Fred Provenza, originally from Colorado, earned a B.S. Degree in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University. He worked on a ranch in Colorado for several years then pursued a PhD in Range Science at Utah State University, where he taught as faculty member in the Department of Range Science from 1982 to 2009. He currently is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University.

For the past 30 years, his group has produced ground-breaking research that laid the foundations for what is now known as behavior-based management of landscapes. That work inspired researchers in disciplines as diverse as chemical ecology, ruminant nutrition, human nutrition and biopsychology, animal welfare, landscape restoration ecology, wildlife damage management, pasture and rangeland science and management, and rural sociology and eco-development.