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Brian W Miller, Ph.D.

Dr. Brian Miller is a Research Ecologist with the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, one of the nine regional centers that form the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC) network.

The USGS CASC program teams scientists with natural and cultural resource managers and local communities to help fish, wildlife, water, land, and people adapt to a changing climate. Brian focuses on developing and applying scenario planning, ecological simulation modeling, and related tools to help partners navigate climate change impacts and adaptation options. Brian has an interdisciplinary background studying human-environment interactions. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he also worked at the Carolina Population Center.  

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D. in Ecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder

Science and Products

Filter Total Items: 19
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Togiak National Wildlife Refuge - Steve Hillebrand, USFWS

The Missing Link: Incorporating the Role of Biological Diversity into Projections of Ecosystem Services

Modeling interactions between human and ecological systems is needed to identify pathways to meet multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Particularly important is the relationship between biodiversity, ecological processes, and ecosystem services. However, current models tend to ignore impacts of biodiversity on ecological processes. Existing models capture impacts of...
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Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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The Missing Link: Incorporating the Role of Biological Diversity into Projections of Ecosystem Services

Modeling interactions between human and ecological systems is needed to identify pathways to meet multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Particularly important is the relationship between biodiversity, ecological processes, and ecosystem services. However, current models tend to ignore impacts of biodiversity on ecological processes. Existing models capture impacts of socio-economi
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Image: Bison at Yellowstone National Park

Supporting the National Park Service Midwest Region Bison Management Plan

The bison, which has long served as the symbol of the Department of the Interior, became the official national mammal of the United States in 2016. Bison played a key role in shaping the grasslands of the Great Plains for millennia, but today they are confined to unnaturally small ranges. National parks, including four in the Great Plains, provide a major last bastion for wild bison...
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Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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Supporting the National Park Service Midwest Region Bison Management Plan

The bison, which has long served as the symbol of the Department of the Interior, became the official national mammal of the United States in 2016. Bison played a key role in shaping the grasslands of the Great Plains for millennia, but today they are confined to unnaturally small ranges. National parks, including four in the Great Plains, provide a major last bastion for wild bison. Herds in Badl
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Image: Cave Formations in Wind Cave

Refining Guidance for Incorporating Climate Science and Scenario Planning into National Park Service Resource Stewardship Strategies

One of the biggest challenges facing resource managers today is not knowing exactly when, where, or how climate change effects will unfold. To help federal land managers address this need, the North Central CASC has been working with the National Park Service to pioneer an approach for incorporating climate science and scenario planning into NPS planning processes, in particular Resource...
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Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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Refining Guidance for Incorporating Climate Science and Scenario Planning into National Park Service Resource Stewardship Strategies

One of the biggest challenges facing resource managers today is not knowing exactly when, where, or how climate change effects will unfold. To help federal land managers address this need, the North Central CASC has been working with the National Park Service to pioneer an approach for incorporating climate science and scenario planning into NPS planning processes, in particular Resource Stewardsh
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O'Fallon Creek near Mildred, Montana

Understanding Species' Range Shifts in Response to Climate Change: Results from a Systematic National Review

Climate change represents one of the foremost drivers of ecological change, yet its documented impacts on biodiversity remain uncertain and complex. Although there have been many published studies on species shifting their geographic ranges in response to climate change, it is still challenging to identify the specific mechanisms and conditions that facilitate range shifts in some...
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Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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Understanding Species' Range Shifts in Response to Climate Change: Results from a Systematic National Review

Climate change represents one of the foremost drivers of ecological change, yet its documented impacts on biodiversity remain uncertain and complex. Although there have been many published studies on species shifting their geographic ranges in response to climate change, it is still challenging to identify the specific mechanisms and conditions that facilitate range shifts in some species and not
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Bison calf in sagebrush in Wyoming

Improving Projections of Wildlife and Landscapes for Natural Resource Managers

Managing natural resources is fraught with uncertainties around how complex social-ecological systems will respond to management actions and other forces, such as climate. Modeling tools have emerged to help grapple with different aspects of this challenge, but they are often used independently. The purpose of this project is to link two types of commonly-used simulation models (agent...
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Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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Improving Projections of Wildlife and Landscapes for Natural Resource Managers

Managing natural resources is fraught with uncertainties around how complex social-ecological systems will respond to management actions and other forces, such as climate. Modeling tools have emerged to help grapple with different aspects of this challenge, but they are often used independently. The purpose of this project is to link two types of commonly-used simulation models (agent-based models
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An image taken at the top of Stony Man looking down into the Shenandoah Valley, VA

Informing Climate Change Adaptation Planning in National Parks

One of the biggest challenges facing resource managers today is not knowing exactly when, where, or how climate change effects will unfold. In order to plan for this uncertain future, managers have begun to use a tool known as scenario planning, in which climate models are used to identify different plausible climate conditions, known as “scenarios”, for a particular area. In a previous...
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Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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Informing Climate Change Adaptation Planning in National Parks

One of the biggest challenges facing resource managers today is not knowing exactly when, where, or how climate change effects will unfold. In order to plan for this uncertain future, managers have begun to use a tool known as scenario planning, in which climate models are used to identify different plausible climate conditions, known as “scenarios”, for a particular area. In a previous project,
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Climate change and the global redistribution of biodiversity: Substantial variation in empirical support for expected range shifts

BackgroundAmong the most widely predicted climate change-related impacts to biodiversity are geographic range shifts, whereby species shift their spatial distribution to track their climate niches. A series of commonly articulated hypotheses have emerged in the scientific literature suggesting species are expected to shift their distributions to higher latitudes, greater elevations, and...
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Madeleine A. Rubenstein, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Romain Bertrand, Shawn L. Carter, Lise Comte, Mitchell J. Eaton, Ciara G. Johnson, James Lenoir, Abigail Lynch, Brian W. Miller, Toni Lyn Morelli, Mari Angel Rodriguez, Adam Terando, Laura M. Thompson
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers

A conceptual framework to integrate biodiversity, ecosystem function, and ecosystem service models

Global biodiversity and ecosystem service models typically operate independently. Ecosystem service projections thus may be overly optimistic because they do not account for the role of biodiversity in maintaining ecological functions underpinning their provision. We review models used in recent global model intercomparison projects and develop a novel model integration framework to more...
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Sarah R. Weiskopf, Bonnie Myers, Maria Isabel Arce-Plata, Julia L. Blanchard, Simon Ferrier, Elizabeth A. Fulton, Mike Harfoot, Forest Isbell, Justin C. Johnson, Akira S. Mori, Ensheng Weng, Zuzanna V. Harmackova, Maria Cecilia Londoño-Murcia, Brian W. Miller, Laura Pereira, Isabel M. D. Rosa
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers

Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people

Despite substantial progress in understanding global biodiversity loss, major taxonomic and geographic knowledge gaps remain. Decision makers often rely on expert judgement to fill knowledge gaps, but are rarely able to engage with sufficiently large and diverse groups of specialists. To improve understanding of the perspectives of thousands of biodiversity experts worldwide, we...
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Forest Isbell, Patricia Balvanera, Akira S. Mori, Jin-Sheng He, James M. Bullock, Ganga Ram Regmi, Eric W. Seabloom, Simon Ferrier, Osvaldo E. Sala, Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramírez, Julia Tavella, Daniel J. Larkin, Bernhard Schmid, Charlotte L. Outhwaite, Pairot Pramua, Elizabeth T. Borer, Michel Loreau, Taiwo Crossby Omotoriogun, David O. Obura, Maggie Anderson, Cristina Portales-Reyes, Kevin P. Kirkman, Pablo M Vergara, Adam Clark, Kimberly J Komatsu, Owen L. Petchey, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Laura J. Williams, Scott M. Collins, Nico Eisenhauer, Christopher H Trisos, Delphine Renard, Alexandra J. Wright, Poonam Tripathi, Jane Cowles, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Peter B. Reich, Andy Purvis, Zati Sharip, Mary I. O'Connor, Clare E. Kazanski, Nick M. Haddad, Eulogio H. Soto, Laura E. Dee, Sandra Diaz, Chad R Zirbel, Meghan L. Avolio, Shaopeng Wang, Zhiyuan Ma, Jingjing Liang, Hanan C. Farah, Justin C. Johnson, Brian W. Miller, Yann Hautier, Melinda D. Smith, Johannes MH Knops, Bonnie Myers, Zuzanna V. Harmackova, Jorge Cortés, Mike Harfoot, Andrew Gonzalez, Tim Newbold, Jacqueline Oehri, Marina Mazón, Cynnamon Dobbs, Meredith S. Palmer
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers

Overcoming “analysis paralysis” through better climate change scenario planning

This "In Brief" article describes the use of scenario planning to facilitate climate change adaptation in the National Park Service. It summarizes best practices and innovations for using climate change scenario planning, with an emphasis on management outcomes and manager perspectives. The scenario planning approach and management outcomes highlighted in this article are the culmination...
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Gregor W. Schuurman, Brian W. Miller, Amy Symstad, Amber N. Runyon, Brecken C. Robb
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers

Integrating climate considerations into grazing management programs in national parks

The National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for managing livestock grazing in nearly 100 parks, and several park grazing management planning efforts are currently underway. However, there is a recognized need to update grazing management practices to be responsive and adaptive to future climate change. As a step toward developing a process to address this need, this project worked...
Authors
Brian W. Miller, Amanda Hardy, Emily Spencer, Jordan Spaak, Greg Eckert, Gregor W. Schuurman, Amber Childress, Imtiaz Rangwala, David P. Thoma, Leonardo Frid, Kirk R. Sherrill, Linda Zeigenfuss, Danguole Bockus
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers

From flowering to foliage: Accelerometers track tree sway to provide high-resolution insights into tree phenology

Trees are bioindicators of global climate change and regional urbanization, but available monitoring tools are ineffective for fine-scale observation of many species. Using six accelerometers mounted on two urban ash trees (Fraxinus americana), we looked at high-frequency tree vibrations, or change in periodicity of tree sway as a proxy for mass changes, to infer seasonal patterns of...
Authors
Deidre M. Jaeger, A. M. C. Looze, M. S. Raleigh, Brian W. Miller, Jonathan M. Friedman, C. A. Wessman
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Fort Collins Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Miller, B. W. 2015. Using geospatial analysis to assess the influence of land-use change and conservation on pastoralist access to drought resources. Nomadic Peoples 19(1): 120-145.
Miller, B. W., Leslie, P. W., McCabe, J. T. 2014. Coping with natural hazards in a conservation context: resource-use decisions of Maasai households during recent and historical drought. Human Ecology 42(5): 753-768.
Miller, B. W., & Doyle, M. W. 2014. Rangeland management and fluvial geomorphology in northern Tanzania. Geomorphology 214: 366-377.
Miller, B. W., Caplow, S. C., Leslie, P. W. 2012. Feedbacks between conservation and social-ecological systems. Conservation Biology 26(2): 218-227.
Miller, B. W., Breckheimer I., McCleary, A. L., Guzmán-Ramirez, L., Caplow, S. C., Jones-Smith, J. C., Walsh, S. J. 2010. Using stylized agent-based models for population-environment research: a case study from the Galápagos Islands. Population and Environment 31(6): 401-426.
Walsh, S. J., Miller, B. W., Breckheimer, I., McCleary, A. L., Guzman-Ramirez, L., Caplow, S. C., Jones-Smith, J. C. 2009. Complexity Theory and Spatial Simulation Models to Assess Population-Environment Interactions in the Galápagos Islands. In: M. Wolff and M. Gardener (eds.), Proceedings of the Galápagos Science Symposium, Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Galapagos, Ecuador. Pp 145-148.

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

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