معرفی
Peter Blanken is a Professor of Geography at the University of Colorado, specializing in Climatology and Biometeorology within the Faculty of Hydrologic Sciences. He holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia (1997) and maintains an active research program focusing on water and carbon cycling at the Earth's surface across diverse ecosystems including lakes, wetlands, alpine tundra, forests, and grasslands.
Dr. Blanken's primary research investigates how environmental changes affect physical processes regulating water and carbon cycling. His methodology combines field observations with modeling and remote sensing techniques. Notably, he leads research on the Great Lakes Evaporation Network, a long-term binational collaboration, and has conducted field work on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. His research extends beyond traditional biometeorology to include studies on how people recall and perceive past meteorological events, examining the accuracy of climate memory compared to actual observations.
His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on subalpine forest ecosystems, energy-water interactions, snow dynamics, and carbon cycling. The work shows increasing integration of novel measurement techniques including GNSS technology, eddy covariance systems, and remote sensing approaches to address complex questions about ecosystem responses to environmental change. His research has particular relevance to understanding climate change impacts on water resources in mountainous regions.
Dr. Blanken actively mentors graduate students including Bella Kamplain, Maddy Rich, Holly Roth, and Nic Tarasewicz. He has taught numerous courses including Principles of Climate, Biometeorology, and Mountain Geography. His additional research interest in educational pedagogy examines how class size affects teaching quality and student performance through statistical analysis of evaluations and faculty/student interviews.
