David D. Breshears was appointed a regents’ professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the recent meeting of the Arizona Board of Regents on April 6.
Breshears teaches in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment as a professor of Natural Resources and Global Change. He is also affiliated with the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
During the school year, Breshears teaches classes on topics such as climate change and dryland ecology.
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In addition to teaching, Breshears conducts research focusing on climate change and drylands ecohydrology, including ecology-hydrology interrelationships, transport and erosion of sediment and drought-induced tree die-off.
Breshears is considered one of the world’s top experts on the phenomena of tree deaths. In understanding the underlying causes of tree die-offs, he and his team are working toward deciphering exactly why they occur on such a large scale.
In his research on tree deaths, Breshears emphasizes and explains how significantly the tremendous loss of trees is due to a lack of sufficient water and intensified by rising global temperatures.
Breshears also works at communicating his research findings to the general public. He has published over 100 articles in various journals. In 2014, he was the lead author for the Forests sector of the most recent U.S. National Climate Assessment.
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Among his other honors, Breshears is a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union.
Breshears credits some of his success, including being appointed a regents’ professor, to talented team members he has worked with over the course of his career.
“I am extremely honored, and I view it as a team honor that includes all the students and collaborators that I have worked with over the years in many areas of drylands ecohydrology, especially regarding our work focused on the risks of increased tree die-off events associated with warming,” Breshears said.
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