Professor Graduate Coordinator My goal is to pursue research that enhances our abilities to resolve complex social and environmental issues. I have worked extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a particular focus in Northeast Brazil and the Brazilian Amazon. I have been involved with work in Africa including the countries of Mozambique, Angola, and The Comoros. I also study land use histories in the Southern U.S. Recently, I have focused on climate-change vulnerability research. With a team of researchers, our work moves beyond incremental adaptation, and explores options for transformative adaptation to ensure sustainability within our societies. We highlight current challenges and provide recommendations for the SocioEnvironmental research community. Research Research Interests: Risks of human-environment interactions Land-use histories Global Infrastructure investment Global climate and environmental change Sustainability Imaging spectroscopy SocioEnvironmental (SES) research Remote sensing data Drought vulnurability Water management Labs: Human and Environmental Change Lab Selected Publications Selected Publications: Nelson, D.R., B. Bledsoe, S. Ferreira, and N. Nibbelink. 2020. The Potential of Nature-based Solutions for water sustainability. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability.45:49-55. doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2020.09.001 De Azevedo Reis, G., F.A. de Souza Filho, D.R. Nelson, R.V. Rocha and S.M.O. da Silva (2020). Development of a vulnerability to drought index using MCDM and GIS. Natural Disasters. doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04247-7 Nelson, D.R., Bledsoe, B., and M Shepherd. 2020. From hubris to humility: Transcending original sin in managing hydroclimate risk management. Anthropocene. doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2020.100239 Chin, A., X. Cui, L. Gillson, D.R. Nelson, M. P. Taylor, V. Vanacker and E. Wang (2020). "Anthropocene in an age of pandemics." Anthropocene. doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2020.100247 King, E., Nelson, D.R., and J.R. McGreevy. 2019. Advancing the integration of ecosystem services and livelihood adaptation. Environmental Research Letters. doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab5519 Coughlan, M and D.R. Nelson. 2019. Geostatistical analysis of historical contingency and land use footprints in the prehistoric settlement dynamics of the South Carolina Piedmont, North America. Journal of Archaeological Science 107:1-9. doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2019.04.003 Unks, R., King, E., Nelson, D.R., Wachira, N.P., and L. German. 2019. Constraints, multiple stressors, and stratified adaptation: pastoralist livelihood vulnerability in a semi-arid wildlife conservation context in Central Kenya. Global Environmental Change. 54:124-134. doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.11.013 Unks, R., King, E., German, L. Wachira, N.P., and D.R. Nelson. 2019. Unevenness in scale mismatches: institutional change and pastoralist livelihoods in Laikipia, Kenya. Geoforum. 99:74-87. doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.12.010 Maione, C., Nelson, D.R., and R.M. Barbosa. 2019. Research on social data by means of cluster analysis. Applied Computing and Informatics. 15(2):153-162. doi:10.1016/j.aci.2018.02.003 Coughlan, M., and D.R. Nelson. 2018. Legacy effects of prehistoric Native American niche construction on Euro-American settlement in the South Carolina Piedmont. PLOS ONE. 13(3): e0195036. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195036 Delaney, A., T. Evans, J. McGreevy, J. Blekking, T. Schlachter, K. Korhonen-Kurki, P. A. Tamás, T. A. Crane, H. Eakin, W. Förch, L. Jones, D.R. Nelson, C. Oberlack, and M. Purdon. 2018. Governance of food systems across scales in times of social-ecological change: a review of indicators." Food Security 10(2): 287-310. doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0770-y Education Education: PhD, Anthropology (with minor in Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis), University of Arizona, 2005
