Heather Sander
Assistant Professor
Ph.D University of Minnesota
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"My research centers on the use of GIS and geospatial modeling and analysis to better understand land-use change and its environmental impacts and to develop means for using this understanding to facilitate sustainable land and ecosystem management in human-dominated systems. To this end, my research interests are highly interdisciplinary, integrating the natural and social sciences to understand human-environment interactions with a particular focus on the utilization of spatial models and analysis techniques to forecast land-use change and its associated environmental impacts."
My work examines the interactions between land use and environmental quality. I focus specifically on the relationships between land-use and management and ecosystem services, goods and services provided by natural ecosystems that are of critical importance to human well-being. Through my research I strive to not only improve our understanding of the relationships between land use and ecosystem service delivery, but also to enhance our ability to predict changes in service provision from alternative land-use policy decisions. This is important in helping society to understand the tradeoffs associated with land-use change, especially beyond those involving goods and services that are valued by markets (e.g., housing, agricultural and timber products, manufactured goods, etc.). In my work, I focus on three goals:
- To identify and understand how humans interact with and change the landscape at local, regional, and global scales,
- To identify how these interactions and changes impact environmental functioning,
- To translate this information into terms relevant to policy makers (e.g., health, economic).
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Publications:
Sander, H.A. and R.G. Haight. Estimating the economic value of cultural ecosystem services in an urban area using hedonic pricing. Journal of Environmental Management. (In revision)
Nelson, E.J., H.A. Sander, P. Hawthorne, M. Conte, D. Ennaanay, S.M. Manson, and S. Polasky. 2010. Projecting global land-use change and its effect on ecosystem service production and biodiversity with simple models. PLoS ONE 5(12):1-22.
Sander, H.A., D. Ghosh, D. Van Riper, and S.M. Manson. 2010. How do you measure distance in spatial models? An example using open space valuation. Environment and Planning B. 37:874-894.
Sander, H.A. 2010. Viewshed analysis. In Encyclopedia of Geography, B. Warf, ed. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Sander, H.A., S. Polasky, and R.G. Haight. 2010. The value of urban tree cover, a hedonic estimation of home sale prices in Ramsey and Dakota County, Minnesota, USA. Ecological Economics. 69:1646-1656.
Kayzar, B., S.M. Manson, H.A. Sander, and N. Young. 2009. Template for a toolkit: community growth options for peripheral communities. The CURA Reporter 39(3-4):25-35.
Sander, H.A. and S. Polasky. 2009. The value of views and open space: estimates from a hedonic pricing model for Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA. Land Use Policy 26:837-845.
Manson, S.M.; H.A. Sander; D. Ghosh; J.M. Oakes; M.W. Orfield, Jr.; W.J. Craig; T.F. Luce Jr.; E. Myott, Jr.; and S. Sun. 2009. Parcel data for research and policy. Geography Compass 3(2):698-726.
Sander, H.A. and S.M. Manson. 2007. Heights and locations of artificial structures in viewshed calculation: how close is close enough? Landscape and Urban Planning 82(4):257-270.
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Presentations:
Sander, H.A. 2011. Of birds, carbon, and water -- integrating multiple ecosystem service impacts to identify locations for agricultural conservation practice adoption. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Sander, H.A. 2010. Potential impacts of cropland biofuel production on the provision of avian habitat. A Community on Ecosystem Services Conference, Chandler, AZ December 6-9, 2010.
Sander, H.A. 2010. Modeling farmer adoption of conservation practices in response to a hypothetical incentive program. 65th International Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO.
Sander, H.A. 2010. Modeling the adoption of agricultural conservation practices – constructing the multiple services landscape for the EPA’s Future Midwestern Landscapes study. NERL Seminar Series, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Sander, H.A., S.M. Manson, and R.G. Haight. 2010. What's It Worth? A Case Study in Modeling and Economic Valuation of Urban Ecosystem Services. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
Sander, H.A., E. Smith, and M. Mahaffey. 2010. EPA’s Future Midwestern Landscape study. Midwestern Landscape Conservation Workshop, Madison, WI.
Sander, H.A., S. Polasky, and R.G. Haight. 2008. Tree cover in a rapidly-urbanizing region: economic values and implications for policy. 55th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, Brooklyn, NY.
Sander, H.A. and S. Polasky. 2008. The Impact of Parks, Trails, and Views on Residential Property Values: Estimates from a Hedonic Pricing Model for Ramsey County, Minnesota. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
Marshall, J.D., H.A. Sander, and S.M. Manson. 2007. Air Pollution and Urban Form: Evidence from Satellite Data. 5th WSEAS International Conference on Environment, Ecosystems, and Development. Puerto De La Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
Sander, H.A. 2007. The impact of parks, trails and views on residential property values: estimates from a hedonic pricing model for Ramsey County, Minnesota. University of Minnesota Environmental and Resource Economics Seminar Series.
Sander, H.A. 2007. What's it worth? Improving the visibility of ecosystem services in local planning using spatial models and economic valuation techniques. Royal Geographic Society-Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference 2007, London, U.K.
Sander, H.A. and S.M. Manson. 2007. Artificial structure locations and heights in viewshed calculation: how much accuracy is necessary? Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Sander, H.A. 2007. What’s it worth? Improving land use planning through the modeling and economic valuation of ecosystem services. Conference and Annual Meeting of the Minnesota Society for Conservation Biology, Sandstone, MN.
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