Colin Polsky
Research Assistant Professor
The George Perkins Marsh Institute
Clark University
Worcester, MA 01610-1477
508.751.4608 phone
508.751.4600 fax
email: cpolsky@clarku.edu
Current Research Interests
Colin is currently examining ways to blend quantitative and qualitative methods for the study of social and ecological vulnerability to environmental changes in two regions, the Arctic and the U.S. Great Plains. This research requires the blending of statistical techniques (such as empirical downscaling and spatial econometrics) with insight gained from qualitative methods (such as interviews and participant observation). Colin is affiliated with the HERO project.Selected Publications
Polsky, C. and D. Cash. 2005. Reducing vulnerability to the effects of global change: Drought management in a multi-scale, multi-stressor world. In Drought and water crises: Science, technology, and management issues, ed. D. Wilhite, 215-245. Amsterdam: Marcel Drekker.
Schröter, D., C. Polsky and A. Patt. 2005. Assessing vulnerabilities to the effects of global change: An eight-step approach. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 10 no. 4: 573-595.
Polsky, C., 2004. Putting space and time in Ricardian climate change impact studies: The case of agriculture in the U.S. Great Plains. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 94 no. 3: 549-564.
Denny, A., B. Yarnal and C. Polsky. 2002. The central Pennsylvania study area: How coal dominates the greenhouse gas problem. In Global change in local places, eds. R. Kates and T. Wilbanks. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Easterling, W.E. and C. Polsky. 2002. Crossing the complex divide: Linking scales for understanding coupled human-environment systems. In Scale and geographic inquiry, eds. R.B. McMaster and E. Sheppard. Oxford: Blackwell.
Polsky, C. and W.E. Easterling. 2001. Adaptation to climate variability and change in the U.S. Great Plains: A multi-scale analysis of Ricardian climate sensitivities. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 85 no. 1-3: 133-144.
Polsky, C., J. Allard, N. Currit, R. Crane and B. Yarnal. 2000. The mid-Atlantic region and its climate: Past, present and future. Climate Research 14 no. 3: 161-173.
Easterling, W.E., C. Polsky, D. Goodin, M.W. Mayfield, W.A. Muraco and B. Yarnal. 1998. Changing places, changing emissions: The cross-scale reliability of greenhouse gas emission inventories in the US. Local Environment 3 no. 3: 247-262.
U.S. EPA. 1995. Inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: 1990-1994. Overall production manager and lead author for Chapter 2, Industrial Processes. Washington, DC: EPA.
