Dr. Lawrence D. Ford, Ph.D.

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Dr. Ford is an expert in the ecology and management of conservation lands, including rangeland livestock management and infrastructure requirements, with 37 years experience in professional consulting, research, and education. In addition to his private consulting practice, he is Research Associate in the Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz. He has a long history of pro bono service to professional, non-profit conservation, and conservation policy organizations.

Recent projects include:

• Grazing management and monitoring prescriptions for special-status fauna and flora habitat, fire hazard reduction, and pest plant control (California)
• Rangeland ecosystem health indicators for management planning, monitoring, and certification on California ranches with the Central Coast Rangeland Coalition (Cooperative Agreement with the U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service)
• Scientific guidelines for livestock grazing management of upland habitat of the California tiger salamander and California red-legged frog, both listed as threatened (grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company; cooperation with the Alameda County Resource Conservation District)
• Burning, grazing, and herbicide effects on an invasive non-native grass (grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hawaii)
• Grazing effects on riparian woodlands and wildlife habitat (California and Arizona)

He recently completed the chapter "Northern Coastal Scrub and Coastal Prairie" (with G.F. Hayes) for the UC Press's third edition of Terrestrial Vegetation of California.

In 2007, he was appointed Chair of the Certification Panel of the California-Pacific Section of the Society for Range Management, which he also served as Director from 2007 through 2008.

• Natural vegetation ecology, history, restoration, and management
• Livestock grazing and rangelands
• Habitat of special-status wildlife, plants, and natural communities
• Fire hazards
• Wildland pest plants
• Monitoring design and methods
• Ecosystem health indicators
• Conservation enhancement in agricultural and urban-interface landscapes
• Expert evaluations and testimony for legal cases

• Certified Rangeland Manager (License #M70), California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
  
• Certified Range Management Consultant (#C05-02), Society for Range Management
  
• Certified Professional in Rangeland Management (#CP99-07), Society for Range Management
  
• Certified Senior Ecologist, Ecological Society of America

• Range Manager of the Year, California-Pacific Section, Society for Range Management, (2012)
• Science and Diplomacy Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1991-92 and 1992-93)
• Certificate of Appreciation (for Melanesian project), U.S.D.A. Forest Service, International Forestry (1993)
• Charles Lathrop Pack Prize (for professional publication), University of California, Berkeley (1989)
• Regents' Fellow, University of California, Berkeley (1984-85 and 1985-86)
• Graduation with College Honors and Honors in the Major (1978)

• Ph.D. Wildland Resource Science (Vegetation Ecology), University of California, Berkeley. 1991
• M.S. Range Management (and Ecology), University of California, Berkeley. 1986
• B.A. Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz. 1978 (with honors)
• B.A. Environmental Studies (Natural History), University of California, Santa Cruz. 1978 (with honors) 

• Assisting Professor Kenneth S. Norris to develop and lead the Natural History Field Quarter and the Environmental Field Program in the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz (1977-1984)
• Completing Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley with Professor James W. Bartolome (1991)
• Traveling to very remote parts of Central America and Melanesia as a scientific advisor to the U.S. Agency for International Developmment, and assisting people there in forest conservation programs (1991-1994)
• Sponsoring the oral history biographies of his two elder mentors, Professors Kenneth S. Norris (published on-line here) and Raymond F. Dasmann before their deaths (1998 and 2002, respectively), organizing their memorial services (on behalf of their families) at the University of California, Santa Cruz (1998 and 2003, respectively), and compiling their academic libraries and papers for archiving in Special Collections at the University Library (2005-2011). Norris's academic papers are curated here.
• Establishing consulting business and completing some important academic research and writing projects (1995-present)
• Marrying Susan Merritt, the great Santa Cruz yoga teacher (2002)
• Coordinating the posthumous publication of the last book of the late Prof. Kenneth S. Norris, "Mountain Time / Reflections on the Natural World and Our Place in It" (2004-2010)
• Raising funds to permanently endow and establish the Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History and to support the Natural History Field Quarter, both at the University of California, Santa Cruz (2014).