Rate My Professor Greg Brown

Professor Greg Brown possesses an interdisciplinary background in computer science, human geography, and natural resource management. His academic career spans multiple institutions, including serving as Chair and Department Head of the Department of Natural Resource Management and Environmental Sciences at California Polytechnic State University from 2016 to 2020. Previously, he was Head of the Planning Program and Chair of the Teaching and Learning Committee at the University of Queensland from 2010 to 2016. Earlier appointments were held at Central Washington University, Green Mountain College, the University of South Australia, Alaska Pacific University, and Southern Illinois University. Brown founded the Landscape Values and PPGIS Institute and contributed to the establishment of the International Society for Participatory Mapping.

Brown's research focuses on public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS), natural resource management, spatial planning, place values mapping, sense of place, land-use decision-making, ecosystem services, and social-ecological hotspot mapping. He published over 120 journal articles, achieving an h-index of 38 and citations from 114 countries between 1996 and 2020, with 55% of his papers in the top 10% citation percentiles. Notable publications include 'The measurement of place attachment: Personal, community, and environmental connections' (2010, Journal of Environmental Psychology), 'The relationship between place attachment and landscape values: Toward mapping place attachment' (2007, Applied Geography), 'Key issues and research priorities for public participation GIS (PPGIS): A synthesis based on empirical research' (2014, Applied Geography), 'Empirical PPGIS/PGIS mapping of ecosystem services: A review and evaluation' (2015, Ecosystem Services), and 'Mapping place values: 10 lessons from two decades of PPGIS research' (2020). His contributions advanced the integration of local knowledge into planning processes, promoted the 'wisdom of crowds' in decision-making, and shifted ecosystem management toward incorporating social and cultural values. PPGIS methodologies developed by Brown have been applied in land management by agencies in the United States, Canada, Australasia, and Nordic countries.