Dean H.K. Fairbanks
Additional title: Campus GIS Manager
Interests: Landscape ecology, political ecology/economy, land-use change, GIS, remote sensing, and spatial statistics
Doctorate: PhD 2001 | Ecology | University of South Africa, Pretoria
Dean is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research integrates geography, ecology, and applied spatial analysis. Using GIS, remote sensing, and quantitative spatial methods, he investigates land cover change, fire–grazer dynamics, agricultural water markets, and the spatial dimensions of hunger and food insecurity. His work combines long-term satellite records with socioeconomic and institutional data to examine how environmental constraints and policy frameworks shape spatial inequality. He contributes to departmental strengths in geospatial science, human–environment systems, and applied research, and regularly incorporates his research into teaching in GIS, remote sensing, and spatial analysis.