Title: Professor Emeritus
Institution: University of Rhode Island
Address: 290 Arcadia Road, Hope Valley, Rhode Island 02832
Email: pvaugust@uri.edu
Phone: (401) 742-4366
Research Interests: Conservation stewardship, landscape ecology, bat ecology, wildlife monitoring with camera traps
Biographical Sketch:
Dr. August came to URI in 1981 as an Assistant Professor of Zoology. In the Zoology Department he taught courses and seminars in Human Physiology, Vertebrate Zoology, and Behavioral Ecology. In 1985, he moved to the Department of Natural Resources Science at URI to begin development of a Geographic Information System (GIS) database in a cooperative project involving the University and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. He established the Environmental Data Center (EDC) in the Department of Natural Resources Science; the EDC serves as the Center of Technical Excellence in Rhode Island for GIS information processing and data distribution. Since 1985, the EDC, in cooperation with a number of state and federal agencies, has developed an extremely detailed and thorough GIS data library covering almost all aspects of Rhode Island’s natural resources. The EDC is staffed by 10 full-time Research Associates and many Graduate Student Assistants. The lab has attracted over $30 million in grant funds in the last 30 years and has participated in cooperative research projects with the EPA, NOAA, USDA-NRCS, USFWS, NPS, and the USGS. The National Park Service’s Field Technical Support Center is located at the EDC and provides GIS technical support to all the National Parks in the northeast United States. Dr. August was the first Director of the Coastal Institute from 2000 to 2009, a research and outreach program at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. August was responsible for developing programs and activities that assisted in the creation of solutions to environmental problems in coastal ecosystems. August was the PI of an NSF IGERT (Integrative Graduation Education Research Traineeship) grant administered by the Coastal Institute.
Dr. August’s research interests are landscape ecology, conservation biology, GIS, and coastal ecosystem management. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in environmental applications of GIS and various courses in applied ecology. He has published over 100 papers in journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Current projects include developing protocols to identify critical lands for conservation, biodiversity mapping, and developing Internet-based spatial data distribution systems. He has served on a number of standing committees for the American Society of Mammalogists, past Chair of the United States Chapter of the International Association of Landscape Ecologists, and has served on the Board of Trustees for The Nature Conservancy Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Natural History Survey, the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Organization, the Richmond Land Trust, and The Watch Hill Conservancy. He chairs the science advisory committee for the Napatree Point Conservation Area in Watch Hill, RI. August is the recipient of the 2019 EPA Region 1 Environmental Merit Award, the 2008 Alfred L. Hawkes Award from the RI Department of Environmental Management for his contributions to natural resource protection in Rhode Island, and the Marc J. Hershman Award for student mentoring from the United States Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.
Education:
Peter August is Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources in the Department of Natural Resources Science at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. August received his B.S. degree (Biology) from the University of San Diego in 1974, his M.S. degree (Biology) from Texas Tech University in 1976, and his Ph.D. degree (Biology) from Boston University in 1981. His dissertation topic was community ecology of mammals in tropical forests of Venezuela.
Ongoing and Recent CESU Projects:
- Development of a web-based system to geoenable Northeast Region parks and programs