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In revision; please be patient
| Dr. Harding’s undergraduate
training in California, USA, included courses on agrostology (grasses),
range ecology, mammalogy, plant taxonomy, soils, and wildlife management in
desert ecosystems. As an undergraduate, Dr. Harding studied ungulate ecology
and management in a California desert of the Sonoran ecotype
(sagebrush-dominated). During 1974–1975, Dr. Harding documented the
population crash of caribou and muskoxen from starvation in the High Arctic
(a polar desert) resulting from poor range conditions (F.F. Slaney & Co.
Ltd. 1975).This research led to
the establishment in 1986 of Canada's first national wildlife area at Polar
Bear Pass, Bathurst Island, Northwest Territories. In British Columbia, Dr.
Harding studied threats to biodiversity in grassland and desert ecosystems
dominated by sagebrush and grasses. He published three book chapters
(Harding 1994; Harding and McCullum 1994; Harding et al. 1994) and a
research paper (Harding 1997) on aspects of this work, and contracted for a
chapter on other aspects for his book on biodiversity in British Columbia
(Pitt and Hooper 2004). Implementation of his recommendations has resulted
in improved rangeland management, including reduced livestock stocking rates
and programs to eliminate invasive exotic plants in British Columbia. He has
applied his hobby of bird and mammal watching in deserts of the western USA, Mexico,
Chile, Peru, and several Mediterranean countries.
In 2002 and 2003, SciWrite led an assessment of the environmental impact of
the 1990-1991 Gulf War on the terrestrial and wetland ecosystems of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as part of a multinational joint venture. In
2004, Dr. Harding participated on the delegation of the Jordanian to the
United Nations to present the case for compensation to the United Nations
Compensation Commission. SciWrite's part of the project resulted in an award
of $161 million to Jordan in 2005 as compensation for the damage; the funds
were paid by Iraq. In 2006, SciWrite assisted the government of Jordan to
design the rangeland restoration program. See the
Jordan page for more information on this project.
Dr. Harding has studied wildlife in the Kalahari Desert
and the Namib Desert, Africa. |
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- Campaña National Park, Chile
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- Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Mexico
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- Peruvian thick-knee (a desert bird), Peru
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- Southern Oryx, Kalahari Desert, Botswana
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- Namib Desert, Namibia
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 - Badlands, Alberta
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 - Mule deer, Oregon
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 - Antelope, Wyoming
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 - Bighorn sheep, British Columbia
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