Dave Bennett

Dave Bennett is a Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Iowa, within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His work bridges geographic information science, environmental policy, and complex systems theory, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research. He is actively involved in teaching and mentoring graduate students, offering courses in GIS, field methods, and environmental applications.

Research Interests: His research lies at the intersection of technology, policy, and science, focusing on geographic information science (GIScience) and environmental decision-making. He is particularly interested in human-environment interactions and how complex, nonlinear responses emerge from system interactions. Much of his work is framed within complexity theory and employs agent-based modeling, evolutionary algorithms, and cyberinfrastructure to study land use change, watershed management, and disaster response.

Publication Trends: His most recent publications (2010–2016) demonstrate a consistent focus on agent-based modeling, parallel computing, land use dynamics, and socio-environmental systems. These works often integrate high-performance computing and service-oriented architectures to simulate complex spatial processes. Key themes include resilience, opinion diffusion, mobility, and provenance in geosimulation.

Scientific Awards:

• No specific awards or fellowships are mentioned in the provided text.

Advising and Grants: Dave Bennett has advised numerous PhD and Master’s students, including current advisees Patrick Bitterman, Haoyi Xiong, Shuang Xu, and James Madden. He has served as principal investigator or senior personnel on multiple major grants from the NSF, USDA, NIH, and NGA, totaling millions of dollars. Key projects include 'People, Water, and Climate,' 'Geoinformatics for Environmental and Energy Modeling and Prediction (GEEMaP),' and 'Understanding Water-Human Dynamics with Intelligent Digital Watersheds.'

Labs and Teams: While no specific lab name is mentioned, his research is conducted within multidisciplinary teams and leverages cyberinfrastructure platforms at the University of Iowa. His work often involves collaboration with engineers, ecologists, and social scientists, particularly through NSF-funded interdisciplinary programs.