Randall K. Wilson, PhD

Randall K. Wilson, PhD

Randall K. Wilson, PhD, is a professor of environmental studies at Gettysburg College, where he teaches courses on environmental policy, natural resource management, sustainable communities, and the geography of the American West. He has served on the USDA Forest Service’s National Science Panel and on the board of directors for the Rural Geography Specialty Group within the Association of American Geographers. He earned a Fulbright Fellowship to the University of Vienna. His book America’s Public Lands: From Yellowstone to Smokey Bear and Beyond was named an Outstanding Academic Title from Choice Reviews and won John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize from the Association of American Geographers.

author photo by Sara Cawley

When Wolves Returned to Yellowstone – Twenty-five Years On

Journal Article

How can it be that the return of wolves could somehow alter Yellowstone’s rivers and streams? Or that the presence of wolves would result in an increase in songbirds or amphibians? No one saw these things coming. Though still debated, the concept of the “trophic cascade” offers one explanation of what has transpired.