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Thomas W. Crawford (Tom)

Professor and Department Chair
Tom Crawford
238B Wallace Hall

Specialities:

·     Geospatial applications, GIS, remote sensing, spatial analysis

·     Coastal geography and hazards

·     Human-environment interactions, vulnerability and resilience

·     Health applications

I am privileged to serve as chair of a fantastic department. As a geographer, I like understanding linkages among people, places and environments – themes that generally characterize our discipline of Geography.  My recent research explores coastal hazards using geospatial and social science approaches.  I have a current project investigating coastal erosion in Bangladesh that involves themes of vulnerability, resilience, and sustainability.  I also do work in geospatial applications of public health issues.  I am not currently teaching but have experience teaching varied geospatial and human-environment courses.  My main job is to work with our department, college, and VT community to help deliver an awesome department.  When I can, I also like to research on bicycle themes.

Recent Publications:  

Allen, T., T. Crawford, B. Montz, S. Lovelace, J. Whitehead, G. Kearney. (in press). Linking water infrastructure, public health, and sea level rise: integrated assessment for flood resilience in coastal cities. Public Works Management & Policy.

Crawford, T., & M.K. Rahman. (2018). Settlement patterns. In, S. Walsh (Ed.) Comprehensive Remote Sensing, Vol. 9: Remote Sensing Applications for Societal Benefits, pp. 106-122, Elsevier.

Dawson, T., J.S. Onesimo Sandoval, V. Sagan, & T. Crawford. (2018). A spatial analysis of the relationship between vegetation and poverty. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 7, 83; doi:103390/ijgi7030083.

Boettge, B., D.M. Hall, & T. Crawford. (2017). Assessing the bicycle network in St. Louis: a place-based user-centered approach. Sustainability, 9, 241; doi:103390/su9020241.

Rahman, M.K., T. Crawford, & T. Schmidlin. (2017). Spatio-temporal analysis of road traffic accident fatality in Bangladesh integrating newspaper accounts and gridded population data. GeoJournal, doi:10.1007/s10708-017-9791-x.

Crawford, T. (2015). Finding the Real America on the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail: landscape meaning of a contemporary secular pilgrimage. In, S. Brunn (Ed.) The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics, pp. 855-873. Springer.

Crawford, T., S. Jilcott-Pitts, J. McGuirt, T. Keyserling, & A. Ammerman. (2014). Conceptualizing and comparing neighborhood and activity space measures for food environment research. Health & Place, 30:215-25.

Recent Grants:

National Science Foundation

2017-2020. Geography and Spatial Sciences Program (GSS). Coastal erosion vulnerability, monsoon dynamics and human adaptive response.  T. Crawford (PI), S. Curtis, B. Paul, K. Rahman. $405,868.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

2015-2017. COCA – Supporting Resilient Coastal Communities and Ecosystems in a Changing Climate. A community-wide public health risk assessment of vulnerable water infrastructure in coastal cities. PI on subaward to Saint Louis University from South Carolina SeaGrant Consortium with E. Fly (PI), S. Lovelace, J. Whitehead, T. Allen, B. Montz, G. Kearney. $25,923 of total $290,993.