Don Lafreniere

Don Lafreniere is Professor of Geography and GIS at Michigan Technological University, where he also serves as Graduate Director and Director of the Geospatial Research Facility. He is affiliated with the Department of Social Sciences in the College of Sciences and Arts. His interdisciplinary research integrates GIS, historical data, and community engagement to study urban environments, population health, and postindustrial landscapes.

• PhD, Geography, University of Western Ontario
• BS, History, Eastern Michigan University
• BS, Geography, Eastern Michigan University

His research interests include Historical GIS, Deep Mapping, Public Participatory GIS, children's health and lifecourse epidemiology, deindustrialization, and urban health. He leads the Keweenaw Time Traveler and Historical Environments Spatial Analytics Lab (HESAL), focusing on creating spatiotemporal models of historical urban change.

His recent publications (2016–2023) reflect a strong trend in integrating GIS with historical, archaeological, and public health data, particularly in industrial and postindustrial cities. Themes include environmental justice, cumulative hazards, community heritage, and spatial narratives, often using deep mapping and historical spatial data infrastructures.

He has received major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), serving as Principal Investigator or Co-PI on projects such as the Keweenaw Time Traveler, GRACE, and Three Centuries of Francophone Migration. These grants support transdisciplinary, community-engaged, and public-facing scholarship in the spatial humanities.

Labs and initiatives include the Geospatial Research Facility, HESAL, and the Keweenaw Time Traveler, which combine geospatial technologies with historical research and public education.