Travis E. Huxman

Biography

Travis E. Huxman, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. A physiological ecologist, Travis studies the evolution of functional traits in plants and the impacts of climate change on ecosystems, with a focus on carbon and water cycle interactions in drylands, which cover approximately 40% of Earth's surface. He has authored more than 190 peer-reviewed publications, including contributions to Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Travis joined UCI in 2012 after eleven years on the faculty at the University of Arizona, where he served as Director of Biosphere 2 and the B2 Earthscience program from 2007 to 2012. At UCI, he served as Director of the Center for Environmental Biology from 2012 to 2021, Faculty Director of the Sustainability Initiative from 2014 to 2017, and Faculty Advisor to the Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America.

Travis is a first generation college graduate, taking advantage of California's Master Plan for Higher Education by attending Chaffey College and Cal. State. San Bernardino prior to receiving his Ph.D. in Biological Science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2000. He was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Colorado, Boulder and joined the University of Arizona as faculty in 2001.

Education

• B.S. in Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, 1993
• M.S. in Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, 1996
• Ph.D. in Biological Science, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2000

Distinctions

• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2020
• Alumnus of the Year, Chaffey College, 2020
• Distinguished Alumnus, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2019
• Fellow, Ecological Society of America, 2017
• Lauds and Laurels Outstanding University Service Award, University of California, Irvine, 2016
• Distinguished Alumnus, College of Natural Sciences, California State University, San Bernardino, 2004
• UNLV Foundation Dissertation Research Excellence Award, 2000
• Forrest Shreve Award for Desert Research, Ecological Society of America, 1997
• Best Student Poster Award, Ecological Society of America, Physiological Ecology Section, 1998