F. Stuart Chapin III

F. Stuart Chapin III (or Terry Chapin) (born February 2, 1944) is a professor emeritus of Ecology at the Department of Biology and Wildlife of the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska. He was President of the Ecological Society of America (ESA) from August 2010 until 2011.

The grandson of sociologist F. Stuart Chapin and son of regional planner F. Stuart Chapin, Jr., Chapin III is better known to students and colleagues as 'Terry'. Chapin served as principal investigator of the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program (1996-2010) and directed the graduate educational program in Resilience and Adaptation (2001-2011) at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He has a background in plant physiological ecology and ecosystem ecology. His research addresses the effects of changes in climate and wildfire on Alaskan ecology and rural communities. He explores ways that communities and agencies can increase sustainability of ecosystems and human communities over the long term despite rapid climatic and social changes. In this way, society can proactively shape changes toward a more sustainable future. He pursues this internationally through the Resilience Alliance, nationally through the Ecological Society of America, and in Alaska through partnerships with rural indigenous communities. As President of ESA, he focused on the "critical issue" of planetary stewardship. With Mary Power and Steward Pickett, Chapin led a Planetary Stewardship initiative "whose goal is to reorient society toward a more sustainable relationship with the biosphere."

In 2019 Terry Chapin received the Volvo Environment Prize. The jury citation states: "Professor Terry Chapin is not only a world-leading ecologist, he is also one of the world's most profound thinkers and actors on stewardship of the Earth System. [...] His work will have a long-lasting impact on the ways we seek to build a sustainable future, with the concept of Earth Stewardship supporting the deep institutional and structural change required to meet the challenges ahead." Member National Academy of Sciences 2004 US Forest Service Wilderness Research Award on behalf of the Resilience and Adaptation Program. Sustainability Science Award, 2008 (F. Stuart Chapin, III and Colleagues). Ecological Society of America Fellow of the Ecological Society of America 2012 Alexander von Humboldt Award, International Association of Vegetation Science 2017 Eminent Ecologist Award, Ecological Society of America 2018 Volvo Environment Prize 2019

Notable publications