Dean L. Urban
Dean L. Urban
Senior Associate Dean, Academic Initiatives | Professor of Landscape Ecology
ESC Program Co-chair
Primary Appointment
Environmental Science & Policy Division
My interest in landscape ecology focuses on the agents and implications of pattern in forested landscapes. Increasingly, my research is in what has been termed "theoretical applied ecology," developing new analytic approaches to applications of immediate practical concern such as conservation planning. A hallmark of my Lab is the integration of field studies, spatial analysis, and simulation modeling in extrapolating our fine-scale empirical understanding of environmental issues to the larger space and time scales of management and policy.
In The News
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Xi, W, Peet, RK, Lee, MT, and Urban, DL. "Hurricane disturbances, tree diversity, and succession in North Carolina Piedmont forests, USA(Published online)." Journal of Forestry Research 30, no. 1 (February 2019): 219-231.
Lopez, BE, Urban, D, and White, PS. "Testing the effects of four urbanization filters on forest plant taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity." Ecological Applications 28, no. 8 (December 2018): 2197-2205.
Lovette, JP, Duncan, JM, Smart, LS, Fay, JP, Olander, LP, Urban, DL, Daly, N, Blackwell, J, Hoos, AB, García, AM, and Band, LE. "Leveraging Big Data Towards Functionally-Based, Catchment Scale Restoration Prioritization." Environmental Management 62, no. 6 (December 2018): 1007-1024.
Baruch, EM, Voss, KA, Blaszczak, JR, Delesantro, J, Urban, DL, and Bernhardt, ES. "Not all pavements lead to streams: variation in impervious surface connectivity affects urban stream ecosystems." Freshwater Science 37, no. 3 (September 2018): 673-684.
Hassett, BA, Sudduth, EB, Somers, KA, Urban, DL, Violin, CR, Wang, S-Y, Wright, JP, Cory, RM, and Bernhardt, ES. "Pulling apart the urbanization axis: patterns of physiochemical degradation and biological response across stream ecosystems." Freshwater Science 37, no. 3 (September 2018): 653-672.
Recent Grants
Streams in urbanizing landscapes: from syndrome diagnosis to watershed prescription
awarded by National Science Foundation
Assessing adaptative capacity in response to climate change: terrestrial salamanders in an urban heat island mesocosm
awarded by National Science Foundation
Evaluating the implications of local adaptation, habitat connectivity, and gene flow for terrestrial salamanders under g
awarded by Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
Courses
ENVIRON 724: Landscape Analysis & Management (ENVIRON 724: Landscape Analysis & Management)
ENVIRON 720S: Land Conservation in Practice (ENVIRON 720S: Land Conservation in Practice)
ENVIRON 714: Landscape Ecology (ENVIRON 714: Landscape Ecology)
area(s) of expertise
Biodiversity Conservation Ecology Endangered/Threatened Species Forests Geospatial Technologies Global Change Ecology Land Use Advisor: UPE Doctoral ProgramContact Information
Box 90328
Durham, NC 27708-0328
A320 Lev Sci Res Ctr
Durham, NC 27708
Education
Ph.D., University of Tennessee at Knoxville (1986)
M.A., Southern Illinois University (1981)
B.A., Southern Illinois University (1978)