Alton C. Byers, Ph.D.
Director, Research and Education Programs
The Mountain Institute

Alton C. Byers, Ph.D. is a mountain geographer specializing in integrated conservation and development programs, applied research, and the development of mountain-based educational courses and materials. He received his doctorate from the University of Colorado in 1987, focusing on landscape change and human-accelerated soil loss in the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Khumbu, Nepal. Following two years of integrated conservation and development work in Ruhengeri Prefecture, Rwanda, he joined The Mountain Institute (TMI) in 1990 as Environmental Advisor. Between 1993-94, he and his family were based in Khandbari, Nepal to help establish Nepal’s newest national park, the Makalu-Barun National Park and Conservation Area. During 1994-1996, he worked as founder and Director of Andes Programs in the Huascaran National Park, Peru; directed TMI’s Appalachian Program and Spruce Knob Mountain Center (SKMC) in West Virginia between 1998-2000; and currently works as Director of TMI’s Research and Education Program in support of all programs. Dr. Byers has worked and published on a variety of research, field managerial, and program development initiatives in the U.S., China, Nepal, India, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. Current initiatives include the study of human and cattle impacts on alpine regions of Nepal, Tibet, and Peru; glacial recession in the Everest region since 1953; co-editing of a new mountain geography textbook; and coordination of a new multi-year program designed to strengthen TMI’s institutional effectiveness, monitoring and evaluation capacities, and field-based impacts. On March 15, 2004, Dr. Byers received the Association of American Geographer’s Distinguished Career Award through the Mountain Geography Specialty Group.