Austin R. Troy, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont

313 Aiken Center

Burlington, VT 05405 USA

phone: (802) 656-8336; fax: (802)656-8683

Email: atroy@uvm.edu                                                                                          

 

Interests: Land use policy and planning, urban environmental planning, Geographic Information Systems, quantitative spatial analysis, land use change analysis, ecosystem service assessment and valuation, natural hazards planning and policy.

           

Educational Background:   

University of California, Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. Ph.D. in environmental policy and economics, 2001. Dissertation Title: Natural Hazard Policy and the Land Market: An Assessment of the Effects of the California Natural Hazard Disclosure Law. 

Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies: Master of Forestry, 1995.

Yale University: B.A. 1992; major in anthropology.

 

Primary Academic Appointment: 

4/07-present: Associate Professor, University of Vermont, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.  

8/01-4/07: Assistant Professor, University of Vermont, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.  

 

Secondary Academic Appointment:

2008-present: Secondary appointment in Computer Science Department, University of Vermont

 

Other Academic Positions:

2002-present: Co-Principal Investigator, Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES). BES is a long-term ecological research project (LTER) of the National Science Foundation; www.beslter.org. 

2004-present: Fellow, Gund Institute of Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.

7/99-5/01: Doctoral Researcher, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management.

12/98-8/99: Graduate Student Researcher, U.C. Berkeley Institute for Urban and Regional Development.

6/94 - 9/94; Field Researcher, Tropical Resources Institute; based in Pará, Brazil.

 

Publications

      Peer Reviewed Journal Articles and Book Chapters, Published and In Press

W. Zhou and A. Troy. In Press. Development of an object-based framework for classifying and inventorying human-dominated forest ecosystems. International Journal of Remote Sensing.

W. Zhou, A. Troy, J.M. Grove and J. Jenkins. In Press. Can money buy green? Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of lawncare expenditure and lawn greenness in urban residential areas. Society and Natural Resources

M. Cadenasso, S. Picket, L. Band, G. Brush, M. Galvin, M. Grove, G. Hager, V. Marshall, B. McGrath, J. O’Neil-Dunne, W. Stack,  A. Troy. In Press. Exchanges across land-water-scape boundaries in urban systems: Strategies for reducing nitrate pollution. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

B. Voigt and A. Troy. In Press. Ecological models: Land use modelling. In Sven Jorgensen (ed.). Encyclopedia of Ecology. Elsevier Science.

A. Troy and J.M. Grove. 2008. Property Values, parks, and crime: a hedonic analysis in Baltimore, MD. Landscape and Urban Planning. 87:233-245.

W. Zhou, and A. Troy. 2008. An Object-oriented Approach for analyzing and characterizing urban landscape at the parcel level. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 29 (11):3119-3135.

W. Zhou, A. Troy and J.M Grove. 2008. Modeling residential lawn fertilization practices: Integrating high resolution remote sensing with socioeconomic data. Environmental Management. 41(5):742-752

A. Troy. 2008.  Geodemographic segmentation. In: Shenkar, S. and Xiong, H. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Geographical Information Science. New York: Springer-Verlag. Pp.347-355.

W. Zhou, A. Troy, and J.M Grove. 2008. Object-based land cover classification and change analysis in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area using multi-temporal high resolution remote sensing data. Sensors. 8: 1613-1636.

A. Troy, J.M. Grove, J. O’Neil-Dunne, M. Cadenasso, and S. Pickett. 2007. Predicting opportunities for greening and patterns of vegetation on private urban lands. Environmental Management. 40(3): 394-412.

A. Troy. 2007. The evolution of watershed management in the United States. In: J.Erickson (ed.), Sustainable Watershed Management in Theory and Practice. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.

K. Mulder, A. Troy, and R. Boumans. 2007. The role of built, human, social, and natural capital in determining land values, and the influence of demographics upon this relationship. Spatial Economic Analysis. 2(2):135-156.

A. Troy and R. Kennedy, editors. 2007. Living on the Edge: Economic, Institutional and Management Perspectives on Wildfire Hazard in the Urban Interface. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers. Peer-reviewed contributed chapters include:

A. Troy. 2007. A tale of two policies: California programs that unintentionally promote development in wildland fire hazard zones. In: A. Troy and R. Kennedy (eds.),  Living on the Edge: Economic, Institutional and Management Perspectives on Wildfire Hazard in the Urban Interface. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers. Pp. 127-142

A. Troy and J. Romm. 2007. The effects of wildfire disclosure and occurrence on property markets in California. In: A. Troy and R. Kennedy (eds.),  Living on the Edge: Economic, Institutional and Management Perspectives on Wildfire Hazard in the Urban Interface. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers. Pp.101-120.

D. Ganz, A. Troy and D. Saah. 2007. Community involvement in wildfire hazard mitigation and management: Community Based Fire Management, Fire Safe Councils and Community Wildfire Protection Plans. In: A. Troy and R. Kennedy (eds.),  Living on the Edge: Economic, Institutional and Management Perspectives on Wildfire Hazard in the Urban Interface. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers. Pp.143-164.

A. Troy and M. Wilson. 2006. Mapping ecosystem services values: Practical challenges and opportunities in bridging GIS and value transfer. Ecological Economics 60: 435-449.

B. Littenberg, K. Strauss, C. MacLean and A. Troy. 2006. The use of insulin declines as patients live farther from their sources of care: Results of a survey of adults with type 2 diabetes. BMC Public Health. 6:198 (8 pages).

K. Strauss, C. MacLean, A. Troy, and B. Littenberg. 2006. Driving distance as a barrier to glycemic control in diabetes. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 21(4):378-380.

W. Zhou, S. Wan, Z. Zhou, and A. Troy. 2006. Mapping the concentrations of total suspended matter in Lake Taihu, China, using Landsat-5 TM data. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 27(6):1177-1191.

J. M. Grove, A. Troy, J. O’Neil-Dunne, S. Pickett and M. Cadenasso. 2006. Multi-dimensional characteristics of urban households and its implications for the vegetative structure of urban ecosystems. Ecosystems. 9(4): 578-597.

A. Troy and J. Romm. 2006. An Assessment of the California Natural Hazard Disclosure Law. Berkeley, CA: California Policy Research Center. 62 pp.

S. Farber, R. Costanza, D. Childers, J. Erickson, K. Gross, M. Grove, C. Hopkinson, J. Kahn, S. Pincetl, A. Troy, P. Warren and M. Wilson. 2006.  Linking ecology and economics for ecosystem management: A services-based approach with illustrations from LTER sites. Bioscience. 56(2): 121-134.

Grove, J.M., M. Cadenasso, W.R. Burch, Jr., S.T.A. Pickett, J. P. M. O'Neil-Dunne, K. Schwarz, M. Wilson, A. Troy and C. Boone. 2006. Data and methods comparing social structure and vegetation structure of urban neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland. Society & Natural Resources. 19(2): 117-136.

A. Troy, A. Strong, T. Donovan, S. Bosworth, N. Buckley, and M.L. Wilson. 2005. Farmer attitudes towards bird-friendly hayfield management practices. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 33(2):528-538.

A. Troy and J. Romm. 2004. The Role of Disclosure in the flood zone: Assessing the price effects of the California Natural Hazard Disclosure Law (AB 1195). Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 47(1): 137-162.

M. Wilson, A. Troy, and R. Costanza. 2004. The Geography of ecosystem services: Maximizing the value of landscapes in land use conservation. In: M. Dietrich and J. van der Straaten (eds). Cultural Landscapes. Dordrecth, Netherlands:  Kluwer Academic Publishers. Pp: 69-94.

J. Radke, T. Cova, M. Sheridan, A. Troy, M. Lan, R. Johnson. 2000.  Application challenges for GI science: Implications for research, education, and policy for risk assessment, emergency preparedness and response.  Journal of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. 12(2): 15-30.

A. Troy, P.M. Ashton and B. Larson. 1997. A protocol for measuring abundance and spatial distribution of Desmoncus polyacanthos, a neotropical liana. Economic Botany 51(4):339-346.

 

Peer Reviewed Technical Reports

A. Troy, D. Wang, D. Capen, J. O’Neil-Dunne and S. MacFadden. 2007. Updating the Lake Champlain Basin Land Use Data to Improve Prediction of Phosphorous Loading. Lake Champlain Basin Program. Technical Report #54. 121 pp.

R. Costanza, M. Wilson, A. Troy, A. Voinov, S. Liu, and J. D’Agostino. 2006. The Value of New Jersey’s Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital: Part II, Ecosystem Services.   For the New Jersey Department of Environmental Projection. 177 pp.

 

Non-Peer Reviewed Publications:

Individual authorship

A. Troy and R. Kennedy. 2007. Introduction: Finding solutions to the urban-wildland interface problem in a changing world. In: A. Troy and R. Kennedy (eds.),  Living on the Edge: Economic, Institutional and Management Perspectives on Wildfire Hazard in the Urban Interface. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.

A. Troy and W. Zhou. 2007. Creating a parcel level database from high resolution imagery. American Planning Association InfoText (the quarterly newsletter of the Information Technology Division of the APA). Fall 2006: Issue 87.

Keeton, W.S. and A. Troy.  2006.  Balancing ecological and economic objectives while managing for late-successional forest structure. Pages 21-33 In: L. Zahoyska, (ed.)  Ecologisation of Economy as a Key Prerequisite for Sustainable Development.  Proceedings of the International Conference, Sept. 22 -23, 2005, Ukrainian National Forestry University, Lviv, Ukraine.

A. Troy. 2002. An assessment of the effects of fire disclosure under the California Natural Hazard Disclosure Law. In: The Proceedings of the California 2001 Wildfire Conference. University of California, Davis Extension. Pp.252-262.

A. Troy. 1999. The Property Value Effects of Siting a Natural Gas Power Plant: A Summary of Relevant Studies. California Energy Commission Report.

M. Wilson and A. Troy. 2005. Accounting for ecosystem services in a spatially explicit format: Value transfer and geographic information systems" In: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Benefits Transfer and Valuation Databases, R. Iovanna (ed.). U.S. EPA, Washington DC.

 

Contribution to Reports with Corporate Authorship

Ecological Economic Evaluation: Maury Island, King County, Washington. 2004. For the King County Dept. Of Natural Resources and Parks. Available at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/watersheds/puget/maury-eco-evaluation.htm

Losing Ground: At What Cost? 2003. Massachusetts Audubon Society. Chapter 6. Available at: http://www.massaudubon.org/advocacy/news.php?id=19&type=news#download 

 

Research Grants

     Currently Funded Research Grants: 

University of Vermont Transportation Center. A. Sadek and A. Troy, Co-Principal Investigators. 2007-2010. $371,747 (direct funds). Integrated Land-Use, Transportation and Environmental Modeling: Complex Systems Approaches and Advanced Policy Applications.

US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2006-2008. $250,500. Dynamic Transportation and Land Use Modeling.

USDA Forest Service cooperative agreement. A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2006-2008. $80,000. Application of the Forest Stewardship Program’s Spatial Analysis Project to Urban Areas Integrated with the Forest Opportunity Spectrum.

National Science Foundation Human Social Dimensions Program. A. Troy, Principal Investigator of UVM subaward (Cross-Institution Project PI: Christopher Boone, Arizona State University). $161,332 (subaward amount). A Longitudinal Analysis of the Social Dynamics of Environmental Equity in Baltimore.

Northeastern States Research Cooperative. A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2006-2008. $69,931. Functional Classification of Land Use across the Urban-Rural Gradient to Support Watershed Planning in the Northern Forest.

USDA Forest Service cooperative agreement. A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2006-2009. $104,245. Modeling Urban Vegetation Dynamics in Baltimore, MD.

National Science Foundation Biocomplexity and the Environment Program. A. Troy, Principal Investigator of UVM subaward (Cross-Institution Project PI: Steward Pickett, Institute for Ecosystem Studies). 2005-2007. $161,000 (subaward amount). Feedbacks between Complex Ecological and Social Models: Urban Landscape Structure, Nitrogen Flux, Vegetation Management, and Adoption of Design Scenarios.

 

Completed Research Grants:

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. A. Troy, Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Robert Costanza). 2006-2007. $800,000. Ecosystem Services: Dynamics, Modeling and Valuation to Facilitate Conservation.

Lake Champlain Basin Program. A. Troy, Principal Investigator.  2005-2006. $63,000. Update of Lake Champlain Basin Land Use Data and Nonpoint Source Phosphorus Loading Analysis.

USDA McIntire-Stennis Program A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2004-2007. $71,500. Development of an Object-oriented Framework for Classifying and Inventorying Human-dominated Forest Ecosystems. 

USDA Forest Service cooperative agreement. A. Troy, Principal Investigator.  2005-2006: $22,000. GIS Tools for Applying the Forest Opportunity Spectrum (FOS) Framework for Urban & Community Forestry.

State of New Jersey. A. Troy, Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Robert Costanza). 2004-2005. $160,000. Valuing New Jersey’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services.

Vermont Forum on Sprawl. A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2005-2006. $6,920. Assessing Trends in Urban Growth and Residential Density in Vermont using Geographic Information Systems.

Northeastern States Research Cooperative. A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2003-2005. $34,376. Development of Functional Ecological Indicators of Suburban Sprawl for the Northeastern Forest Landscape.

USDA National Research Initiative (NRI) Program. A. Troy, Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Allan Strong). 2003-2006. $300,000. Hayfields as Sustainable Habitat for Grassland Bird Populations: Ecological and Economic Impacts of “Bird-friendly” Hay.

USDA Forest Service cooperative agreement. A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2004-2006: $20,500. An Analysis of Housing Markets and the Environment in Baltimore, MD.

USDA Forest Service cooperative agreement. A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2003-2006. $18,000. Typology of Urban and Community Forests and Green Space for Watershed 263 and Baltimore City.

USDA Forest Service cooperative agreement. A. Troy, Principal Investigator. 2003-2006. $10,000. Spatial Analysis of Urban Ecological and Social Data for the Baltimore Ecosystem Study.

US EPA Watershed Classification Program. A. Troy, Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Mary Watzin). $664,000.