Norm Christensen is professor of ecology and dean emeritus at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina where he has served for over 30 years. His research interests include the effects of disturbance on structure and function of populations and communities; comparative biogeochemical and community responses to varying fire regimes; use of remote sensing systems (such as synthetic aperture radar) to evaluate long-term changes in forest ecosystems; and pattern analysis of forest development following cropland abandonment as affected by environment, stand history, and plant demographic patterns. He has written widely on the importance of natural disturbance in the management of forests, shrublands, and wetlands, and he is interested in applying basic ecological theory and models to ecosystem management. Christensen has served on more than 25 national and regional panels and commissions and on the editorial boards of American Midland Naturalist, Journal of Vegetation Science, and Journal of Wildland Fire. Christensen is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he is currently Vice-president of the Ecological Society of America and Chairman of the National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.