David Lopez-Carr

David López-Carr is a Professor of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where he directs the Human-Environment Dynamics Lab (HED) and serves as Associate Dean of the University of California Education Abroad Program (UCEAP). He holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina (2002) and completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship in Biostatistics. His research focuses on the interplay between population dynamics, health, rural livelihoods, and environmental conservation, with fieldwork in over 70 countries. He speaks five languages and has authored over 230 publications, supported by $10M+ in grants from NASA, NSF, NIH, and others.

Education: PhD in Geography (UNC, 2002); Postdoc in Biostatistics (UNC School of Public Health). Research interests include climate change adaptation, schistosomiasis control via ecological interventions, and land degradation monitoring for UNCCD. He has pioneered studies linking dams to schistosomiasis outbreaks and developed frameworks for planetary health innovation in Africa.

Awards include the 2024 ESA Sustainability Science Award, AAAS Fellowship (2014), and multiple mentoring/teaching accolades. His grants fund projects in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, sub-Saharan Africa, and California’s Central Valley. He advises graduate students Lívia Machado Costa and Nusrat Zahan Jarin. Labs/teams: Human-Environment Dynamics Lab (HED), leading interdisciplinary research on socio-ecological systems.