Prof. Dr. James H. Speer is a Professor at the Department of Earth and Environmental Systems, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, USA. He received his BS (1994) and MS (1997) in Geosciences from the University of Arizona and his PhD in Geography from the University of Tennessee in 2001. He worked as Assistant Professor of Geography and Geology at Indiana State University from 2001 to 2007, and Associate Professor from 2007 to 2011. In 2011, he was promoted to Full Professor. He is currently leading an NSF-funded study to examine temperature stress and forest decline in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem through extensive insect outbreaks. This work involves about 20 collaborators using the tools of dendrochronology to study multiple facets of this system. He works at the frontiers of dendrochronology to examine new genera for their potential in tree-ring dating, new insect systems to understand their effect on the forest, and in disturbance ecology to better understand the balance of nature.
