Santiago Lopez
Professor
B.Eng. Geographical and Environmental Engineering, Escuela Polit茅cnica del Ej茅rcito
M.A. Geography, Arizona State University
Ph. D. Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Geography, UW Seattle
Office: UW2-333
Phone: 425-352-3393
Email: cslopez@uw.edu
Mailing Box: 358530, 18115 Campus Way NE, Bothell, WA 98011-8246
Teaching
I use advances in my ongoing research as stepping stones for introducing students to new research ideas and approaches to geographical sciences. I put emphasis on active learning through lab and outdoor activities, and hands-on activities. I am convinced that active learning in the context of quantitative geography courses influences students鈥� comprehension of scientific concepts, Earth processes, and geographic principles. Although I enjoy working with students during lab sessions, I believe that students should put additional effort outside class time to solve spatial problems on their own. Nevertheless, it is clear to me that my assistance is necessary and I am willing to work with students individually to overcome any problem they may experience inside or outside class.
Recent Courses Taught
BES440 Remote Sensing of the Environment
BIS442 Advanced Geographic Information Systems and Applications
BIS343 Geovisualization
BIS344 Intermediate Geographic Information Systems and Applications
BIS342 Introductory Geographic Information Systems
BIS242 Environmental Geography
BIS 489 Socio-Environmental Studies in the Ecuadorian Mainland and Galapagos Islands
Research/Scholarship
The focus of my research comes from my longstanding fascination with our changing environment and with the use of technologies to monitor these changes. A significant part of my work concentrates on an interdisciplinary field of inquiry commonly labeled as land change science to seek answers to challenging such as what kinds of land use and land cover changes are occurring and why, and what are the consequences of these changes for biogeochemical cycling, ecosystem functioning and services, and human welfare. My work also spans over the human and physical dimensions of global change and lies at the intersection between climate and land use change. The thread that runs through all my research is its theoretical and empirical base in geographic information science (GISc). My work highlights the creative use of GIS not only as a tool, but more importantly as a scientific framework that can help produce transformative geospatial knowledge. My research focuses on the intersection between spatial and social theory, and on how spatial technologies can help to answer a variety of questions like: What conceptual formulations best represent the spatial and temporal dynamics we observe in natural and anthropogenic landscapes? How important is the spatial context for understanding social behavior and decision making?
Key Areas: GIS, remote sensing, socio-environmental geography, Latin America, Pacific Northwest.
Selected Publications
2024. Alvarez, C., Lopez, S., Vasquez, D., Gualotu帽a, D. Assessing Air Quality Dynamics during Short-Period Social Upheaval Events in Quito, Ecuador, Using a Remote Sensing Framework. Remote Sensing, 16(18), 3436
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16183436
2024. Lopez, S. . In Kaltmeier, O., L贸pez-Sandoval, M., P谩dua, J., and Zarrilli, A (eds.) Land Use: Handbook of the Anthropocene in Latin America I. CALAS – Bielefeld University Press. pp. 359-384.
2023. L贸pez, S., and Maldonado, A. . In Lopez, S (ed.) Socio Environmental Research in Latin America: Interdisciplinary Approaches Using GIS and Remote Sensing Frameworks. Springer Nature, Switzerland. pp. 81-115.
2023. L贸pez, S (ed). . Springer Nature, Switzerland.
2022. L贸pez, S. . Applied Geography 145: 102749
2020. L贸pez, S., L贸pez-Sandoval MF., Jung J-K. . Annals of the American Association of Geographers.
2020. L贸pez, S., L贸pez-Sandoval MF., Gerique, A., and Salazar, J. . Ecological Indicators 111.
2020. L贸pez-Sandoval MF., and L贸pez, S. Between techno-science and experience: hybrid knowledge as a foundation for applied research on climate change. In Carrion, A., and Acosta, M.E. (eds). Applied research on climate change: Contributions to Latin American cities. FLACSO, Quito. Pp. 21-38.
2017. L贸pez, S, Jung, JK, and L贸pez, MF. A hybrid-epistemological approach to climate change research: Linking scientific and local knowledge sysems in the Ecuadorian Andes. Anthropocene 17: 30-45.
2017. L贸pez, S., Wright, C., Costanza, P. Environmental change in the equatorial Andes: Linking climate, land use, and land cover transformations. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 8: 291-303.
2016. L贸pez, S., and L贸pez, MF. 鈥淭he socio-ecological systems of southeastern Ecuador: Processes and patterns of land use change鈥�. In Young, K., and Postigo, J. (eds). 鈥淣ature and Society: Socio-Ecological perspectives on Global Changes in Latin America鈥�. Instituto de Estudios Peruanos:Lima Peru, pp. 67-108.
2015. L贸pez, S. and Stokes, D. Modeling the invasion of Holly (Ilex aquifolium): Spatial relationships and spread trajectories. The Professional Geographer. 68(3): 399-413
2014. L贸pez, S. Modeling agricultural change through logistic regression and cellular automata: A case study on shifting cultivation. Journal of Geographic Information System, 6(1): 220-235.
2014. Stokes, D., Church, E., Cronkright, D., and L贸pez, S. Pictures of an Invasion: English Holly (Ilex aquifolium) in a Semi-natural Pacific Northwest Forest. Northwest Science, 88(2): 75-93.
2013. L贸pez, S., Beard, B, and Sierra, R. Landscape change in Western Amazonia. The Geographical Review, 103(1): 37-58.
2012. Postigo, J., Peralvo, M., L贸pez, S., Zapata-Caldas, E., Jarvis, A., Ramirez, J., Lau, C. Adaptation and Vulnerability of Andean Productive Systems. In: Andean Panorama on Climate Change: Vulnerability and Adaptation in the Tropical Andes, Cuesta F., Bustamante, M., Becerra, M.T., Postigo, J., Peralvo, M. (eds.). CONDESAN, SGCAN, Lima-Peru.pp. 147-177.
2011. L贸pez, S., and Sierra, R. A resource demand model of indigenous production: The Jivaroan cultivation systems of Western Amazonia. Journal of Agricultural Systems, 11(3): 246-257.
2010. L贸pez, S., Sierra, R., and Tirado, M. Tropical Deforestation in the Ecuadorian Choc贸 region: logging practices and spatial relationships. The Geographical Bulletin 51(1):3-22.
2010. L贸pez, S., and Sierra, R. Agricultural Change in the Pastaza River Basin: A Spatially Explicit Model of Native Amazonian Cultivation. Applied Geography 30: 355-369.