Ecosystem Science & Management

Dr. Boutton is a Professor and Plant Ecologist with Texas A&M University. He received his B.A. in Biology from St. Louis University (1973), M.S. in Biology from the University of Houston (1976) and Ph.D. in Botany from Brigham Young University (1980). He was a postdoctoral fellow at Augustana College (1980-1982) and Baylor College of Medicine (1982-1983). He was on the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine as an Instructor (1983-1985) and an Assistant Professor (1985-1987). Dr. Boutton then joined the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management at Texas A&M University in 1987 as an Associate Professor, and was promoted to Professor in 1994. Dr. Boutton has teaching responsibilities in one undergraduate (Fundamentals of Ecology) and two graduate level classes (Ecology and Land Uses; and Nutrient Cycling: Global and Ecosystem Perspectives). He has also served as an instructor in the short-courses (Soil Science; and Plant Ecology) developed for presentation to employees of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. In addition, he is Director of the Stable Isotope Laboratory, which provides unique analytical capabilities to faculty and students conducting research in ecology and natural resource development. The focus of his current research includes the study of the biogeochemical fluxes of energy, water and nutrients in relation to vegetation change in natural and managed ecosystems; the effects of land use patterns and climate change on the carbon and nitrogen cycles; responses of plants to changes in climate and the gas composition of the atmosphere; reconstruction of paleoenvironments; and the application of stable isotope techniques to ecological and biogeochemical research.