Gerald Urquhart

Gerald Urquhart
  • Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs
  • Associate Professor
  • Lyman Briggs College
  • Fisheries and Wildlife

WEBSITE

https://lbc.msu.edu/about/directory/urquhart.html

BIOGRAPHY

Gerald R. Urquhart Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, Professor of Biology, Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University. Dr. Urquhart is a tropical biologist who studies coupled natural and human systems with over 25 years of experience working in the tropics. He teaches in both Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife.  He began teaching at MSU in 1999 and has taught courses ranging from biology to computer science to study abroad. In his research, Dr. Urquhart is most interested in understanding the synergistic effects of globalization and climate change as the last wild places on Earth become more influenced human activity.  The majority of his work has focused on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, but he has a new NSF-funded project in the Brazilian Amazon. Dr. Urquhart leads study abroad programs to Nicaragua and Ecuador.  In his study abroad programs, he works to emphasize the human condition in teaching about rainforests as a place where humans and wildlife coexist. Before working at Michigan State University, he received his bachelor’s degree from Lyman Briggs Michigan State University in Zoology, his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and held a post-doctoral research position at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. 

AREA OF EXPERTISE

  • Coupled natural and human systems
  • Synergistic effects of globalization and climate change
  • Caribbean coast of Nicaragua
  • Brazilian Amazon