William Rees

William Rees has taught at the University of British Columbia since 1969-70 and is currently Professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning. His teaching and research emphasize the public policy and planning implications of global environmental trends and the necessary ecological conditions for sustainable socioeconomic development. Much of his work is in the realm of ecological economics and human ecology. He is best known in this field for his invention of 'ecological footprint analysis', a quantitative tool that estimates humanity's ecological impact on the ecosphere in terms of appropriated ecosystem (land and water) area. This research reveals the fundamental incompatibility between continued material economic growth and ecological security, and has helped to reopen debate on human carrying capacity as a consideration in sustainable development. Dr. Rees is currently a co-investigator in the 'Global Integrity Project', oriented toward determining the necessary ecological conditions for biodiversity preservation. He has been invited to lecture on his work across Canada and the U.S., as well as in Australia, Austria, China, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, the former Soviet Union, Spain, Sri Lanka, and Sweden. Dr. Rees was awarded a UBC Killam Research Prize (1996) in acknowledgement of his research achievements.