Austin Troy, PhD is Professor in the Rubenstein School, with a secondary appointment in Computer Science. He is also Director of UVM's Transportation Research Center. His research looks at the interface of human and natural systems in urban and suburban environments, particularly areas that are in transition. He addresses these issues using spatial analysis methods, including Geographic Information Systems, spatial statistics, econometrics, and dynamic modeling, and also conducts research on the development of these methods.

One of his most recent areas of interest is studying the determinants of energy use in cities, which resulted in publication of his book, The Very Hungry City (Yale University Press), in early 2012. His other research projects have addressed topics such as urban growth model development for land use policy simulation, analysis of the environmental determinants of property values, analysis of the property market effects of hazard zone designation, characterization of forest fragmentation in exurban areas, analysis of the relationship between crime and vegetation in urban areas, and analysis of the socio-economic determinants of urban tree cover, among many others.

He is principal and co-founder of Spatial Informatics Group, LLC, an environmental consulting firm in operation since 1998. Dr. Troy is also a fellow of the Gund Institute of Ecological Economics and co-principal investigator of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, one of the National Science Foundation's two urban Long-Term Ecological Research projects. He served for four years as a planning commissioner for the city of Burlington, VT. In addition to his book, he has published dozens of articles and book chapters and edited one book.