Cristina Eisenberg

Cristina Eisenberg

Ecologist Cristina Eisenberg studies wolves, bison, and fire in Rocky Mountain ecosystems and works to empower native people to use Traditional Ecological Knowledge to restore nature and create a resilient, sustainable Earth. She is the former chief scientist at Earthwatch Institute where she developed strategic initiatives to explore key environmental sustainability issues and establish partnerships with principal investigators. She is a Smithsonian Research Associate, a Boone and Crockett Club professional member, and the nonfiction editor of the literary journal Whitefish Review. She serves on the board of directors for the Society of Ecological Restoration, the board of trustees at Prescott College, and the editorial board of Oregon State University Press. She holds a PhD in forestry and wildlife from Oregon State University. Her books for Island Press include The Carnivore Way: Coexisting with and Conserving America's Predators and The Wolf's Tooth: Keystone Predators, Trophic Cascades, and Biodiversity. She lives with her family in a remote, wild corner of northwest Montana.

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Wolves in a Tangled Bank

By Cristina Eisenberg / On April 14th, 2014
Elk browsing aspens in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Cristina Eisenberg.
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Tracking the Ultimate Keystone Species

By Cristina Eisenberg / On April 1st, 2014
As an ecologist I have spent the past ten years of my professional career tracking apex predators and large herbivores and their effects on whole ecosystems. Abundant research from all sorts of systems demonstrates that when you allow dominant species, such as lions or elephants, to return to ecosystems, they affect many other species in those systems. For example, by toppling small trees, elephants help maintain the rich, open grassland habitat that provides a home for countless species, such as songbirds and insects.
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Nature's Economy and Climate Change

By Cristina Eisenberg / On July 2nd, 2013
On June 25, 2013, President Obama gave what may be his most important speech thus far. In it, he acknowledged the impacts of climate change on our society. These impacts include heightened atmospheric carbon pollution due to fossil fuel consumption, melting Arctic and Antarctic ice, temperature and sea level rise, and increased severe climatic events. Our president expounded on the high economic costs of climate change and our need to work as a nation and global power to be part of the solution.
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Ghost Trees

By Cristina Eisenberg / On July 10th, 2012
The standing dead trees were everywhere, their boles weathered silver where the bark had peeled. The carcasses of their fallen comrades littered the understory, with few aspen sprouting from the deadfall. The occasional mangled saplings we observed provided graphic evidence of heavy elk browsing. Recently, I explored this stand of ghost trees on Colorado’s High Lonesome Ranch (HLR), accompanied by some of the finest aspen ecologists in North America.