Richard A. Marston is University Distinguished Professor of Geography at Kansas State University.  He served as 102nd President of the Association of American Geographers in 2005-06.  He also served the AAG as Division Chair and Regional Councilor for the Great Plains-Rocky Mountains Division, Chair of the Geomorphology Specialty Group and as an Associate Editor (1991-93) and Editorial Board member (2006-2014) of the Annals.  In 2003, Marston received the AAG’s Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors.  Since 1999, Marston has served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier journal, Geomorphology.  He is a Professional Hydrologist (#488, certified by the American Institute of Hydrology).  Richard is also a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Geological Society of America (GSA).  In 2007, Richard received the Oregon State University Geosciences Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2013 he received the AAG Meredith F. Burrill Award for excellence in applying concepts and techniques from geography to public policy in local, regional, national and international arenas.

Prior to joining Kansas State University in 2005, Marston held the endowed Sun Chair of Geology at Oklahoma State University.  While at OSU, Marston was awarded the 2004 Sterling L. Burks Award for Outstanding Environmental Research.  Marston also served on the faculties at the University of Wyoming (1986-96 and 1997-99) and the University of Texas-El Paso (1980-86).  During the 1996-97 academic year at the University of Alaska-Southeast, Marston helped establish an undergraduate program in environmental science and served as Director of the Foundation for Glacier and Environmental Research.  Marston earned the B.A. in Geography-Ecosystems from UCLA in 1974, followed by the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Geography from Oregon State University in 1976 and 1980, respectively.

Marston specializes in physical geography, geomorphology, mountain geography, and water resource geography.  His main research interest is separating the effects of human activities on landscapes from changes that occur naturally.  He has studied the effects of mining, wildfires, deforestation and reforestation, grazing, agriculture, river regulation, and military maneuvers on landform stability in France, Brazil, Mexico, the Himalaya of Nepal-India-Pakistan, and in the American West and Great Plains.  He has spent six summers mentoring students and conducting research on the Juneau Icefield in southeast Alaska.  While serving on independent scientific review panels in Australia and northern California, he examined human impacts on streams, wetlands and related biotic resources. Richard was selected as a Jefferson Science Fellow for 2011-12 by the National Academies. He served that year as a Senior Analyst in the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Office of the Geographer and Global Issues (INR-GGI).

Forty-four students have completed graduate degrees under Marston’s supervision.  He mentored 19 students in three separate NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) programs.  Marston has been awarded 44 funded contracts and grants for university research, and he has presented over 410 papers or posters at professional meetings, seminars and workshops.  Dick has co-edited four books and authored or co-authored more than 50 refereed publications and over 50 technical or consulting reports.  He is father to a son, Bryce (Geography doctoral candidate at Kansas State University, specializing in fluvial geomorphology), and a daughter, Brooke (M.S. Geography 2014, Oregon State University, specializing in geovisualization).  Richard appreciates the awards, honors and opportunities that have come his way, but he is most proud of his son and daughter having earned 6 college degrees, 5 of them in Geography, as well as the numerous times he took his children on field trips. Dick enjoys backcountry travel by river rafting, backpacking, and glacier excursions.