Matt Skroch

Lab Associate

University of Arizona

Email: mskroch@email.arizona.edu

Website: http://www.snr.arizona.edu/people/skroch

My research is focused on spatial assessments of ecosystem services and biodiversity at the urban fringe.  Urban expansion is driving rapid land use change, impacting the capacity of an ecosystem to support  human well being and native species assemblages while incurring social and economic costs as well.  How can urban form conserve ecosystem services  while minimizing the cost of growth?  This question has increasing significance as cities rapidly expand.  Dr. Wilson and I are exploring various ways of answering this question while also assessing spatial trade-offs between biodiversity and ecosystem service conservation at the urban fringe.  While my graduate research is based out of the University of Arizona,  I had the opportunity to study at the University of Queensland  for a portion of the 2009 summer and continue to collaborate with Dr. Wilson there.