A. (humanities, French) degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. He also completed a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University, with the Research and Assessment Systems for Sustainability program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government. This Fellowship is sponsored by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Polsky is one of the department's core research faculty, is director of the HERO program and is affiliated with the University's George Perkins Marsh Institute. He specializes in the human dimensions of global environmental change, emphasizing the statistical analysis of vulnerability to climate change. He has explored ways to blend quantitative and qualitative methods for the study of social and ecological vulnerability to environmental changes in the Arctic (with a focus on traditional reindeer herding), the U.S. Great Plains (with a focus on contemporary agriculture), and central and eastern Massachusetts (with foci on suburban water management, and on fishing communities). This research requires the blending of statistical techniques (such as empirical downscaling and spatial econometrics) with insight gained from qualitative methods (such as interviews and participant observation). He is affiliated with Clark University's George Perkins Marsh Institute.
Polsky is also engaged in research on smart growth through the HERO program. This research explores how the processes of urban growth and natural hazard mitigation interact in New England, and possible ways to improve the management of associated risks. Methods for this research include Geographic Information Systems, spatial statistics, and exploratory mapping and analysis tools.
Selected Awards
Principal Investigator, as part of a multi-institutional team, ~ $10,000 grant from the US National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research Social Science Supplement: "Infrastructure." In collaboration with A. Giblin at the Marine Biological Laboratory.
Co-Principal Investigator, ~$2.7M grant (~$195k to Clark University) grant from the US National Science Foundation's "NSF MACRO-BIO Collaborative Research: Ecological homogenization of Urban America." The PI is Peter Groffman of Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies.
Co-Convening Lead Author for the Land-Use and Land-Cover Change chapter of the National Climate Assessment (NCA). The NCA, commisioned by the Office of Science & Technology Policy in the White House, is the official U.S. statement about impacts and vulnerabilities associated with climate variability and change.
Co-Principal Investigator, as part of a multi-institutional team, a five-year, ~$5M grant from the US National Science Foundation's "Decision-Making Under Uncertainty" competition, for the proposal "Decision Center for a Desert City." The PI is Prof. Pat Gober, Arizona State U.
Co-Principal Investigator, as part of a multi-institutional team, a two-year, ~$2M grant from the US National Science Foundation's "Long-Term Ecological Network" competition, for the proposal "Plum Island Ecosystems." The PI is Dr. Anne Giblin, Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, MA).
Co-Principal Investigator, as part of a multi-institutional team, a four-year, ~$3M grant from the US National Science Foundation's "Macrosystems Biology" competition, for the proposal "Ecological Homogenization of Urban America." The PI is Dr. Peter Groffman, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (Millbrook, NY).
Senior Personnel, as part of a multi-institutional team, a two-year, ~$750k grant from the US National Science Foundation's "Research Collaboration Network" competition, for the proposal "Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research in the US and France." The PIs are Dr. Steward Pickett, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (Millbrook, NY) and Prof. Dan Childers, Arizona State U.
Co-Principal Investigator, as part of a multi-institutional team, a two-year, $298k grant from the US National Science Foundation's "ULTRA-ex" competition, for the proposal "Boston Metropolitan Area ULTRA: Exploring past, current and future socio-ecological dynamics in a founding city." The PI is Prof. Paige Warren, U. Mass.-Amherst.
$300,000 from NOAA for the project: Integrated Water and Land Planning as Climate Adaptation Strategy: comparisons of Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona, as a co-PI with faculty at Portland State University (Oregon; Heejun Chang, PI) and Arizona State University.
3-year, $360,000 "REU Site" grant from the US National Science Foundation, with Professors John Rogan and R. Gil Pontius, Jr. as co-Principal Investigators. This REU Site award will take the Clark HERO program to the national level.
4.5 year, $1.4M NSF grant from the Coupled Natural-Human (CNH) Systems competition, in collaboration with Professor Gil Pontius, Chuck Hopkinson at the Marine Biological Laboratory, and Wil Wollheim and Charles Vorosmarty at the University of New Hampshire.
Selected Publications
Runfola, D. and C. Polsky, accepted March 2013. “A Growing Concern?: Lawns and Suburban Growth in New England.” In: Cities and Nature, D. Czamanski, I. Benenson and D. Malkinson, eds. Springer: New York.
Runfola, D.M., Polsky, C., Nicolson, C., Giner, N., Pontius Jr., R.G., and Decatur, A., accepted April 2013. “Projecting Suburban Droughts Using High-Resolution Patterns of Lawns and Water Consumption: The Case of Ipswich, Massachusetts in 2030.” Landscape and Urban Planning.
Giner, N., C. Polsky, J. R. Gil Pontius, D. Runfola, A. Decatur, and R. Rakshit. in press (2013). Bringing Land Cover into the Sprawl Literature: A Multi-Scale Lawn Mapping and Analysis in Suburban Boston, Massachusetts. Landscape and Urban Planning.
Co-Convening Lead Author, "Land-Use & Land-Cover Change." Chapter: U.S. Clobal Change Research Program, forthcoming (summer 2013). National Climate Assessment. Washington, D.C.
Gober, P., K. L. Larson, R. Quay, C. Polsky, H. Chang, and V. Shandas, in press (2013). “Why Land Planners and Water Managers Don't Talk to One Another and Why They Should!” Society and Natural Resources. DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2012.713448.
Tuler, S., T. Webler, and C. Polsky, 2012. A rapid impact and vulnerability assessment approach for commercial fisheries management. Ocean & Coastal Management. DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2012.09.013.
Harris, E.M., C. Polsky, K. Larson, R. Garvoille, D.G. Martin, J. Brumand, and L. Ogden, 2012. “Heterogeneity in Residential Yard Care: Evidence from Boston, Miami, and Phoenix.” Human Ecology (40):735-749. DOI: 10.1007/s10745-012-9514-3.
Harris, E.M., D.G. Martin, C. Polsky, L. Denhardt, and A. Nehring, 2012. "Beyond 'Lawn People': The role of emotions in suburban yard management practices." The Professional Geographer. DOI:10.1080/00330124.2012.681586.
Roy Chowdhury, R., K. Larson, J.M. Grove, C. Polsky, E. Cook, J. Onstead and L. Ogden, 2011. "A multi-scalar approach to theorizing socio-ecological dynamics of urban residential landscapes." Cities and the Environment 4(1):1-19.
National Research Council, 2010. Strategic Directions for the Geographical Sciences in the Next Decade, National Academies Press: Washington, D.C.
Yarnal, B., Polsky, C. and O'Brien, J. (Editors) 2009. Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet: The Human-Environment Regional Observatory Project. Cambridge University Press, New York, 368 pp.
Polsky, C., Assefa, S., Del Vecchio, K., Hill, T., Merner, L., Tercero, I. and Pontius, G., 2009. The Mounting Risk of Drought in a Humid Landscape: Structure and Agency in Suburbanizing Massachusetts. In: B. Yarnal, C. Polsky and J. O'Brien (Editors), Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet: The Human-Environment Regional Observatory Project. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Polsky, C., Comrie, A., Whitehead, J., Sorrensen, C., Butler Harrington, L.M., Lu, M., Neff, R. and Yarnal, B., 2009. Rapid Vulnerability Assessments of Exposures, Sensitivities, and Adaptive Capacities of the HERO Study Sites. In: B. Yarnal, C. Polsky and J. O'Brien (Editors), Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet: The Human-Environment Regional Observatory Project. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Polsky, C., Neff, R. and Yarnal, B., 2009. Establishing Vulnerability Observatory Networks to Coordinate the Collection and Analysis of Comparable Data In: B. Yarnal, C. Polsky and J. O'Brien (Editors), Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet: The Human-Environment Regional Observatory Project. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Polsky, C., Sorrensen, C., Whitehead, J., Butler Harrington, L.M., Lu, M., Neff, R. and Yarnal, B., 2009. Evaluating Vulnerability Assessments of the HERO Study Sites. In: B. Yarnal, C. Polsky and J. O'Brien (Editors), Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet: The Human-Environment Regional Observatory Project. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Polsky, C., Sorrensen, C., Whitehead, J. and Neff, R., 2009. Assessing Local Vulnerabilities: Methodological Approaches and Regional Contexts. In: B. Yarnal, C. Polsky and J. O'Brien (Editors), Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet: The Human-Environment Regional Observatory Project. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Yarnal, B., Harrington, J.J., Comriem, A.C., Polsky, C. and Ahlqvist, O., 2009. Infrastructure for Observing Local Human-Environment Interactions In: B. Yarnal, C. Polsky and J. O'Brien (Editors), Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet: The Human-Environment Regional Observatory Project. Cambridge University Press New York.
Polsky, C., R. Neff, and B. Yarnal, 2007. "Building Comparable Global Change Vulnerability Assessments: The Vulnerability Scoping Diagram." Global Environmental Change 17: 472-485.
Hill, T. and Polsky, C., 2007. Development and drought in suburbia: A mixed methods rapid assessment of vulnerability to drought in rainy Massachusetts. Global Environmental Change, Part B: Environmental Hazards 7:291-301.
Polsky, C., J. Rogan, R.G. Pontius Jr., and B.L. Turner II, 2007. "Undergraduate GIScience Research at Clark University: The HERO Program." Council on Undergraduate Research 27 (3): 124-130.
Young, O.R., E.F. Lambin, F. Alcock, H. Haberl, S.I. Karlsson, W.J. McConnell, T. Myint, C. Pahl-Wostl, C. Polsky, P. Ramakrishnan, H. Schroeder, M. Scouvart, and P.H. Verburg, 2006. A portfolio approach to analyzing complex human-environment interactions: institutions and land change. Ecology and Society. 11 (2): 31 [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vo111/iss2/art31/
Sorrensen, C., C. Polsky, and R. Neff, 2005. "The Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) Project: Undergraduate Research Findings from Four Study Sites." Geographical Bulletin 47 (2): 65-72.
Hill, T. and C. Polsky, 2005. "Adaptation to Drought in the Context of Suburban Sprawl and Abundant Rainfall." Geographical Bulletin 47 (2): 85-100.
Schröter, D., C. Polsky, and A. Patt, 2005. “Assessing Vulnerabilities to the Effects of Global Change: An Eight-Step Approach.” Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 10(4): 573-595.
Polsky, C. and Cash, D., 2005. Reducing Vulnerability to the Effects of Global Change: Drought Management in a Multi-Scale, Multi-Stressor World. In: D. Wilhite (Editor), Drought and Water Crises: Science, Technology, and Management Issues. Marcel Drekker, Amsterdam, pp. 215-245.
Polsky, C., 2004. Putting Space and Time in Ricardian Climate Change Impact Studies: The Case of Agriculture in the U.S. Great Plains. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 94(3): 549-564.
Denny, A., B. Yarnal, and C. Polsky, 2002. “The Central Pennsylvania study area: How coal dominates the greenhouse gas problem.” In: Global Change in Local Places , R. Kates and T. Wilbanks, eds. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge & New York.
Easterling, W.E. and C. Polsky, 2002. “Crossing the Complex Divide: Linking Scales for Understanding Coupled Human-Environment Systems.” In: Scale and Geographic Inquiry , R.B. McMaster and E. Sheppard, eds. Oxford: Blackwell.
Polsky, C. and W.E. Easterling III, 2001.“Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change in the US Great Plains: A Multi-Scale Analysis of Ricardian Climate Sensitivities.” Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 85(1-3):133-144.
Polsky, C., J. Allard, N. Currit, R. Crane and B. Yarnal, 2000. “The Mid-Atlantic Region and its Climate: Past, Present and Future.” Climate Research 14(3):161-173.
Easterling, W.E., C. Polsky, D. Goodin, M.W. Mayfield, W.A. Muraco and B. Yarnal, 1998. “Changing Places, Changing Emissions: the cross-scale reliability of greenhouse gas emission inventories in the US.” Local Environment 3(3):247-262.
U.S. EPA, 1995. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-1994, Washington, D.C. Overall production manager and lead author for Chapter Two, “Industrial Processes.”