Brief Bio

Dr. Slayback's work focuses on the application of remotely sensed imagery to study a variety of earth system elements, and building systems to generate and deliver data products. His current activities include: examining the causes and impacts of landcover and landuse change in high-altitude Andean peatlands; development and operation of a near-real time system to generate global, daily flood map products; monitoring and quantifying the evolution of a new volcanic island in Tonga; and building data services for query and distribution of petabytes of high-resolution imagery. Previously, he’s worked on a range of projects including: Andean glacier change; studies on monarch butterfly overwintering habitat; evaluation of environmental correlates of vertebrate diversity in the western US; local and regional deforestation assessments; examining trends in global vegetation dynamics; and calibration of AVHRR data products.

Positions/Employment

8/1998 - Present

Research Scientist
Science Systems & Applications, Inc., NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771

• Research on landcover/landuse change (forests, glaciers, alpine peatlands).
• Development of near real-time data processing systems for flood mapping.
• Development of ArcGIS services for discovery and delivery of high-resolution imagery.
• Field instrumentation for microclimatic and hydrological monitoring.
• Projects in: central and west Africa, Andes, Mexico, SE Asia, Turkey, global.
• Field experience: Bolivia, Mexico, Cameroon, Turkey.

10/1996 - 5/1998

Graduate Research Assistant
Boston University, Boston, MA

• Scientific programming to analyze polar cloud data and radiation flux

9/1992 - 1/1996

Peace Corps Volunteer
Peace Corps, Kembong and Limbe, SW Province, Cameroon

• Introduced alley cropping to farmers in the Mamfe area of SW Province
• Environmental Education at the Limbe Wildlife Center

1990 - 1992

Junior Development Engineer
University of California, San Diego, IGPP, La Jolla, CA

• Built and maintained fiber optic strainmeter components for instrumentation at IGPP field installations
• Analyzed strainmeter data

Education

B.S. Physics, University of California, San Diego, 1992
B.A. Third World Studies, University of California, San Diego, 1992
M.A. Environmental Remote Sensing and GIS, Boston University, 1998
Ph.D. Geography, University of Maryland, College Park, 2006

Selected Publications

Refereed

Ickowitz, A., D. Slayback, P. Asanzi, and R. Nasi. 2015. "Agriculture and deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A synthesis of the current state of knowledge." CIFOR Occasional Paper, (119): 18, ISBN: 978-602-1504-67-3 . [10.17528/cifor/005458]

Cooper, D. J., K. Kaczynski, D. Slayback, and K. Yager. 2015. " Growth and Organic Carbon Production in Peatlands Dominated by Distichia muscoides , Bolivia, South America ." Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 47 (3): 505-510 [10.1657/aaar0014-060]

Mohr, K. I., D. Slayback, and K. A. Yager. 2014. "Characteristics of Precipitation Features and Annual Rainfall during the TRMM Era in the Central Andes." J. Climate, 27 (11): 3982-4001 [10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00592.1]

Slayback, D., and T. C. Sunderland. 2013. "Forest degradation in the Lower Mekong and an assessment of protected area effectiveness c1990-c2009: a satellite perspective." Evidence-based Conservation: Lessons from the Lower Mekong, Abingdon, Oxon: 332-350, ISBN: 978-0-41552-913-6.

Brower, L. P., E. H. Williams, L. S. Fink, et al. 2011. "Overwintering Clusters of the Monarch Butterfly Coincide with the Least Hazardous Vertical Temperatures in the Oyamel Forest." Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society, 65 (1): 27-46 [10.18473/lepi.v65i1.a3]

Brower, L. P., O. R. Taylor, E. H. Williams, et al. 2011. "Decline of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico: is the migratory phenomenon at risk?" Insect Conservation and Diversity, 5 (2): 95-100 [10.1111/j.1752-4598.2011.00142.x]

Sunderland-Groves, J. L., D. A. Slayback, M. P. Bessike Balinga, and T. C. Sunderland. 2011. "Impacts of co-management on western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) habitat and conservation in Nialama Classified Forest, Republic of Guinea: a satellite perspective." Biodivers Conserv, 20 (12): 2745-2757 [10.1007/s10531-011-0102-4]

Brower, L., E. Williams, D. Slayback, et al. 2009. "Oyamel fir forest trunks provide thermal advantages for overwintering monarch butterflies in Mexico." Insect Conservation and Diversity, 2 (3): 163-175 [10.1111/j.1752-4598.2009.00052.x]

Slayback, D. A., L. P. Brower, M. I. Ramirez, and L. S. Fink. 2007. "Establishing the Presence and Absence of Overwintering Colonies of the Monarch Butterfly in Mexico by the Use of Small Aircraft." American Entomologist, 53 (1): 28-40 [10.1093/ae/53.1.28]

Slayback, D. A., and L. P. Brower. 2007. "Further aerial Surveys confirm the extreme localization of overwintering monarch butterfly colonies in Mexico." American Entomologist, 53 (3): 146-149 [10.1093/ae/53.3.146]

Seabloom, E. W., J. W. Williams, D. Slayback, et al. 2006. "Human impacts, plant invasion, and imperiled plant species in California." Ecological Applications, 16 (4): 1338-1350 [10.1890/1051-0761(2006)016[1338:hipiai]2.0.co;2]

Tucker, C. J., J. E. Pinzon, M. E. Brown, et al. 2005. "An extended AVHRR 8-km NDVI dataset compatible with MODIS and SPOT vegetation NDVI data." International Journal of Remote Sensing, 26 (20): 4485-4498 [10.1080/01431160500168686]

Williams, J. W., E. W. Seabloom, D. Slayback, D. M. Stoms, and J. H. Viers. 2004. "Anthropogenic impacts upon plant species richness and net primary productivity in California." Ecology Letters, 8 (2): 127-137 [10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00706.x]

Slayback, D. 2003. "Landcover change in the Takamanda Forest Reserve, Cameroon: 1986-2000." Takamanda: the biodiversity of an African rainforest, Washington, DC: 173-179, ISBN: 1-893912-12-4.

Kaufmann, R. K., L. Zhou, R. B. Myneni, et al. 2003. "The effect of vegetation on surface temperature: A statistical analysis of NDVI and climate data." J. Geophysical Research Letters , 30: 2147-2152.

Slayback, D., J. E. Pinzon, S. O. Los, and C. J. Tucker. 2003. "Northern hemisphere photosynthetic trends 1982-1999." Global Change Biology, 9: 1-15.