• Human/environment interactions

• East Africa

• Information and communication technologies

• Sustainability

Dr. Baird studies how humans interact with different types of environments. His primary research project focuses on interactions within conservation landscapes in the developing world, especially East Africa. Since 2005, he has worked with Maasai agro-pastoralist communities to examine several issues, including: the causes and consequences of livelihood diversification; the social dynamics of biodiversity conservation; the transformation of cooperation, the drivers of economic development and diversity; shifts in household demography, and responses to disturbance. Currently, he has two projects in Tanzania that focus on growing mobile phone use and gendered social networks in rural areas.

His other research focuses on human-environment interactions in smart environments. Here, he works with colleagues in education, mechanical engineering, and computer science to examine how embedded technologies in built-environments can support engagement, collaboration and creativity in formal and informal educational settings.

Dr. Baird teach courses on global sustainability, environmental conservation, and topics in modern Africa. In the classroom, he strives to: promote systems thinking, highlight values and diversity; translate interdisciplinarity; encourage self-regulated learning and academic motivation; foster empathy; and leverage SCALE-UP learning environments. 

Jensen, D., T.D. Baird, and G. Blank (In press) New Landscapes of Conflict: Land Use Competition at the Urban-Rural Fringe. Landscape Research

Santo, A., K. Guillozet, M.G. Sorice, T.D. Baird, S.A. Gray, C.J. Donlan and C.B. Anderson (2017) Examining private landowners' knowledge systems of invasive species. Human Ecology 45 (4): 449-462.

Baird, T.D. and J. Hartter (2017) Livelihood diversification, mobile phones and information diversity in northern Tanzania. Land Use Policy 67: 460-471.

Baird, T.D., B.C. Chaffin and D.J. Wrathall (2017) A Disturbance Innovation Hypothesis: Perspectives from Human and Physical Geography. The Geographical Journal 183 (2): 201-208.

Lewis, A.L., T.D. Baird and M.G. Sorice (2016) Mobile phone use and human-wildlife conflict in northern Tanzania. Environmental Management 58 (1): 117-129.