Miguel Acevedo: Keeping the world green

	Miguel Acevedo, professor of geography, learned to appreciate the delicate balance of ecological systems when he explored Venezuelan forests as a child.

As a child growing up in Venezuela, Miguel Acevedo, professor of geography, explored the rain forests, and it was there that he gained an appreciation for the beauty of the diverse plant and animal life. He has educated himself on ways to preserve that beauty and manage the use of these resources. For the past 30 years, he has devoted his life to finding ways of managing forests to balance economic timber extraction and ecological conservation.

With an interest in the way humans have used physics to develop electronic devices, Acevedo went to the University of Texas at Austin to study electrical engineering. He received his bachelor's degree in 1971 and his master's in 1972. He became interested in finding ways to apply this knowledge to understand ecological systems. He went on to the University of California at Berkeley to earn another master's degree in engineering and computer science in 1978 and his doctorate in biophysics in 1980. To Acevedo it was a natural transition from electrical engineering to ecological matters.

"I seemed to have my feet in both areas ever since 1974, when I was working for ULA (Universidad de Los Andes in Venezuela)," Acevedo says. It was there that he began teaching ecological modeling courses to weave the two fields together.

His engineering background allowed him to study the dynamics of complex systems using mathematical models, and his interest in the environment led him to apply his knowledge of engineering and computer science to ecological systems.

Ecologists don't completely understand the long-term effects of conventional forest management practices, such as clear-cutting a forest, Acevedo says. He calls these actions "expensive experiments with nature," since results cannot be measured for years.

Instead, Acevedo uses computer models to try to improve forest management practices. The advantage of the models is that they give him the "ability to study in a few minutes processes that take hundreds of years." Not only can he scale up a forest from a small plot of trees to a huge landscape, but he can also help predict such characteristics as tree biodiversity or water quantity and quality over time.

Acevedo's attitude and determination to improve the world make him well respected by his colleagues.

"Miguel is one of the brightest and friendliest faculty members I have had the good fortune to work with," says Tom LaPoint, professor of biological sciences and director of the Institute of Applied Sciences. "He's the principal investigator on the biocomplexity National Science Foundation project I'm involved with and he brings a wealth of knowledge and background on modeling to that, but more importantly he runs all of our meetings with a great sense of humor and makes the project fun and rewarding."

Addressing environmental issues will become even more important as the population continues to grow and the limited number of resources gets smaller, Acevedo says.

"A lot of environmental problems at the end come back to individual usage and the consumption of resources," he says. "We as individuals must be careful about the way we use resources. Individual acts are very important in the end. By getting involved and understanding sustainability, we can make a difference."

BY WILLIAM ABERCROMBIE paiswri2@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue:

• UNT enrollment reaches 30,256 students — an all-time high
• UNT Campus Master Plan provides beauty, functionality for future of campus
• UNT faculty, staff encouraged to participate in Parent and Family Weekend
• Hispanic Friends of UNT conference Oct. 4
• Staff Council elects officers
• Former Israeli Defense Force member to visit UNT
• SLIS associate dean appointed as faculty executive assistant to the president
• UNT is staying on top of compliance issues
• Decorate with Texas' Capitol

homepage