ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
University of Colorado Mathematics (Asst. Prof. to Prof., 1956-1970;
University of Montana Mathematical Sciences (Prof. 1970-1993,
Prof. Emeritus 1993.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Over the years Robert McKelvey's mathematical interests have ranged rather widely, over differential equations, functional analysis, stochastic processes, decisions and games.

For the past two decades and more, he has undertaken applied mathematical modeling relevant to the management and conservation of biological resources and natural ecosystems. During 1990-92 (a period when he was seconded to US EPA Research Laboratories) his focus turned to risk management, especially in mitigating the impacts of global climate change on terrestrial biodiversity. Since 1993 his work has evolved to the modeling of conflict and cooperation in the management of environmental resources. Most especially he has focused on marine ecosystem conservation and the management of trans-national high-seas fisheries.

During the decade 1987-97 he also directed a series of Summer Modeling Workshops, for college teachers of mathematics. The intent was to encourage the development, within the undergraduate math curriculum, of applied modeling courses. The emphasis in these workshops was primarily on applications to conservation biology and to international environmental management.

Earlier, Robert McKelvey's research interests were primarily in mathematical analysis, with some applications to mathematical physics. In 1968, while chair of the University of Colorado Mathematics Department, he spearheaded creation of the Rocky Mountain Mathematics Consortium, and then served for several years as its Executive Director. Later, in 1985, he organized the interdisciplinary journal Natural Resource Modeling, and remained its Executive Editor for most of the next two decades.

Recent Research Reports: (PDF copies available electronically.)

(2003) Regional Fisheries Management on the High Seas: The Hit-and-Run Interloper Model, by Robert McKelvey, Leif K. Sandal, and Stein Ivar Steinshamn. To appear in the International Game Theory Review.

(2002) Fish Wars Revisited: A Stochastic Incomplete-Information Harvesting Game, by Robert McKelvey, Kathleen Miller, and Peter Golubtsov Submitted for publication. A preliminary version appeared as "A stochastic split-stream harvesting model: insights on information and the Pacific salmon wars", in Proceedings of the Conference on Risk and Uncertainty in Environmental and Resource Economics, Wageningen, Nederland, 5-7-9 June, 2002.

(2002) The Effects of Incomplete Information in Stochastic Common Stock Harvesting Games, by Robert McKelvey and Peter Golubtsov. Submitted for publication. A preliminary version appeared in the Proceedings of the International Society for Dynamic Games, St. Petersburg, Russia, 8-11 July, 2002.

(2001) Fish Wars on the High Seas: A Straddling Stock Competition Model, Working Paper no. 13/01, Centre for Fisheries Economics, Foundation for Research in Economics and Business Administration, Bergen, Norway, April 1, 2001. A revised version has appeared in the International Game Theory Review, Vol.4, pp 53-69 (2002)

(2001) The Split-Stream Harvesting Game I: Mathematical Analysis, by Robert McKelvey,
41 pages. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder. NCAR/TN-449I.

(2001) The Split-Stream Harvesting Game II:Numerical and Simulation Studies, by Robert McKelvey and Gregory Cripe, 15 pages. National Center for Atmospheric Research,
Boulder. NCAR/TN-449II.

Some Recent Publications

(2002) "Fish Wars on the High Seas:A Straddling Stock Competition Model", by Robert McKelvey, Leif Sandal, and Stein Steinshamn. International Game Theory Review, vol. 4, pp 53-69.

(2002). "The Pacific salmon dispute: Rationalizing a dysfunctional joint venture", by Robert McKelvey and Kathleen A. Miller. In Sustaining North American Salmon: A perspective across Regions and Disciplines, pp 341-368; Kristine D. Lynch, Michael L. Jones, and William W. Taylor, editors. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.

(2001). "The 1999 Pacific Salmon Agreement: A Sustainable Solution?", by Kathleen A. Miller, Gordon R. Munro, Ted L. McDorman, Robert McKelvey, and Peter Tyedmers. Canadian-American Public Policy, vol. 47, pp 1-66.

(1999) "Coexistence or Exclusion in a Competitive Common-Pool Fishery: A Revisionist View", by Robert McKelvey. Natural Resource Modeling, vol 12, pp 427-460

(1998) "Transboundary Fishery Resources and the Canada-United States Pacific Salmon Treaty", by Gordon Munro, Ted McDorman and Robert McKelvey. Canadian-American Public Policy, vol. 33, pp 1-48

(1997) "Game-Theoretic Insights into the International Management of Fisheries", by Robert McKelvey". Natural Resource Modeling, vol.10, pp 129-171, (1997).

(1996) "A Decision-Theoretic Approach to Viability Analysis for Endangered Species", by Robert McKelvey. Ecological Modelling, vol 92, pp 193-207 (Special issue on Ecological Resource Modelling, December, 1996).

(1995) "The Structure and Evolution of Competition-Organized Ecological Communities, by Robert McKelvey and Joseph Apaloo. Rocky Mountain Journal of Mathematics 25 (1995) 417-436

Some Related Earlier Publications

(1990) "Analyzing the harvesting game, or why are there so many kinds of fishing vessels in the fleet", by R. McKelvey. In "Dynamics of Complex Interconnected Biological Systems", pp. 306-332. T.L. Vincent et.al (eds), Birkhauser, Boston 1990.

(1989) "Common property and the conservation of natural resources", by Robert McKelvey. In "Applied Mathematical Ecology", Simon A. Levin, T. Hallam, and L. Gross, Eds., pp. 58-80. Springer Biomathematics Series, 1989.

(1987) "Fur seal and blue whale: the bioeconomics of extinction", by Robert McKelvey. In "Applications of Control Theory in Ecology", Y. Cohen (ed.) pp. 57-82. Springer Biomathematics Series, NY.

(1987) "Groundwater-Based Agriculture in the Arid American West: Modeling the Transition to a Steady-State Economy, by Robert McKelvey. In "Modeling and Management of Resources Under Uncertainty", T.L. Vincent, et. al(eds.). pp. 222-235, Springer Biomathematics Series, NY, 1987.

(1985) "Decentralized regulation of a common-property resource industry with irreversible investment", Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 12, pp 298-307.

(1983) "The Fishery in a Fluctuating Environment: Coexistence of Specialist and Generalist Fishing Vessels in a Multi-Purpose Fleet", by Robert McKelvey. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol.10 pp 287-309.