McMicken College of Arts & SciencesUniversity of Cincinnati

Nicholas P Dunning

Professor, Graduate Director
Geography - Tenure-Track Faculty
401 Braunstein Hall
513-556-3436
nicholas.dunning@uc.edu

Professional Summary

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 25 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 60 articles and book chapters on the Maya world. Occasionally, he does research in eastern North America, the eastern Mediterranean, and Oceania. Dunning is a Professor of Geography at the University of Cincinnati, where his students affectionately (he hopes) refer to him as “Dr. Dirt,” because of his fascination with soil. He resides in Cincinnati with his wife, Betsy Lazaron, a practicing family physician, and three daughters – all of whom like to play in the dirt, but none of whom want to become dirt doctors.

Education

PhD, University of Minnesota, 1990.

Research Interests

Examples of recent research publications can be viewed via the links below: Dunning, N., T. Beach, and S. Luzzadder-Beach. 2006. “Environmental variability among bajos in the southern Maya Lowlands and its implications for ancient Maya civilization and archaeology.” In Pre-Columbian Water Management, eds. L. Lucero and B. Fash, pp. 111-133. Tempe: University of Arizona. Go to: http://asweb.artsci.uc.edu/CollegeMain/faculty_staff/pdfs/dunning_beach_watert.pdf. Dunning, N., and T. Beach, “Noxious or Nuturing Nature? Maya Civilization in Environmental Context,” In Continuities and Change in Maya Archaeology (A Millennial Perspective). C. Golden and G. Borgstede, eds. (New York & London: Routledge, 2004).Pp. 125-141. Go to: http://asweb.artsci.uc.edu/CollegeMain/faculty_staff/pdfs/dunning_beach_continuities.pdf. Dunning, N. and T. Beach, "Stability and Instability in Pre- Hispanic Maya Landscapes," In Imperfect Balace: Precolumbian New World Ecosystems. D. Lentz, ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000). Pp. 179-202. Go to: http://asweb.artsci.uc.edu/CollegeMain/faculty_staff/pdfs/dunning_beach_stability.pdf.

Research Support

(PI) N. Dunning and J. K. Kowlaski, Field Reconnaissance for an Uxmal Regional State Project, Ahau Foundation. $4,000. Funded 2003 to 2004.

(PI) N. P. Dunning, Paleoecology of Belizean Bajos, National Science Foundation. (BCS-0241757); $25,652. Funded 2003 to 2005.

(PI) N. P. Dunning, Paleoenvironments and Ancient Settlement at San Bartolo, Peten, Guatemala, National Science Foundation. (BCS-0650393); $36,168. Funded 2007 to to Present.

Peer Reviewed Publications

Dunning, N., S. Luzzadder-Beach, T. Beach, J. G. Jones, V. Scarborough, & T. P. Culbert (2002). Arising from the Bajos: The Evolution of a Neotropical Landscape and the Rise of Maya Civilization. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 92, 267-283.

Beach, T., S. Luzzadder-Beach, N. Dunning, J. Hageman, & J. Lohse (2002). Upland Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands: Ancient Maya Soil Conservation in Northwestern Belize. Geographical Review, 92, 372-397.

Dunning, N., & T. Beach (2003). Fruit of the Luum: Lowland Maya Soil Knowledge and Agricultural Practices. Mono y Conejo, 2, 1-25.

Prem, H., & N. Dunning (2004). Investigations at Hunto Chac, Yucatan. Mexicon, 26, 26-36.

Beach, T., N. Dunning, S. Luzzadder-Beach, D. E. Cook & J. Lohse (2006). Impacts of the ancient Maya on soils and soil erosion in the Central Maya Lowlands. Catena, 65, 166-178.

Beach, T., S. Luzzadder-Beach, & N. Dunning (2008). Human and Natural Impacts on Fluvial and Karst Systems in the Maya Lowlands. Geomorphology.

Books

Scarborough, V., F. Valdez, & N. Dunning (2003). Heterarchy, Political Economy and the Ancient Maya: The Three Rivers Region of the East-Central Yucatan Peninsula. Tempe, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

Book Chapters

Dunning, N. & T. Beach (2000). Imperfect Balace: Precolumbian New World Ecosystems. In D. Lentz (Eds.), Stability and Instability in Pre- Hispanic Maya Landscapes (pp. 179-202). New York: Columbia University Press.

Dunning, N. (2000). Arqueología de la Región de Xculoc, Campeche. In D. Michelet, P. Becquelin, and M.-C. Arnauld (Eds.), Suelos, Geología, y Geomorfología Mexico City: Centro de Estudios Mexicanos y Centro Americanos, Embajada Francia en México.

Dunning, N. (2000). Maya: Divine Kings of the Rainforest. In Grube, N. (Eds.), Long Twilight or New Dawn? Transformations of Maya Civilization in the Puuc Region (pp. 322-337). Cologne, Germany: K—nemann.

Dunning, N., J. Jones, T. Beach, & S. Luzzadder-Beach (2003). Heterarchy, Political Economy and the Ancient Maya: The Three Rivers Region of the East-Central Yucatan Peninsula. In Scarborough, V., Valdez, F., and Dunning, N. (Eds.), Physiography, Habitats, and Landscapes of the Three Rivers Region (pp. 14-24). Tempe, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

Scarborough, V., F. Valdez, & N. Dunning (2003). Heterarchy, Political Economy and the Ancient Maya: The Three Rivers Region of the East-Central Yucatan Peninsula. In Scarborough, V., Valdez, F., and Dunning, N. (Eds.), Introduction Tempe, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

Beach, T., S. Luzzadder-Beach, N. Dunning, & V. Scarborough (2003). Lowland Maya area: Three millennia at the Human-wildland Interface. In A. Gomez-Pompa, M. Allen, S. Fedick, and J. J. Jimenez-Orsonio (Eds.), Depression Soils in the Lowland Tropics of Northwestern Belize (pp. 139-174). Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.

Dunning, N. (2003). Espacios Mayas: Representaciones, Usos, Creencias. In A. Breton, A. Monod-Becquelin, and M. H. Ruz (Eds.), Birth and Death of Waters: Environmental Change, Adaptation and Symbolism in the Southern Maya Lowlands (pp. 49-76). Mexico City: Universidad Áutonoma de México.

Dunning, N. (2003). Xkipché: Una Ciudad Maya Clásica en el Corazón del Puuc. Vol. 1: El Asentamiento. In Prem, H. (Eds.), Along the serpent’s maw: Environment and settlement at Xkipché, Yucatán (pp. 236-324). Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.

Dunning, N., & T. Beach (2004). Continuities and Change in Maya Archaeology (A Millennial Perspective). In C. Golden and G. Borgstede (Eds.), Noxious or Nuturing Nature? Maya Civilization in Environmental Context (pp. 125-141). New York: Routledge.

O’Mansky, M, & N. Dunning (2004). The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation. In A. Demarest,, P. Rice, and D. Rice (Eds.), Settlement and Late Classic Political Disintegration in the Petexbatun Region, Guatemala (pp. 83-101). Boulder, CO: University of Colorado Press.

Carmean, K., N. Dunning, & J. Kowalski (2004). The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation. In A. Demarest,, P. Rice, and D. Rice (Eds.), High Times in the Hill Country: the Terminal Classic in the Puuc Region (pp. 424-449). Boulder, CO: The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation.

Dunning, N. (2004). Ancient Maya Commoners. In J. Lohse and F. Valdez Jr (Eds.), Down on the farm: Classic Maya houselots as farmsteads (pp. 97-116). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Beach, T., S. Luzzadder-Beach, & N. Dunning (2006). Soils and Society: Perspectives from Environmental History. In J. McNeill and V. Winiwarter (Eds.), Soils and history in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean (pp. 51-90). London: White Horse Press.

Dunning, N., T. Beach, & S. Luzzadder-Beach (2006). Pre-Columbian Water Management. In L. Lucero and B. Fash (Eds.), Environmental variability among bajos and its implications for ancient Maya civilization and archaeology (pp. 111-133). Tempe, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

Dunning, N. (2007). El territorio Maya: Memoria del V Mesa Redonda de Palenque. In R. Cobos and L. Pesdador Canton (Eds.), Cambio ambiental y cultural en las Tierras Bajas Mayas Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.

Dunning, N., T. Beach, & S. Luzzader-Beach (2008). The Socio-Natural Connection: Integrating Archaeology And Environmental Studies For 21st Century Conservation. In C. Fisher, B. Hill, and G. Feinman (Eds.), Creating a stable landscape: soil conservation among the ancient Maya Tempe, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

Dunning, N. & S. Houston (2008). Ecology, Power, and Religion in Maya Landscapes. In B. L. Persson and C. Isendahl (Eds.), Chan Ik: Hurricanes as a Disruptive Force in the Maya Lowlands Berlin: Verlag Anton Saurwein.

Encyclopedia Articles

Dunning, N. (2001). Mesoamerica: Geography. In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, (Vol. 2, pp. 216-219). New York: Oxford University Press.

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