Mark Watkins is Program Manager for the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research Program, part of the US LTER Network. He received his M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning with a certificate in Energy Analysis and Policy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before joining the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research project (CAP LTER), he worked as Project Coordinator for the Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (UGEC) Project. He has also worked with rural communities and non-profits organizations issues of renewable energy implementation and sustainability.