I am the Canada Research Chair in GIS, Geospatial Big Data and Digital Geohumanities and an Associate Professor here in the Department of Geography. I hold a B.Sc. in Physics from Duke University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Minnesota. Before joining UBC Geography, I previously held a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Washington.

What kind of computation for what kind of geography? This question animates many of my inquiries into combinations of geographic political economy, nature-society relations, agroecology, health, geohumanities, globalization, sociospatial theory, geographic computation, and cartography. In terms of regional focuses for study, which I frame relationally, I have engaged China, North America, Latin America (through contributing to work led by others), and globalizing processes more broadly. I collaborate and mentor widely. My interests are not strictly computational in nature, but they do often involve extending how digital approaches are able to express and think with the world.  My resulting contributions are theoretical, methodological, and/or empirical. These include:  

1. Theoretical and methodological research establishing “relational” geographic computation through innovations in analysis, data structures, and visualization. Some such work supports better understanding of a globalized world characterized by interconnections across space and between phenomena. Other such work is more cultural-theoretic, concerned with how geographic computation can be reformulated to reflect knowledge as social and interpretive. 
2. Empirical development of such methods within the study of complex geographical phenomena, such as A) ecological-economic understandings of how places change in connection; B) the evolution and spread of diseases; C) landscapes, especially those bound up with agriculture and forestry. 

I cultivate a studio/lab for geographical computation centred at UBC, fostering research, collaboration, and education. Anyone interested in speaking, studying, and/or collaborating with me, please reach out.  

2024

Chaves, L.F. Friberg, M. D. Pascual, M. Calzada, J. E. Luckhart, S. and L.R. Bergmann. 2024. Community-serving research addressing climate change impacts on vector-borne diseases. The Lancet Planetary Health 8: e334–41.

O’Sullivan, D. and L. Bergmann. 2024. Space: towards a global sense of place. In A Research Agenda for Spatial Analysis, edited by Wolf, L.J. Heppenstall, A. and R.A Harris, 39-54. United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Books.

2023

Michaux, M. Chan, J. M. Bergmann, L. Chaves, L. F. Klinkenberg, B. and K. Jacobson. 2023. Spatial Cluster Mapping and Environmental Modeling in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease. World Journal of Gastroenterology 29 (23): 3688-3702. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v29.i23.3688

Rhodes, C.G. Chaves, L. F. Bergmann, L. R. and G. L. Hamer. 2023. Ensemble species distribution modeling of Culex tarsalis (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Continental United States. Journal of Medical Entomology 60 (4): 664–679. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjad027

Bergmann, L. Chaves, L. F. O’Sullivan, D. and R. G. Wallace. 2023. Dominant Modes of Agricultural Production Helped Structure Initial COVID-19 Spread in the US Midwest. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 12 (5): 195.

Rhodes, C. G. Chaves, L. F. Bergmann, L., and G. L. Hamer. 2023. Ensemble species distribution of Culex tarsalis (Diptera: Culicidae) in the continental United States. Journal of Medical Entomology. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjad027

Chaves, L. F. Rigg, C. A. Friberg, M. D. Perea, M. Hurtado, L. A. Gottdenker, N. L. and L. Bergmann. 2023. Five Common Myths About Land Use Change and Infectious Disease Emergence. In Earth Data Analytics for Planetary Health, edited by T. H. Wen, T. W. Chuang, and M. Tipayamongkholgul, 109-119. Taipei: Springer.

2022

Bergmann, L. Chaves, L. F. Betz, C. R. Stein, S. Wiedenfeld, B.  Wolf, A. and R.G. Wallace. 2022. Mapping Agricultural Lands: From Conventional to Regenerative. Land 11 (3): 437-441. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/land11030437

Chaves, L.F. Friberg, M. D. Hurtado, L. A. Rodríguez, R. M. O’Sullivan, D. and L.R. Bergmann. 2022. Trade, uneven development and people in motion: Used territories and the initial spread of COVID-19 in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. Socio-economic planning sciences 80. doi: 10.1016/j.seps.2021.101161

Rhodes, C. G. Loaiza, J. R. Romero, L. M. Gutiérrez Alvarado, J. M. Delgado, Rojas Salas, O. Ramírez Rojas, M. Aguilar-Avendaño, C. Maynes, E. Valerín Cordero, J. A. Soto Mora, A. Rigg, C. A. Zardkoohi, A. Prado, M. Friberg, M. D. Bergmann, L. Rodríguez, R. M. Hamer, G. L. and L. F. Chaves. 2022. Anopheles albimanus (Diptera: Culicidae) Ensemble Distribution Modeling: Applications for Malaria Elimination. Insects 13 (3): 221. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13030221

Barnes, T.J., and L. Bergmann. 2022. The early years: William Bunge and Theoretical Geography. In Recalibrating the Quantitative Revolution in Geography: Travels, Networks, Translation, edited by Michel, B., F. Gyuris, and K. Paulus, 180-193. London: Routledge.

2021

Wallace, R. G. Liebman, A. Weisberger, D. Jonas, T. Bergmann, L. Kock, R. and R. Wallace. 2021. Industrial agricultural environments.  In Routledge Handbook of Biosecurity and Invasive Species, edited by K. Barker, and R. A. Francis, 194-214. London: Routledge.

Bergmann, L. and N. Lally. 2021. Enfolding: an experimental geographical imagination system (gis).  In A Place More Void, edited by Kingsbury and A. J. Secor, 167-180. University of Nebraska Press.

2020

Bergmann, L. and N. Lallu. 2020. For geographical imagination systems. Annals of the American Association of Geographers 111(1): 26-35. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2020.1750941

Song, Z. Wang, C. and L. Bergmann. 2020. China’s prefectural digital divide: Spatial analysis and multivariate determinants of ICT diffusion. International Journal of Information Management 52 . doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102072

Canada Research Chair in GIS, Geospatial Big Data and Digital Geohumanities