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Paul Sutton

Paul Sutton

Professor

paul.sutton@du.edu

303-871-2399 (Office)

Portfolio

http://urizen-geography.nsm.du.edu/~psutton/AAA_Sutton_WebPage/Sutton/index.html

Boettcher Center West, 2050 E. Iliff Ave. Denver, CO 80208

What I do

My research interests are in the general area of sustainability science, ecological economics, and population geography. Much of this research involves the use of nighttime satellite imagery for mapping and measuring population distribution, economic activity, anthropogenic impact on the environment, and urban sprawl. I am also interested in the mapping and valuation of ecosystem services. Future research activity will involve the development of spatially explicit maps of carrying capacity at various spatial scales and developing metrics of urban metabolism to establish baseline measures in the field of urbanization science.<br>I serve on several international expert panels and working groups including the European Commission’s Human Planet Initiative , The economics of land degradation initiative, and the UN’s Global Environmental Outlook (GEO 6) . I also serve as an editor for several academic journals including Sustainability, Ecological Economics and Statistics, and Expresion Economica Revista. I currently live in the town of Morrison, Colorado and serve on the town's Board of Trustees. I also serve on the board of an NGO 'The Real Green New Deal' (https://www.realgnd.org/) and am active with another group called WEALL (The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (http://www.wellbeingeconomy.org/ ). My research related to WEALL and RGND is n the area of indicators such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). An increasing compontent of my research involves community engaged scholarship that tries to leverage my expertise in useful ways through listening and dialog with local communities to chart a path to a just, desirable, and sustainable future.

For the most current information on Dr. Sutton's work, visit his Department of Geography profile.

Professional Biography

I grew up in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California (Laurel Canyon) during the 1960's. The movie 'Soylent Green' and the chest pain I experienced with deep breaths during smog alerts had a significant impact on me and my nascent perception of the Human-Environment-Sustainability problematic. I later moved to Santa Barbara during my High School years and was deeply influenced by the works of Rachel Carson, Paul Ehrlich, and Garrett Hardin. Needless to say my early childhood experiences primed me to be significantly influenced by apocalyptic movies and neo-malthusian jeremiads.

I discovered Geography through friends that were graduate students in Geography at UCSB in the early 1990s. I milked my time as a graduate student in the Geography Department at UCSB for as long as I could obtaining an M.A. in Geography in 1995, an M.A. in Statistics in 1997, and a PhD in Geography in 1999. My dissertation was titled: "Census from Heaven: Estimation of human population parameters using nighttime satellite imagery and GIS". I am deeply indebted to many faculty at UCSB for their guidance and their service to the discipline.

I took a position in the Geography Department at the University of Denver in the Fall of 1999 and have been here since then. I have many interests spanning much of geography but ranging into ecology, economics, and philosophy. Most of my research focuses on applied issues associated with the Human-Environment-Sustainability problematic. The tools needed to engage in this research are remote sensing , geographic information analysis, and statistics. I also am interested in the development of the discipline of ecological economics. I use my expertise in GIS and spatial data analysis in collaborations with economists and ecologists to make spatially explicit valuations of ecosystem services. My interests are quite broad and I have had students work in areas ranging from crime mapping, to explaining ‘high-stakes’ testing scores in the public schools, to mapping invasive species.

My fascination with apocalyptic movies has not faded though and I teach a first year seminar titled: Co-envisioning Utopia through the lens of a wellbeing economy. I do my small part to insure that 'Soylent Green' remains in the lexicon of the culturally literate. I also teach remote sensing, population geography, and ecological economics. I try to serve the discipline of Geography primarily by teaching and mentoring students in a way that prepares them to be informed and active citizens, provides them with unique and relevant skills that helps them pursue meaningful careers, and provokes and stimulates their curiosity and intellect in ways that insures that they appreciate that a geographic perspective is essential to a rich intellectual life.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., Geography, UCSB, 1999
  • MA, Applied Statistics, UCSB, 1997
  • MA, Geography, UCSB, 1995
  • BS, Chemistry, Union College, 1983

Licensure / Accreditations

  • ESRI MOOC in Cartography
  • Denver Citizen's Academy
  • Licensed Permaculture Design Certificate
  • ESRI Certificate in Python
  • Faculty/Staff Investigators SBER - Non-Exempt
  • Community Engagement
  • Faculty/Staff Investigators SBER - Exempt

Professional Affiliations

  • Association of American Geographers
  • International Society of Ecological Economics
  • American Association of University Professors

Research

His research interests are in the general area of sustainability science, ecological economics, urbanization science, and population geography. Much of his research involves the use of nighttime satellite imagery for mapping and measuring population distribution, economic activity, anthropogenic impact on the environment, and urban sprawl. Dr. Sutton is also interested in the mapping and valuation of ecosystem services. Future research activity will involve the development of spatially explicit maps of carrying capacity at various spatial scales and developing metrics of urban metabolism to establish baseline measures in the field of urbanization science.

Key Projects

  • Gis Application Related to Air Quality Monitoring

Featured Publications

The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. (1997). The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, 387(May 15).

Sutton, P. C., Roberts, D., Elvidge, C., & Baugh, K. (2001). Census from Heaven: an estimate of the global human population using night-time satellite imagery. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 22(16), 3061–3076.

Sutton, P. C. (2003). A scale-adjusted measure of “urban sprawl” using nighttime satellite imagery. Remote sensing of environment, 86(3), 353–369.

Costanza, R., de Groot, R., Sutton, P. C., van der Ploeg, S., Anderson, S. J., Kubiszewski, I., et al. (2014). Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global Environmental Change, 26, 152–158.

Sutton, P. C., Anderson, S. J., Elvidge, C. D., Tuttle, B. T., & Ghosh, T. (2009). Paving the planet: impervious surface as proxy measure of the human ecological footprint. Progress in Physical Geography, 33(4), 510–527.

Performances

Presentations

Sutton, P. C. (2017). 'Changes to the global value of ecosystem services: A market Failure?' . Universidade Paulista Sao Paolo Brazil.

Sutton, P. C. (2017). Global Urban Metabolism. Human Planet Initiative. Enschede Netherlands: Group on Earth Observations and European Commission.

Sutton, P. C. (1998). Census from Heaven: An estimate of the global human population using nighttime satellite imagery and GIS. Guanajuato, Mexico: Centro de investigaciones en Matematicas.

Sutton, P. C. (2013). Alone in the Void: Getting Real about the fragile and tenuous nature of modern civilization. Distinguished Speaker Series. University of South Australia: Barbara Hardy Institute.

Sutton, P. C., & Anderson, S. J. (2012). Mapping and Monetizing the Human Ecological Footprint: Exploring national patterns of ecological deficit and surplus. ANZEE 2012 Conference "Green Growth or De-Growth?". Brisbane, Australia: Australia New Zealand Society for Ecological Economics.

Awards

  • Mission to Planet Earth Fellowship, NASA
  • Best Poster Award, World Geospatial Forum
  • Jon I. Davidson President's Award, American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
  • Excellence in Research Award, Department of Geography UCSB