Nicholas P Dunning
Professor
Department of Geography
University of Cincinnati
United States of America
Biography
Dr. Nicholas Dunning grew up on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii, where he developed a fascination with tropical environments and cultural adaptation. By virtue of once having picked up the wrong book in the library (and reading it anyway), he developed a passionate interest in Maya civilization. Dunning has spent the past 30 years studying the intriguing environment of the Maya Lowlands and the nature of human environmental adaptations, both past and present, in this region. Along the way, he earned BA and MA degrees from the University of Chicago and a PhD from the University of Minnesota, all in geography. Dunning has authored two books and some 70 articles and book chapters on the Maya world. More recently he has begun an extended program of research in the West Indies. Occasionally, he does research in eastern North America, the eastern Mediterranean, and Oceania. Dunning’s students affectionately (he hopes) refer to him as “Dr. Dirt,†because of his fascination with soil.
Research Interest
Research Areas: Environmental archaeology, soils, physical geography, cultural ecology, Latin America
Publications
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Dunning, N., C. McCane, T. Swinney, M. Purtill, J. Sparks, A. Mann, J-P. McCool, and C. Ivenso. 2015. “Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica move into the 21st Century: a Review.†Geoarchaeology 30: 167-199.
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Beach, T., S. Luzzadder-Beach, S. Krause, N. Brokaw, N. P. Dunning, J. Flood, T. Guderjan, F.Valdez, and S. Walling. 2015 “Mayacene†Floodplain and Wetland Formation in the Rio Bravo Watershed, Northwestern Belize. The Holocene 25:1612-1626.
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Dunning, N., R. Griffin, T. Sever, W. Saturno, and J. Jones. 2016 Forthcoming (in press). “The Nature and Origin of Linear Features in the Bajo de Azúcar, Guatemala: Implications for Ancient Maya Adaptations to a Changing Environment.†Geoarchaeology.
