
William Rees
William Rees is a human ecologist, ecological economist, former Director and Professor Emeritus of UBC’s School of Community and Regional Planning. His research focuses on the ecological requirements for sustainable development and on the behavioural and socio-cultural barriers to change. Best known as the originator of ‘ecological footprint analysis’, Prof Rees has authored over 150 peer-reviewed and numerous popular articles on sustainability policy (or lack thereof). The Vancouver Sun named Prof Rees as one of BC’s top public intellectuals in 2006. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and was awarded both the Boulding Prize in Ecological Economics and a Blue Planet Prize (jointly with Dr Mathis Wackernagel) in 2012. In 2014, Dr Rees was elected a full member of the Club of Rome and last year he received the 2015 Herman Daly Award from the US Society for Ecological Economics.