Began teaching at NMU in 2020
Web page
Curriculum vitae
ORC-ID: 0000-0002-5100-4701
Areas of Specialization
Physical geography, GIS and remote sensing applications, landscape ecology, biogeography, range and forest ecology, environmental science, Earth systems science, fire ecology, simulation modeling
Education
- BS, Geography, Penn State University
- MS, Geography, Penn State University
- PhD, Geography, Texas A&M University
Courses Taught and Student Mentorship Activities
- GC 100 - Physical Geography [SCII]
- GC 101 - Introduction to Environmental Science [INTT]
- GC 335 - Geographic Information Systems
- GC 401 - Biogeography / GC 501 - Biogeography
- GC 425 - Remote Sensing / GC 555 - Remote Sensing
- GC 431 - Landscape Dynamics and Analysis / GC 531 - Landscape Dynamics and Analysis
- McNair Scholars faculty advisor, 2024
- NMU Freshman Fellowship Program Mentor, 2022-2023
Select Honors
- Northern Michigan University Faculty Emerging Leadership Award recipient, 2024-2025
- Northern Michigan University Excellence in Teaching Award recipient, 2023-2024
- U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Doctoral Fellowship for outstanding teaching, research and mentoring, Texas A&M University, 2014
Select Service Activities
- Environmental Science Camp director, 2026.
- Editorial board member, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Physical Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences topical area, 2026-2028.
- College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Committee, 2026-2027.
- Assurance Argument author for Higher Learning Commission accreditation reaffirmation, 2025-2026
Research Interests
- Integration of lidar and field methods to assess aboveground biomass and carbon storage of industrial hemp.
- Composition and aboveground biomass of hemi-boreal forests.
- Ecosystem services of rangelands of the southwestern United States.
- Fire impacts on eastern mixed forests of the United States.
- Vegetation change in Arctic Alaska.
Current and Recent Faculty-Student Research Projects
- The Northern Woodshed Project.
- Composition and aboveground biomass of hemi-boreal forests.
- Integration of lidar and field methods to assess aboveground biomass and carbon storage of industrial hemp.
- Lidar as a tool in identifying wetland management and restoration objectives.
Current and Recent Community Projects
About Dr. Naito
As a geographer and landscape ecologist, Dr. Adam Naito integrates field work, Geographic Information Systems, remote sensing, and simulation modeling to improve our understanding of landscape-scale changes in vegetation and its implications for cross-scale interactions and ecosystem services in terrestrial systems. His work has spanned multiple environments, including the montane forests of northern California, Arctic Alaska, the Appalachian Mountains, Southwestern rangelands, and the North Woods and agricultural settings of the Upper Midwest. Outside of the classroom, he has employed and mentored over 120 undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom are now pursuing successful careers in Earth and Environmental Science-related fields at Federal and state agencies or are furthering their education.
Select Publications
15. Heilman P, et al. 2024. The LTAR Grazing Land Common Experiment at Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed. Journal of Environmental Quality, 53:1037-1047. DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.20643
14. Naito AT, et al. 2024. Comparing the predictive capacity of allometric models in estimating grass biomass in a desert grassland. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 93:72-76. DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2024.01.004
13. Archer SR, et al. 2023. Prosopis velutina response to an aerial herbicide application. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 88:129-134. DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2023.02.014
12. Margolis EQ, et al. 2022. The North American tree-ring fire-scar network. Ecosphere, 13(7):e4159. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4159
11. Vivoni ER, et al. 2022. A micrometeorological flux perspective on brush management in an encroached Sonoran Desert grassland. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 313(108763). DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108763.
10. DeWeese GG, et al. 2021. Historical fire regimes and stand dynamics of xerophytic pine-oak stands in the Appalachian Mountains, Virginia, USA. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 112(2): 387-498. DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2021.1935206.
9. Harley GL, et al. 2018. Advancing dendrochronological studies of fire in the United States. Fire, 1(1): 11. DOI: 10.3390/fire1010011.
8. Lafon CW, et al. 2017. A Review and Synthesis of Fire History in the Appalachian Region. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-219. Asheville, North Carolina: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 97 p. LINK
7. Myers-Smith IH, et al. 2015. Climate sensitivity of shrub growth across the tundra biome. Nature Climate Change 5(9): 887-891. DOI: 10.1038/nclimate2697
6. Myers-Smith I, et al. 2015. Methods for measuring arctic and alpine shrub growth. Earth-Science Reviews 140: 1-13. DOI: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.10.004.
5. Naito AT and Cairns DM. 2015. Patterns of shrub expansion in Alaskan Arctic river corridors suggest a phase transition. Ecology and Evolution 5(1): 87-101. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1341.
4. Goldberg DW, et al. 2013. Chapter 4: Spatial Overlays. In Boscoe F (ed.) Geographic Health Data: Fundamental Techniques for Analysis. Wallingford, UK CAB International.
3. Naito AT and Cairns DM. 2011. Relationships between arctic shrub expansion and topographically-derived hydrologic characteristics. Environmental Research Letters 6(4): 045506. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/045506.
2. Naito AT and Cairns DM. 2011. Patterns and processes of global shrub expansion. Progress in Physical Geography 35(4): 423-442. DOI: 10.1177/0309133311403538.
1. Chen J, et al. 2008. Geovisual analytics to enhance spatial scan statistic interpretation: an analysis of U.S. cervical cancer mortality. International Journal of Health Geographics, 7(57). DOI: 10.1186/1476-072X-7-57.
Select Funded Grants
- Mittlefehldt S (PI), Richards K, Kitsos T, Naito AT, Lafferty D, and Van Grinsven MD. 2024. The Northern Woodshed Project. SISU Discovery Funding Proposal. Northern Michigan University. ($64,703).
Select Professional Organization Membership
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS)
- American Association of Geographers (AAG)
- Ecological Society of America (ESA)
- Secretary-Treasurer, ESA Early Career Ecologists Section, 2022-2023
- Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU)
- International Association for Landscape Ecologists (IALE)
- Phi Kappa Phi (PKP)
- Society for Range Management (SRM)
