Scott Bassett

Associate Dean, College of Science
Scott Bassett headshot

Summary

Dr. Bassett is a conservation biologist and geographic information systems specialist with over 15 years experience in using computers to address environmental planning issues. He has extensive experience in spatial modeling, habitat modeling, landscape ecology, military installation encroachment issues, urban/natural environment boundary and in conservation reserve assessment and planning.

Research interests

Environmental planning, urban growth modeling, alternative futures, spatial modeling, ecology, wildlife habitat relationships, GIS, integrative modeling and decision support systems

Courses taught

  • Introduction to Geotechnology (Geog 210/Geol 210)
  • World Regional Geography (Geog 200)
  • Geographic Information Systems I (Geog 405/605)
  • Advanced GIS (Geog 407/607)
  • Environmental Planning and Policy (Geog 466/666)
  • History and Nature of Planning (Geog 710)
  • Planning Studio (Geog 760)

Education

  • D.Des., Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, 2001
  • M.S., Fisheries and Wildlife Ecology, Utah State University, 1998
  • B.S., Geography and Anthropology, minor in Computer Science, Utah State University, 1993

Select publications

* indicates supervised student advisee

  • Hudson, A., M., B. J. Hatchett, J. Quade, D. P. Boyle, S. D. Bassett, and G. Ali. 2019. North-south dipole in winter hydroclimate in the western United States during the last deglaciation. Scientific Reports 9(4826):1-12.
  • Hatchett, B. J., D. P. Boyle, C. B. Garner, M. L. Kaplan, S. D. Bassett, and A. E. Putnam. 2018. Sensitivity of a western Great Basin terminal lake to winter northeast Pacific storm track activity and moisture transport. Geological Society of America Special Papers 536(5).
  • *White, J., M. Kemmelmeier, and S. Bassett. 2018. Human perceptions of an avian predator in an urban ecosystem: close proximity to nests increases fondness among local residents. Urban Ecosystems 21:271-280.
  • *White, J., J. Smith, S. Bassett, J. Brown, and Z. Ormsby. 2018. Raptor nesting locations along an urban density gradient in the Great Basin, USA. Urban Ecosystems 21:51-60.
  • *Trammell, E. J., D. A. Mouat, S. Thomas, Q. Korbulic, and S. D. Bassett. 2018. Developing alternative land use scenarios to facilitate natural resource management across jurisdictional boundaries. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 61:64-85.
  • Hudson, A., J. Quade, G. Ali, D. P. Boyle, S. Bassett, K. W. Huntington, M. G. De los Santos, A. S. Cohen, K. Lin, and X. Wang. 2017. Stable C, O and clumped isotope systematics and 14C geochronology of carbonates from the Quaternary Chewaucan closed-basin lake system. Great Basin, USA: implications for paleoenvironmental reconstructions using carbonates. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 212:274-302.
  • Hatchett, B. J., D. P. Boyle, C. B. Garner, M. L. Kaplan, A. E. Putnam, and S. D. Bassett. 2016. Magnitude and frequency of wet years under a megadrought climate in the western Great Basin, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews 152:197-202.
  • Barth, C., D. P. Boyle, B .J. Hatchett, S. D. Bassett, C. B. Garner, and K. D. Adams. 2016. Late Pleistocene climate inferences from a water-balance model of Jakes Valley, Nevada (USA). Journal of Paleolimnology 56:109-122.
  • Putnam, A., D. Putnam, W. Broecker, G. Denton, C. Wang, C., E. Cook, L. Andreu-Hayles, J. Palmer, E. Clark, I. Hajdas, J. Southon, D.P. Boyle, S. D. Bassett, S. Birkel, J. Martin, F. Quesada, and H. Wolcott. 2016. Little Ice Age wetting of interior Asian deserts and the rise of the Mongol Empire. Quaternary Science Reviews 131:33-50.
  • Hatchett, B. J., D. P. Boyle, A. E. Putnam, and S. D. Bassett. 2015. Placing the 2012-2015 California-Nevada drought into a paleoclimate context: Insights from Walker Lake, California-Nevada, USA. Geophysical Research Letters 42:8632-8640.
  • *Rohrmeier, K. and S. D. Bassett. 2015. Planning burning man: The Black Rock City mirage. The California Geographer 54:23-46.
  • Boyle, D.P., C. Garner, J.S. Tilley, S. Bassett, A. Huggins, and C. Barth. 2015. Application of hydrologic models to assess the effects of cloud seeding on agriculture in the Walker River Basin of Nevada. Journal of Weather Modification 47:42-57.