Dr. Erin L. Bunting
- Assistant Professor
- College of Social Science Institutional Access Fellow
- Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences
- Geography Building
- 673 Auditorium Road, Room 223
- East Lansing, MI 48823
- 517-432-7163
- ebunting@msu.edu
AREA OF STUDY
Leveraging big data geospatial analysis, modeling, and statistics to understand environmental change, climate impacts, and human–environment connections
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Erin Bunting’s path to geography started with a happy accident. Born in Florida and raised a die-hard Gator fan, she stumbled into the field after taking an Extreme Weather course as an undergraduate at the University of Florida. That class sparked a realization—geography was the perfect way to bring together her love of travel, climate, ecology, and environmental science. She changed her major and never looked back.
Since then, Erin has built a career that bridges academia, government, and the private sector, always with geography at the center. She has worked with advanced spatial analysis, big data remote sensing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to tackle applied, interdisciplinary questions about global environmental change, climate impacts, landscape resilience, and coupled human–environment systems. Her research spans from local to global scales, with projects in tropical, temperate, and arctic regions, though she specializes in remote sensing of arid and hyperarid landscapes—especially in Southern Africa.
Before joining the Department of Geography at Michigan State University in 2017, Erin completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Southwest Biological Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. At MSU, she also served as the Director of RS&GIS, leading teams and projects that connected cutting-edge geospatial science to real-world applications.
Erin describes herself as a remote sensing scientist and physical geographer with deep roots in ecology, climatology, and natural resource management. Along the way, she has built a wide research network, mentored students and staff, and taught across multiple areas of the geospatial sciences. Her work is driven by a curiosity about how landscapes change and a passion for using science to address pressing environmental challenges.
Outside of academia, Erin is an avid traveler (with more than 70 countries visited), photographer, sports fan, movie buff, and water enthusiast—especially when it comes to diving.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
One of the biggest challenges we face today is understanding how people and the environment can adapt and stay resilient in the face of growing climate variability and long-term climate change. Geography sits at the crossroads of these issues—it brings together the tools, perspectives, and knowledge needed to tackle complex, real-world problems. As a geographer trained across both natural and social sciences, I combine technological expertise with research experience to explore big data questions about global environmental change.
My work looks at how climate-driven shifts ripple through ecosystems and human communities—what we often call coupled natural-human systems. I focus especially on climate-induced socio-ecological change, grounding my research in three key frameworks: risk-hazards, resilience, and sustainable livelihoods.
At the heart of my research are four big questions:
What drives landscape-level environmental change in systems that are especially vulnerable to sudden shifts? How do climate extremes shape socio-ecological dynamics and development?
How do droughts push plant species and communities toward tipping points, and what spatial and temporal patterns emerge from this process?
At larger scales, how does climate change affect plant productivity and land use/land cover change across landscapes?
Finally, within a sustainable livelihoods and risk-hazards framework: what do local residents see as the greatest risks to their livelihoods? And how well do people in vulnerable areas understand climate change and strategies for adapting to it?