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Daniel B. Botkin

Solving environmental problems by understanding how nature works

  • People & Nature
  • Climate, Energy & Biodiversity
  • Myths, Folklore & Science

Polar bears are still claimed to be endangered: Are they? Fact and fantasy

January 16, 2017 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

Polar Bears

Get ready for International Polar Bear Day. The N Y Times reported last December 20th that the conservation organization Polar Bears International, has so designated this February 27.The debate over whether polar bears are an endangered species continues since it was made into a major environmental issue in the United States by Al Gore's 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth. … [Read more...]

How Many Grizzly Bears Were There Before European Settlement of the West, and How Many Are There Now?

November 23, 2013 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

Who Visits National Parks?

I tried to estimate how many grizzly bears there were at the beginning of the 19th century and how many there are today.  I wrote about this in my book,   Beyond the Stony Mountains: Nature in the American West from Lewis and Clark to Today (available 2012 as an ebook, New York, Croton River Publishers; Originally published in 2004 by Oxford University Press, N.Y. ) Here is … [Read more...]

Solar Energy Where It’s COLD Outside

August 9, 2013 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

For most people, the very north of Michigan, the Keweenaw Peninsula, on the shore of Lake Superior, might seem an unlikely place to get electricity from solar energy. But Professor Rolf Peterson of Michigan Technical University, well-known for leading the long-term study of wolves of Isle Royale National Park, thought differently.  He installed a photovoltaic system on his … [Read more...]

The Shifting Geography, Technology, and Politics of U.S. Energy Production

July 20, 2013 By Joe Browder 2 Comments

Wind power plant

Guest article by Joe Browder.About the author: Joe Browder of Washington, DC, an active participant in Meeting of the Minds, is a consultant to global energy and automotive companies, NGOs and to Native American groups, chairs the Advisory Committee of China’s ChangCe Institute and is a member of the Advisory Board of Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for the Study of the … [Read more...]

Is There Nuclear Power in Our Future?

June 18, 2013 By Daniel Botkin 3 Comments

Can We Build Enough Nuclear Power Plants Fast Enough?In a recent (May 22, 2013) Wall Street Journal article, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger state that nuclear power “is the best chance we have to make big reductions in carbon emissions quickly.”  In fact, however, “quickly” is impossible.  A large number of new nuclear plants would have to be up and running in the … [Read more...]

Botkin Rule of Ecology #1

June 10, 2013 By Daniel Botkin 2 Comments

Green Flower

Over the years of working in the science of ecology, I have learned some basic rules.  I find that many people are unaware of them, yet have firm convictions about what we should do about the environment.  So I would like to share these rules with you.  They are easy to understand, helpful, and even fun.  I will post one of these at a time, adding to them frequently. These are … [Read more...]

REVIEW OF Saving a Million Species: Extinction Risk from Climate Change by Lee Hannah (ed). 2011. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

May 30, 2013 By Daniel Botkin 2 Comments

(This review was Published in Ecological Restoration Volume 31, Number 1, March 2013, pp. 99-100)(Copyright by the journal 2013; all rights reserved)Having begun research on possible ecological effects of global warming in 1968 and developing one the first major methods to forecast such effects on forests, I looked forward to reviewing Saving a Million Species, because … [Read more...]

Morph The Moose

April 15, 2013 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

Morph the Moose

A New Symbol For Our Times!As the summer wildfire season approaches, we need to rethink how we manage forest fires.  It is time to say goodbye to Smokey Bear, because suppressing all fires leads eventually to very large, intense, and disastrous fires.  Most forests in the United States used to burn relatively frequently before European settlement.  These were the result … [Read more...]

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From Daniel B. Botkin, Ph.D

Daniel Botkin
I believe we are mostly on the wrong track in the way we try to deal with the environment. Everything I do, study, learn, and advise about the environment is different from the status quo. Throughout my career, I have tried to understand how nature works and use that understanding to figure out how we can solve our most pressing environmental problems.

My process over the past 45 years has been to look carefully at the facts, make simple calculations from them (sometimes simple computer models) and then tell people what I have learned. It’s surprising how rarely people bother to look at the facts. This has surprised me every time I’ve started a new ecology research project or work on an environmental issue.

In the course of my work and studies, I have learned many things and I want to tell you about them. That is the purpose of this website.

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Books by Dan Botkin

The Moon in the Nautilus Shell  Strange Encounters
Powering the Future  No Man's Garden
See all books by Dan Botkin

Jabowa III Forest Model


Jabowa Forest Model
Jabowa Forest Model for Windows 7.
This forest model, used around the world, was developed first in 1970 by Daniel B. Botkin, James F. Janak and James R. Wallis

JABOWA remains the most completely detailed and well validated forest growth model available, accounting for 95% or more of the variation in real forests where it has been tested.

The book Forest Dynamics: An Ecological Model (available as an eBook) provides a complete description of the model and the rationales behind its development.

Order Online

Sea Ice Study

The Bockstoce and Botkin Historical Sea Ice Data Study has a new home at the University of Alaska website. The data include more than 52,000 daily observations in an unbroken 65 year record from 1849 – 1914.

See related papers

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