Professor BA, University of Michigan PhD, University of Michigan Office: 107, Johnson Hall  Phone: (519) 824-4120 ext. 8476  Fax: (519) 767-1692  e-mail: drapport@oac.uoguelph.ca

Primary Areas of Academic Interest

Primary Regions of Interest 

Courses Instructed

RPD6290 (Fall Seminar Section 03) Ecosystem Health
 

Recent Research and Activities

This past spring David returned to autumnal Australia for 10 weeks where he began his trip in Tasmania meeting with scientists from CSIRO Marine Research. He was again a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Ecosystem Management at Edith Cowan University in Perth. While in Western Australia, David had several speaking engagements and co-convened two roundtables – one on an ecosystem health approach to salinization in the southwest – and the other on transdisciplinarity in the modern university. David also lectured at the University of New England, New South Wales and the University of Southern Queensland, and gave plenary talks at the International Society for Ecological Economics meeting in Canberra and at the conference ‘Transdisciplinary Approaches to Ecosystem Health’ in Brisbane. Other lecture engagements throughout the year included keynote, plenary and workshop presentations in Finland, Germany, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan.

In collaboration with an Australian colleague, David continues to research the effects of dryland salinity in the sheep-wheatbelt region of southwestern Australia.  On this trip he had several meetings with representatives from agencies such as the Health Department, Western Australia, the Water and Rivers Commission and the Department of Environmental Protection as well as farmers and community groups, all of whom are concerned with the ecological, social, economic and health concerns surrounding the issue of salinization and rural decline.  Last December, David traveled to Sweden to meet with colleagues involved in the Canada/EU Project: Exploring Policy Options for Sustainable Agriculture. The group will meet again this September at the University of Guelph. 

In addition to teaching in the School of Rural Planning and Development, David also has an appointment in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario. The Faculty recently received from the McConnell Family Foundation the largest award ever given to the medical school for education purposes. David and three of his medical colleagues form the core ecosystem health group that has as its mandate the implementation of a program in ecosystem health throughout the undergraduate medical curriculum. 
 

Other Activities and Professional Affiliations

Recent Publications

Rapport, D.J.  “Epidemiology and ecosystem health: Natural bridges”.  Ecosystem  Health (5) 3, 174–180 (1999). 

Whitford, W., Rapport, D.J. and deSoyza, A.,  “Using resistance and resilience measurement for ‘fitness’ tests in ecosystem health”.  Journal of Environmental  Management, 57, 21–29 (1999). 

Patel, A., Rapport, D.J., Vanderlinden, L., and Eyles, J.  “Forests and societal values:   comparing scientific and public perception of forest health”.  The  Environmentalist, 19, 239–249 (1999). 

Rapport, D.J.  “On transformation from healthy to degraded aquatic ecosystems”.   Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management, 2:97-103 (1999). 

Rapport, D.J. et al.  “Ecosystem health:  The concept, the ISEH, and the important tasks  ahead”.  Ecosystem Health, 5:82-90 (1999). 

Rapport, D.J. and Whitford, W.  “How ecosystems respond to stress:  Common properties  of arid and aquatic systems”.  BioScience, 49: 193-203 (1999). 

Patel, A., and Rapport, D.J.  “Assessing the impacts of deer browsing, prescribed burns,  visitor use and trails on an oak-pine forest:  Pinery Provincial Park, Ontario,  Canada”.  Natural Areas Journal (2000) (in press). 

Rapport, D.J. and Moll, R.  “Applications of ecological theory and modelling to assess ecosystem health”.  In Joergensen, S.E., and Muller, F. (eds).  Handbook of  Ecosystem Theories.  CRC Press (2000). 

Rapport, D.J., Hilden, M., and Weppling, K.  “Restoring the health of the earth’s  ecosystems: A new challenge for the earth sciences”.  Episodes, 23 (1) 12-19 (2000). 

Rapport, D.J.  “Ecological footprints and ecosystem health:  complementary approaches to a sustainable future”.  Ecological Economics, 32:367-370 (2000). 

Costanza, R.; Daly, H.; Folke, C.; Hawken, P.; Holling, C.S.; McMichael, A.M.;  Pimentel, D.; and Rapport, D.  “Managing our environmental portfolio”.   BioScience 50 (2) 149-155 (2000). 

Rapport, D.J., Christensen, N., Karr, J.R., and Patil, G.P.  “The centrality of ecosystem health in achieving sustainability in the 21st century:  concepts and new approaches to environmental management”.  Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Series VI, Volume IX.  University of Toronto Press, 3-40 (1999). 

Rapport, D.J.  “Biosphere in Distress”.  The World and I, April 2000.  Pp. 142–151. 
Rapport, D.J.  (with P. Horwitz).  “Ecosystem Health:  An Antipodean Perspective”.   Ecosystem Health 6 (2), 2000. 

Rapport, D.J.  “A New Strategy for Public Health”.  Ecosystem Health 6 (1): 1-2.  2000.   
Publications  37
 
Rapport, D.J.  “Opportunities for Ecologists in Ecosystem Health”.  INTECOL  Newsletter, Winter/Spring, 2000. 

Rapport, D.J.  “Reaching across disciplinary lines:  Linking Plant Pathology, Medical and Veterinary Epidemiology, and Ecosystem Health”.  Ecosystem Health 5 (3):  127.  2000.  

Rapport, D.J.  “Gaining Respectability: Development of Quantitative Methods of  Ecosystem Health”.  Ecosystem Health, 5 (1): 1-2.  2000. 

 Rapport, D.J.  “Biospheric Collapse and Global Paralysis”.  Plenary address at the International Society for Ecological Economics, 6th Biennial Symposium.   Canberra, NSW.  July 8, 2000. 

Rapport, D.J.  “Transdisciplinary Approaches to Ecosystem Health”.  Keynote speaker at  the International Society for Ecosystem Health.  Brisbane, Australia.   July 12, 2000. 

Rapport, D.J.  “The Challenge of Delivering on Ecosystem Health”.  Keynote speaker at  University of Regina, Symposium on Monitoring for Ecosystem Health.   Regina, Saskatchewan.  April 4, 2000. 

Rapport, D.J.  “Ecosystem Health:  Beyond Metaphor”.  Plenary address at the Finish  Society of Environmental Social Sciences.  Crypt of the Helsinki Cathedral,  Helsinki, Finland.  November 25, 1999. 

Rapport, D.J.  “Why Ecosystem Health:  Challenges in Integration of the Sciences”.   Public lecture at Saint Mary’s University.  Halifax, Nova Scotia.  October,  1999.