William Rees is a human ecologist, ecological economist, Professor and former Director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) in Vancouver, Canada. Prof Rees founded the Ecological and Resources Planning component of the School’s academic program and, as Director, consolidated its teaching and research mission on the theme of long-term sustainability.

Prof Rees’ personal research and teaching focus on the planning, policy and human behavioural responses to global ecological change. He is best known in ecological economics as the originator and co-developer of ‘ecological footprint analysis’ which has arguably become the world’s most familiar sustainability indicator. Dr Rees’ book on the subject with then PhD student Mathis Wackernagel, has been translated into eight languages including Chinese. He has also authored more than 130 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and numerous popular articles on humanity’s (un)sustainability conundrum.

Prof Rees holds a Doctorate in ecology from the University of Toronto. He is a founding member and past President of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics, a founding Director of the OneEarth Initiative (http://oneearthweb.org/), a Fellow of the Post-Carbon Institute and a lon-standing member of Global Ecological Integrity Group.  The influence of Dr Rees’ work is widely recognized and awarded. He has been invited to lecture in 25 countries around the world; the Vancouver Sun named Prof Rees one of British Columbia’s top public intellectuals in 2000; in 2006 he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada and in 2007 he was awarded a prestigious Trudeau Foundation Fellowship.