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David R Butler

david r butler
David R Butler

Texas State University System Regents' Professor Emeritus and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., Geography, University of Kansas, 1982
Email:  db25@txstate.edu
Research Interests: Zoogeomorphology, Dendrogeomorphology, Mountain Geomorphology, Mountain Biogeography, Mountain Environments and Environmental Change, Geomorphology in the Anthropocene, History and Philosophy of Geography, Glacier National Park (Montana)


Selected Publications:

Books Authored:

Butler, David R., 2016. San Marcos. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 128 pp.

Butler, David R., 2014. Fire Lookouts of Glacier National Park. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 128 pp.

Butler, David R., 2007. Zoogeomorphology: Animals as Geomorphic Agents, Paperback Re-issue. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 231 pp.

Butler, David R., 1995. Zoogeomorphology: Animals as Geomorphic Agents. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 231 pp.

Books Edited:

Butler, David R. (Ed.), 2017. Section Editor for Geomorphology, International Encyclopedia of Geography, American Association of Geographers and John Wiley.

Butler, David R., and Cliff R. Hupp (Eds.), 2013. Treatise on Geomorphology, vol. 12, Ecogeomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1-321.

Stoffel, Markus, Michelle Bollschweiler, David R. Butler, and Brian H. Luckman (Eds.), 2010. Tree Rings and Natural Hazards – A State of the Art. Springer, Heidelberg and New York, xv and 505 pp.

Butler, David R., George P. Malanson, Stephen J. Walsh, and Daniel B. Fagre (Eds.), 2009. The Changing Alpine Treeline – The Example of Glacier National Park, Montana. Elsevier, The Netherlands, xxii and 199pp.

Butler, David R., Stephen J. Walsh, and George P. Malanson (Eds.), 2003. Mountain GeomorphologyIntegrating Earth Systems. Elsevier, The Netherlands, 398 pp.

Recent Referred Book Chapters:

Butler, David R., 2017. “Zoogeomorphology”. In Humans and Animals – A Geography of Coexistence (Julie Urbanik and Connie L. Johnston, eds.). ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA, 372-374.

Butler, David R., 2017. “Zoogeomorphology”. In International Encyclopedia of Geography (Geomorphology Section, David R. Butler, ed.). John Wiley and American Association of Geographers, Washington, DC, 7801-7806.

Butler, David R. and Richard A. Marston. 2017. “Landforms and Physiography”. In International Encyclopedia of Geography (Geomorphology Section, David R. Butler, ed.). John Wiley and American Association of Geographers, Washington, DC, 3977-3982.

Oguchi, Takashi, and David R. Butler, 2017. “Geomorphic Systems”. In International Encyclopedia of Geography (Geomorphology Section, David R. Butler, ed.). John Wiley and American Association of Geographers, Washington, DC, 2832-2836.

Cavin, Rachel M., and David R. Butler, 2016. “Animal Hazards – Their Nature and Distribution.” Invited chapter, Biological and Environmental Hazards, Risks, and Disasters (Ramesh Sivanpillai, ed.), Elsevier, The Netherlands, pp 153-180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-394847-2.00011-5

Butler, David R., 2013. Grazing influences on geomorphic systems. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), James, L.A., Harden, C.P., Clague, J.J. (Eds.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 13, Geomorphology of Human Disturbances, Climate Change, and Natural Hazards, pp. 68–73.

Butler, David R., and Cliff R. Hupp, 2013. The role of biota in geomorphology: Ecogeomorphology. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in chief), Butler, D.R., Hupp, C.R. (Eds.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 12, Ecogeomorphology, pp. 1–5.

Butler, David R., Clayton J. Whitesides, and Stephen G. Tsikalas, 2013. The faunal influence: geomorphic form and process. In: Shroder, J. (Editors in chief), Butler, D.R., Hupp, C.R. (Eds.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 12, Ecogeomorphology, pp. 252–260.

Butler, D.R., Clayton J. Whitesides, John M. Wamsley, and Stephen G. Tsikalas, 2013. The geomorphic impacts of animal burrowing and denning. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Butler, D.R., Hupp, C.R. (Eds.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 12, Ecogeomorphology, pp. 271–280.

Stoffel, Markus, Brian H. Luckman, David R. Butler, and Michelle Bollschweiler, 2013. Dendrogeomorphology: dating earth-surface processes with tree rings. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Butler, D.R., Hupp, C.R. (Eds.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 12, Ecogeomorphology, pp. 125–144.

Westbrook, Cherie J., David J. Cooper, and David R. Butler, 2013. Beaver hydrology and geomorphology. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Butler, D.R., Hupp, C.R. (Eds.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 12, Ecogeomorphology, pp. 293–306.

Recent Referred Journal Papers:

Butler, David R., 2018. Zoogeomorphology in the Anthropocene. Geomorphology 303, 146-154.

Butler, David R., 2018. From the Archives – Man as a Geological Agent: An Account of His Action on Inanimate Nature, by Robert Lionel Sherlock, 1922. Progress in Physical Geography 42(4), 530-534.

Butler, David R., Faisal Anzah, Paepin D. Goff, and Jennifer Villa, 2018. Zoogeomorphology and Resilience Theory. Geomorphology 305, 154-162.

Holtkamp, Chris, Russell Weaver, and David R. Butler, 2018. The Rocky Mountains and the Southwest: Using Feature Names to Study Two Iconic Subregions in the American West. Geographical Review 108(3), 410-432.

Martin, Ross H., David R. Butler, and John Klier, 2018 accepted, in proof. The Influence of Tire Size on Bicycle Impacts to Soil and Vegetation. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 7 pages in proof.

Thoms, Martin C., Kimberly M. Meitzen, Jason P. Julian, and David R. Butler, 2018. Bio-geomorphology and Resilience Thinking: Common Ground and Challenges. Geomorphology 305, 1-7.

Anzah, Faisal, and David R. Butler, 2017. Revisiting an early classic on gopher bioturbation and geomorphology: Joseph Grinnell (1923) The burrowing rodents of California as agents in soil formation. Journal of Mammalogy 4(3): 137-149. Progress in Physical Geography 41(4), 513-517.

Anzah, Faisal A., David R. Butler, and Richard W. Dixon, 2017. The effects of physical landscape variables on burrow-site selection in the Kuwaiti Desert by Lesser Egyptian Jerboa (Jaculus jaculus). Papers in Applied Geography 3(1), 44-51.

Butler, David R., 2017. Roderick Peattie’s Mountain Geography – A Critique and Field Study (1936). Progress in Physical Geography 41(2), 238-242.

Martin, Ross H., and David R. Butler, 2017. A Framework for Understanding Off-trail Trampling Impacts in Mountain Environments. The George Wright Forum – The GWS Journal of Parks, Protected Areas and Cultural Sites 34(3), 354-367.


Courses Taught:

Undergraduate Level
GEO 2410 Introduction to Physical Geography
GEO 3425 Geomorphology
GEO 4316 Landscape Biogeography

Graduate Level
GEO 7302 Nature and Philosophy of Geography
GEO 7370 Seminar in Environmental Geography (Various Topics, including Dendrogeomorphology, Extremes in Geomorphology, Geomorphology in the Anthropocene, Physical Geography of the National Parks)
GEO 7393B/5393B/5316 Biogeomorphology
GEO 7393K/5393K Biogeography in Mountain Environments