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Dr. Christopher Lant
Dr. Christopher Lant

Dr. Lant has devoted his research career to unraveling the nexus between food, energy, water, and environmental policy in the U.S. He enjoys “getting under the hood” to take a hard look at production, trade and consumption of natural resources, measuring the ecological, water and carbon footprints this generates, and identifying who these footprints are being imposed upon. Since receiving a PhD in Geography in 1988, his work has evolved into ecological economics and an environmental policy analysis. 

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Featured Graduate Student

Image of woman, Michelle Arnold
Michelle Arnold

Current Project: The Prospect for Liquid Biofuels in the United States: A national level analysis assessing viability, feasibility, and desirability.

Featured Undergraduate Student

Image of woman, Grace Larson
Grace Larson

You wouldn’t have guessed, based on Grace Larson’s chill vibe, that an important touchpoint in her academic career would happen during a course on ecological economics. But the frank, interactive discussions led by Chris Lant spurred a transformative perspective on her thinking about the management of natural resources.

“The idea that natural resources are just a piece of the whole economy was turned on its head in that class — I realized that the whole economy is really just a subset of a global natural resource system,” she said. “When you start with that idea as your foundation, your perspective really changes.”

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Past Graduate Students

Utah State University

Ph.D. in Environment and Society

  • Suman Paudel, 2022. Human appropriation of net primary production in the U.S., 1997-2012
  • Michelle Arnold, The Prospect for Liquid Biofuels in the United States: A national level analysis assessing viability, feasibility, and desirability.

M.S. in Geography

  • Kaeli Mueller, 2022. Biodiversity and Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production.
  • Neil Matthews-Pennanen, 2018. Assessment of Potential Changes in Crop Yields in the Central United States Under Climate Change Regimes.

Southern Illinois University

Ph.D. in Environmental Resources and Policy

  • Justin Kozak, 2015. Restoration and Water Management in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana.
  • Roger Weibusch, 2015. Causes of the Decline in the Rate of Loss of Vegetated Palustrine Wetlands in the U.S., 1955 to 2009.
  • Kristen Bouska, 2014. Impacts of climate and land use change on fish species distributions in the Central United States.
  • Timothy Stoebner, 2014. Geographic Effects of Climate Change on Major Rural Land Covers of the Central United States.
  • Donald Rehmer, 2014. Mathematical Programming (MP) Model to Determine Optimal
  • Transportation Infrastructure for Geologic CO2 Storage in the Illinois Basin.
  • Stanley Mubako, 2011. Frameworks for Estimating Virtual Water Flow among U.S. States.
  • Salah Jaber, 2006. Monitoring Spatial Variations in Soil Organic Carbon Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems.
  • Reuben Heine, 2005. The Use of Position Ratio for Estimation of Tributary Incision Caused by Base-Level Drop, Middle Missouri River, USA.

Ph.D. in Geography

  • John B. Ruhl, 2006. The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services (Winner SIU Best Dissertation Award)
  • Timothy Loftus, 2000. U.S. Conservation Policy and Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes: The Case of the Cache River, Illinois
  • Keith Gillman, 1996. The Political Ecology of Conservation Programs in Cornbelt Agriculture.
  • John Akama, 1993. The Political Ecology of Wildlife Conservation in Kenya.

Master of Science in Geography

  • Ryan Larimore, 2015. Empirical Analysis of Descendant Insurance as a Driver of Demographic Transition.
  • Andrew Johnson, 2013. A Regression Metamodel to Replace SWAT in Crop Yield Prediction for Big Creek Watershed.
  • Adam Shaffner, 2012. Specific Gage Analysis on the Lower White River, Arkansas.
  • David Mann, 2011. Determining optimal location for wind energy development in Iowa.
  • Justin Kozak, 2009. The Geography of Ecosystem Service Value: The Case of the DesPlaines and Cache River Wetlands, Illinois
  • Karen Clauson, 2009. Measuring Trends in Riverbed Gradation: A Lower Mississippi River Case Study
  • Monique Buchman, 2008. Land Use Modeling Using Higher Order Markov Chains.
  • Andrea Lewis, 2007. Conservation Reserve and Enhancement Program: Lessons Learned on the Illinois River with Application to the Kaskaskia River Watershed.
  • Christiane Bohn, 2007. Welcoming the Wind: The political process of geographic siting of wind farms
  • Paul Byrne, 2004. Patterns and Processes of Channel Incision in the Big Muddy River.
  • Girmay Misgna, 2003. Spatial Decision Support System for Watershed Non Point Source Pollution Assessment.
  • Vince McGowan, 2001. Analysis of Factors Impacting the Reclamation of Abandoned Mine Lands.
  • Reuben Heine, 2001.  Two New Automated Methods for Stream Channel Extraction using Multivariate Channel Source Approximation.
  • Terri Thomas, 2001. Assessment of Channel Funding Mechanisms on Containership Industry Vessel Operating Behavior.
  • Rhett Shockey, 2000. The Potential of Pigouvian Taxes and Tradable Pollution Permits to Control Water Pollution from Agricultural Activities.
  • Gretchen White, 1999. Use of Functional Assessment Models in Wetland Mitigation.@
  • Ningchaun Xiao, 1999.  An Integrated Model for Cypress Swamp Regeneration in Southern Illinois.
  • Janet Hutzel, 1998. Nitrogen Application and Reduction Within the Lake Decatur Watershed.
  • Phillip Brown, 1997. Wetland Mitigation Banking: The Spatial Scale of No Net Loss.

Master of Arts in Geography

  • Jeffrey Frantz, 1996. Environmental Impact Assessment in Highway Planning: The Effect of State Laws and Policies.
  • Zhai Bo, 1994. A Comparison of Environmental Impact Analysis and Decision Making in the U.S.A. and the P.R.C.: The Case of Two Forks and Three Gorges.
  • Patrick Massey, 1993. Illinoisans' Attitudes Toward and Knowledge of Wetlands and Wetland Policy.
  • Jane Corbin, 1993. A Electoral Analysis of the Failed Missouri Natural Streams Act of 1990.
  • Kevin Davie, 1991. Assessment of the Impact of the Conservation Reserve Program on Suspended Sediment Load in Two Southern Illinois Streams.