Ross Meentemeyer

Bio

Ross provides strategic direction and oversight for the Center’s programs and initiatives in research and academics. He works across disciplinary boundaries to develop innovative analytics for scenario-based modeling and visualization of alternative futures. Ross is a Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Professor and faculty member in the College of Natural Resources. In 2019, he was named NC State’s Goodnight Distinguished Professor of Geospatial Analytics. He has been principal investigator of numerous research grants totaling over $15M, including two decades of continuous funding from the National Science Foundation. His projects catalyze the creation of interdisciplinary teams of data scientists––from the natural and social sciences, engineering, and design––who are collaborating on grand societal challenges, such as controlling the spread of infectious disease and creating smart and connected cities. According to Ross, “everything is spatial and location matters in science, society and decision-making.” Ross received his Ph.D. in geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also served as president of the US-International Association of Landscape Ecology from 2016 to 2018.

Publications

• Border Interceptions Reveal Variable Bridgehead Use in the Global Dispersal of Insects , GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY (2024)
• Creating spatially complete zoning maps using machine learning , COMPUTERS ENVIRONMENT AND URBAN SYSTEMS (2024)
• GIATAR: a Spatio-temporal Dataset of Global Invasive and Alien Species and their Traits , SCIENTIFIC DATA (2024)
• Global patterns in river water storage dependent on residence time , NATURE GEOSCIENCE (2024)
• Projecting the long-term effects of large-scale human influence on the spatial and functional persistence of extant longleaf pine ecosystems in the Florida Flatwoods Pyrome , CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE (2024)
• An open-source platform for geospatial participatory modeling in the cloud , ENVIRONMENTAL MODELLING & SOFTWARE (2023)
• Forecasting global spread of invasive pests and pathogens through international trade , ECOSPHERE (2023)
• Point Density Variations in Airborne Lidar Point Clouds , SENSORS (2023)
• Spatially interactive modeling of land change identifies location-specific adaptations most likely to lower future flood risk , SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2023)
• Viewscape change highlights shifting drivers of exurban development over time , LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING (2023)