NEWS

CSU’s Knight studies land use changes

Rob White
rwhite@coloradoan.com

Rick Knight, a Colorado State University professor in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources in the Warner College of Natural Resources, is the subject of this month’s meet the professor series. His research and outreach interests include the ecological effects of land use conversion in the American West on biological diversity. His research philosophy is that research within the discipline of wildlife science can play and important part in finding ways for humans to enhance and restore the integrity of ecosystems. He has been at CSU since 1996.

Q: In a single sentence, tell us what you do.

A: I’m a professor of wildlife conservation, a job that entails teaching, research, and service to my university and the greater community of Coloradoans.

Q: When did you first become interested in conservation?

A: When I began to walk, I started collecting anything in the wild (butterflies, flowers, insects, snakes, frogs), bringing it home to my parents who helped me identify it (and quickly return it to nature!).

Q: Why is conservation on private lands important?

A: First off, private lands are the majority of Colorado, often considered a public-lands state. Secondly, private lands are the most biologically rich. When compared to our public lands, private lands have deeper soils, are better watered, occur at lower elevations and are less steep. If we are to conserve Colorado’s natural heritage we will have to keep the private lands in their productive capacity.

Q: How can we locally produce food and provide enough water for our cities while at the same time conserve rivers and wetlands?

A: We can only do this through a common understanding among rural and urban communities. Through shared dialogue, all Coloradans will have to decide the importance of agriculture on private lands, rivers and wetlands that carry these waters, and the true importance of water for commercial and residential uses in our cities and towns. That’s not easy but Colorado is not an ordinary place — its citizens realize our shared destiny and have demonstrated they can come together over healthy waters and lands and prosperous human communities supported by strong economies.

Q: Is there an interdependence between farms and ranches and healthy urban communities?

A: Yes, urban people care deeply about open space and locally produced food. Turns out, that’s what rural communities produce — open spaces that produce local food.

Q: What was the last thing you Googled — and why?

A: The weather — to see when we might see the sun again!

Q: What’s your go-to lunch spot in Fort Collins?

A: Rio.

Q: What’s the one word you use too often?

A: Hopeful.

Q: What are you most proud of?

A: First, the students at CSU — by their actions they care deeply about their education and about contributing to a stronger, more prosperous America. Second, the people of Colorado who realize that we are not just any other state but a very special place that requires a shared commitment to keep it that way.