C.S. Holling

C.S. (Buzz) Holling is a Canadian ecologist. He received his B.A. and M.Sc. at the University of Toronto (1952) and his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia (1957). He worked for some years in the laboratories of the Department of the Environment, Government of Canada, emphasizing research on mathematical and experimental analysis of ecological processes, particularly predator/prey dynamics. Since then, he has been, at various times, Professor and Director of the Institute of Resource Ecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and Director of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Vienna, Austria, and Eminent Scholar, Arthur R. Marshall Jr. Chair in Ecological Sciences in the Department of Zoology at the University of Florida. He is now retired.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and has been awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Arts and Science. He was founding editor-in-chief of the on-line journal Conservation Ecology, now know as Ecology and Society. He was the founder of the network Resilience Alliance, an international science network.

Throughout his research, C.S. Holling blended systems theory and ecology with modeling and policy analysis to develop integrative theories of change that have practical utility. He has introduced important ideas in the application of ecology and evolution, including resilience, adaptive management, the adaptive cycle, and panarchy.