Dr. Alan Townsend is a scientist, author and Dean of the Franke College of Forestry & Conservation at the University of Montana. Alan's memoir—THIS ORDINARY STARDUST, is now available for pre-order and will be released in spring of 2024. Inquiries should be directed to Anna Sproul-Latimer at Neon Literary. 

Alan has served in leadership positions at university, national and international levels, including Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University,  Provost of Colorado College, Director of CU-Boulder’s Environmental Studies Program and its Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Director of the Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation, and Co-Director of the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program.  He is a highly cited author of more than 140 peer reviewed articles, and received his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.  He is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow, a Google Science Communication Fellow and was featured in the recent Let Science Speak documentary film.