Neptune and Company, Inc.

(720) 746-1803 ext. 8#

(720) 746-1605

Dr. Balshi is a technical consultant with over 10 years of combined academic research and consulting experience. His research interests include the fields of ecological modeling, wildfire modeling, geospatial application development, and scientific programming. He offers consulting expertise in a wide variety of areas including wildfire modeling, data analysis & modeling, risk management, statistics, asbestos risk, radiological performance assessments, and quality control. Prior to joining Neptune and Company, Dr. Balshi assisted in the development of a simulation framework to model peat accumulation from the Holocene to present. Dr. Balshi has published several articles in the areas of carbon dynamics, wildfire modeling, and climate change.

Dr. Balshi also has previous experience working in analytical laboratories that focused on routine microbiological and chemical analysis as well as the standardization of methods for industrial hygiene monitoring. He has also assisted in the development of environmentally benign catalysts for large-scale chemical synthesis.

Dr. Balshi earned a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (specializing in Ecological Modeling) from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2007, an M.Phil. in Polar Studies (specializing in Satellite Remote Sensing) from the University of Cambridge, England in 2002, and undergraduate degrees in Environmental Science from Johnson State College and Paul Smith's College.

Dr. Balshi's C.V.

Registered with the Technical Advisory Service for Attorneys (TASA) Group and TAS Consulting (TASA ID: 1825010)

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications:

Balshi M.S., McGuire A.D., Duffy P., Flannigan M., Kicklighter D.W., Melillo J., 2009. Vulnerability of carbon storage in North American boreal forests to wildfires during the 21st Century, Global Change Biology, 15: 1491-1510.

Balshi M.S., McGuire A.D., Duffy P., Flannigan M., Walsh J., and Melillo J., 2009. Assessing the response of area burned to changing climate in western boreal North America using a Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) approach. Global Change Biology. 15: 578-600. *One of the 25 most-cited articles in Global Change Biology since publication, January 2009-present*

Balshi, M.S., A.D. McGuire, Q. Zhuang, J.M. Melillo, D.W. Kicklighter, E.S. Kasischke, C. Wirth, M. Flannigan, J. Harden, J.S. Clein, T.J. Burnside, J. McAllister, W.A. Kurz, M. Apps, and A. Shvidenko, 2007. The role of fire disturbance in the carbon dynamics of the pan-boreal region: A process-based analysis. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, G02029, doi:10.1029/2006JG000380.

Theses and Dissertations

Balshi, M.S., 2007. The role of fire in the carbon dynamics of the boreal forest, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, 193 p.
[Advisor/Committee Chair: A. D. McGuire; Committee Members: F. S. Chapin, III, T. S. Rupp, and D. L. Verbyla]

Balshi, M.S., 2001. Satellite monitoring of the response of circumarctic vegetation to environmental and anthropogenic forcing, M.Phil. Thesis, University of Cambridge, England, 204 p. [Advisor: W. G. Rees]

Selected Oral Presentations

Neptune and Company, Inc., 2010. Performance assessment for the EnergySolutions LLW Disposal Facility at Clive, Utah. Presented deep-time scenarios as part of this overall presentation. Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Radiation Control, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Balshi, M.S., A.D. McGuire, P.A. Duffy, D.W. Kicklighter, J.M. Melillo, and T.J. Burnside, 2007. The vulnerability of carbon storage in boreal North America during the 21st Century to increases in wildfire activity. Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, California.

Balshi, M.S., A.D. McGuire, Q. Zhuang, J.M. Melillo, D.W. Kicklighter, E.S. Kasischke, C. Wirth, M. Flannigan, J. Harden, J.S. Clein, T. Burnside, J. McAllister, W. Kurz, M. Apps, and A. Shvidenko. 2006. The role of fire disturbance in the carbon dynamics of the pan-boreal region: A process-based analysis. Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, California.

Balshi, M.S., A.D. McGuire, et al. 2006. The role of fire disturbance in the response of historical carbon dynamics in the boreal forest. USGS Alaska Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit Review, Fairbanks, Alaska

Balshi, M.S., A.D. McGuire, et al. 2006. The role of fire disturbance in the response of historical carbon dynamics in the boreal forest from 1950-2002. Long Term Ecological Research/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (LTER/JAXA), International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Professional Activities/Honors

Ad-hoc Manuscript Reviewer: Ecological Applications (2007; 2009); Journal of Geophysical Research (2007), PLoS ONE (2009); Journal of Environmental Management (2009); Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology (2010)

Member, American Geophysical Union (2000-present)

Member, Oxford and Cambridge Club (2001-present)

Fellow, Cambridge Overseas Society (2001); Bursary (2000-2001)

Johnson State College: Chesamore Honor Society (2000), Outstanding Achievement Award (2000)

Paul Smith’s College Alumni Council Award (1998)