Dr. Michael Falkowski is the Program Manager of the NASA Applied Sciences Wildland Fires and FireSense programs. He has previously served in the Research and Analysis program where his duties include supporting the planning and implementation of ABoVE (the Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment). Dr. Falkowski joined NASA from Colorado State University where he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability. Over the last 20 years, Dr. Falkowski has conducted research in conjunction with a variety of governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations to solve problems in ecosystem science and applied natural resource conservation and management, primarily through the analysis of remotely sensed and other geospatial data. His research has largely focused on characterizing vegetation composition, structure, and function and associated dynamics across a variety of ecosystem types and spatial extents.

In addition to research, Dr. Falkowski has taught numerous courses in remote sensing, geospatial science, and forest ecology. Dr. Falkowski has previously held faculty positions at the University of Minnesota and Michigan Technological University and was also a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Research Fellow with the Canadian Forest Service at the Pacific Forestry Centre in Victoria, British Columbia.