CAMPUS DIRECTORY

Interests:  Landscape Ecology, Land-Use Change, Conservation Planning, GIS, Remote Sensing, Spatial Statistics, Southern Africa

Doctorate:  PhD 2001  |  Ecology  |  University of Pretoria, South Africa 

Professional Accreditation: GISP 2014 |  GIS Certification Institute

Secondary Role:  Campus GIS Manager

Dean is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research integrates geography, ecology, and applied spatial analysis. Using GIS, remote sensing, and quantitative methods, he examines land cover change, fire–grazer dynamics, water markets, and the spatial dimensions of hunger and food insecurity. His work combines long-term satellite and socioeconomic data to analyze how environmental constraints and policy frameworks produce spatial inequality, supporting departmental strengths in geospatial science and human–environment systems. His regional focusses cover Southern Africa and the Western USA.

BOOKS:  

California Cultural Landscapes: An Exploration of Spatial Patterns Over Time. 2nd Edition. Kendall Hunt Publishers: Dubuque, IA, 2011.

Discovering Physical Geography: Our Global Environment. 2nd Edition. Kendall Hunt Publishers: Dubuque, IA, 2021.

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

Archibald, S., Bond, W.J., Stock, W.D., and D.H.K. Fairbanks. 2005. Shaping the landscape: fire-grazer interactions in an African savanna. Ecological Applications 15:96-109.

Botha, J., Witkowski, E.T.F., Shackleton, C.M., and D.H.K. Fairbanks. 2004. Socio-economic differentiation in the trade of wildlife species for traditional medicines in the Lowveld, South Africa: implications for resource management. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 11:280-297.

Chaudhry, A.M., D.H.K. Fairbanks, & A. Caldwell. 2015. Determinants of water sales during droughts: Evidence from rice farm-level data in California. Agricultural and Applied Economics Association AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, Volume: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/205446

Chaudhry, A.M. and D.H.K. Fairbanks. 2022. Distributional implications of supply constraints in water markets. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 148(7): 04022033

Chaudhry, A.M., Fairbanks, D.H.K., and C. Nolte. 2024. Water market participation and agricultural land values. Land Economics 100(1):127-147.

Clark, M., Lis, R., Fairbanks, D.H.K., and K. Schierenbeck 2008. A Spatial and temporal Investigation of Eleocharis macrostachya and Orcuttia tenuis vernal pool plants. Madrono 55(4):257-268.

Fairbanks, D.H.K. 2000.  Physio-climatic classification of South Africa's woodland biome. Plant Ecology 149:71-89.

Fairbanks, D.H.K. 2004. Assessing regional land use impacts that affect avian patterns of diversity in Southern African. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 101:269-288.

Fairbanks, D.H.K. 2020. Geography of hunger: Demographic and socioeconomic determinates of large-scale severe hunger rates in Fresno, California. Journal of Poverty, 25(1):1-22.

Fairbanks, D.H.K. and G.A. Benn. 2000.  Deriving the landscape structure of a region for biodiversity conservation planning: A case study from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Landscape and Urban Planning 50:237-257.

Fairbanks, D.H.K., Hughes, C., and J. Turpie. 2004. The potential impact of viticulture expansion on biodiversity in the Cape Floristic Region. Biodiversity and Conservation 13:1075-1100.

Fairbanks, D.H.K. and K.C. McGwire. 2000. Coarse-scale gradient analysis of environmental factors in relation to plant species diversity for vegetation communities of California. Geographic Information Science 6:48-60.

Fairbanks, D.H.K. and K.C. McGwire. 2004. Patterns of floristic richness in vegetation communities of California: regional scale analysis with multi-temporal NDVI. Global Ecology and Biogeography 13:221-235.

Fairbanks, D.H.K., Reyers, B., and A.S. van Jaarsveld. 2001. Species and environment representation: Selecting reserves for the retention of avian diversity in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Biological Conservation 98:365-379.

Fairbanks, D.H.K., Kshatriya, M., van Jaarsveld, A.S., and L.G. Underhill. 2002. Scales and consequences of human land transformation on South African avian diversity and structure. Animal Conservation 5:1-14.

Fairbanks, D.H.K. and M. Thompson. 1996.  Assessing land-cover map accuracy for the South African land-cover database. South African Journal of Science 92:465-470.

Fairbanks, D.H.K., Thompson, M., Vink, D.E., Newby, T.S., van der Berg, H.M., and D.A. Everard. 2000.  The South African land-cover characteristics database: A synopsis of the landscape.  South African Journal of Science 96:69-85.

Hassan, R.M., Fairbanks, D.H.K., Magagula, G., and H. Faki. 1999.  Analysing Comparative Advantage of Agricultural Production and Trade Options in Southern Africa: Guidelines for a Unified Approach, Technical Paper No. 100, Sustainable Development Publication Series. Office of Sustainable Development, Bureau for Africa, USAID, Washington, D.C.

Hudak, A., Fairbanks, D.H.K., and B. Brockett. 2004. Effects of fire history on fire scar patterns in a southern African Savanna. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 101:307-325.

Mwicigi, J.M.W., Fairbanks, D.H.K., and G. Midgley. 2002. Hierarchical processes define spatial pattern of avian assemblages restricted and endemic to the arid Karoo, South Africa. Journal of Biogeography 29:1067-1087.

Reyers, B., Fairbanks, D.H.K., and A.S. van Jaarsveld. 2002. A multicriteria approach to reserve selection: addressing long-term biodiversity maintenance and land use planning. Biodiversity and Conservation 11:769-793.

Reyers, B., Fairbanks, D.H.K., van Jaarsveld, A.S., and M.W. Thompson. 2001. South African vegetation priority conservation areas-a coarse filter approach. Diversity and Distributions 7:79-89.

Robertson, M.P., Villet, M.H., Fairbanks, D.H.K., Henderson, L., Higgins, S.I., Hoffmann, J.H., Le Maitre, D.C.,  Palmer, A.R., Riggs, I., Shackleton, C.M., and H.G. Zimmermann. 2003. A proposed prioritization system for the management of weeds in South Africa. South African Journal of Science 99:37-43.

Scott, D.F., Le Maitre, D.C., and D.H.K. Fairbanks. 1998.  Forestry and streamflow reductions in South Africa: A reference system for assessing extent and distribution. Water South Africa 24:187-199.

Shackelton, S.E., Shackleton, C.M., Netshiluvhi, T.R., Geach, B.S., Balance, A., and D.H.K. Fairbanks. 2002. Use patterns and value of savanna resources in three rural villages in South Africa. Economic Botany 56:1-16.

Symons, J., Fairbanks, D.H.K., and C. Skinner. 2008. Influences of Stand Structure and Fuel Treatments on Wildfire Severity at Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest, northeastern California. The California Geographer 48:61-83.

Thompson, M.W., Vink, E.R., Fairbanks, D.H.K., Balance, A., and C.M. Shackleton. 2001. Comparison of extent and transformation of the woodland biome from two national databases. South African Journal of Science 97:179-182.

BOOK CHAPTERS:

Alexander, G.J., Harrison, J.A., Fairbanks, D.H.K., and R.A. Navarro. 2004. Biogeography of the frogs of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. In L.R. Minter, M. Burger, J.A. Harrison, H.H. Braak, P.J. Bishop and D. Kloepfer (eds.), Atlas of the Red Data Book of the Frogs of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, pp. 31-47. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Fairbanks, D.H.K., McGwire, K.C., Cayocca, K.D., and J.E. Estes. 1996.  Sensitivity of floristic gradients in vegetation communities to climate change. In M.F. Goodchild, L.T. Steyaert, B.O. Parks, C. Johnston, D. Maidment, M. Crane, and S. Glendinning (eds.), GIS and Environmental Modelling: Progress and

Vasseur, L., P.G. Schaberg, J. Hounsell, P.O. Ang, D. Cote, L.D. Duc, J.S. Ebenezer, D. Fairbanks, B. Ford, W. Fyfe, R. Gordon, Y. Guang, J. Guernsey, A. Harman, A. Hamilton, W. Hard, H. Hong, J. Howard, B. Huang, Y. Huang, D. Karnawati, R. Lannigan, S. Lawrence, Z. Li, Y. Liu, D. Malley, L. McLean, R. McMurty, V. Mercier, N. Mori, M. Munawar, M.A. Naragdao, K. Okamoto, D. Rainham, D. Riedel, E. Rodriguez, M. Saraf, H. Savard, N. Scott, A. Singleton, R. Smith, H. Taylor, N.T. Lien, S. Xing, and H. Xuan. 2002. Ecosystem health and human health: Healthy planet, healthy living. In Understanding and Solving Environmental Problems in the 21st Century: Toward a New, Integrated Hard Problem Science, eds. By R. Costanza, S.E. Jorgensen, pp. 189-217, Elsevier: New York.

TECHNICAL REPORTS:

Over 30 technical reports. List available upon request.  Latest include:

Chaudhry, A. M., Stone, J. M., Fairbanks, D.H.K., and Michael, J. 2020. Salinity and crop choice in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Technical report prepared for the Delta Protection Commission, State of California. 47 pages.

Fairbanks, D.H.K, Sato, N., and S. Carroll. 2020. Climate change vulnerability in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Agriculture and levee impacts. Technical report prepared for the Delta Protection Commission, State of California. 65 pages.