Dr. J.M. Shawn Hutchinson
Professor; Director, Geographic Information Systems Spatial Analysis Laboratory and NRES Secondary Major; Co-Director, Institute for Digital Agriculture and Advanced Analytics
Contact Information
3018 Seaton Hall
785-532-6727 (Department Office)
shutch@k-state.edu
Education
- Ph.D., 2000, Kansas State University
- Certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP), GIS Certification Institute (#50908)
Current Research
I am a geographer and environmental scientist who seeks to maximize the power of GIS, remote sensing, and computational methods for near real-time environmental monitoring, evaluating and forecasting landscape metrics characterizing the sustainability of working lands, and assessing agricultural biosecurity hazards at regional and national scales. My students and I are currently evaluating long-term trends in grassland phenology and near-surface soil moisture conditions across the Great Plains ecoregion with a future goal of integrating these measures into improved estimates of grassland ecosystem services.
Selected Publications
- Radunzel, J. and J.M.S. Hutchinson. 2025. Cartographic data and the Great War: An HGIS for tactical cartography. International Journal of Cartography 1-25. doi.org/10.1080/23729333.
2024.2443991 - Muche, M., S.L. Hutchinson, J.M.S. Hutchinson, and J.M. Johnston. 2019. Phenology-adjusted dynamic curve number for improved hydrologic modeling. Journal of Environmental Management 235:403-413. doi.org/10.1016/ j.jenvman.2018.12.115
- McDonough, K.R., S.L. Hutchinson, T. Moore, and J.M.S. Hutchinson. 2017. Analysis of trends in ecosystem services research. Ecosystem Services 25:82-88. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.03.022
- Hutchinson, J.M.S., A. Jacquin, S.L. Hutchinson, and J. Verbesselt. 2015. Monitoring vegetation change and dynamics on U.S. Army training lands using satellite image time series analysis. Journal of Environmental Management 150:355-366. doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.08.002
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Margosian, M.L., K.A. Garrett, J.M.S. Hutchinson, and K.A. With. 2009. Connectivity of the American Agricultural Landscape: Assessing the National Risk of Crop Pest and Disease Spread. BioScience 59(2):141-151.
Service
- Co-Director, Institute for Digital Agriculture and Advanced Analytics
- Director, Geographic Information Systems Spatial Analysis Laboratory (GISSAL)
- Director, Undergraduate Certificate in GIS
- Director, Graduate Certificate in GIScience
- Delegate, University Consortium for GIScience
Short Biographical Sketch
Shawn Hutchinson, Professor of Geography and Director of Kansas State University’s Geographic Information Systems Spatial Analysis Laboratory and founding Co-Director of the Institute for Digital Agriculture and Advanced Analytics, studies issues related to grassland and military training land sustainability, surface water resources, and agricultural biosecurity with an increasing emphasis on real- and near-real time environmental monitoring.
He received his bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Colorado State University in 1990. He earned his master’s degree in 1997 and doctorate in 2000, both in geography, from Kansas State University. He is also a certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP). His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals more than 60 times and he has been an investigator on extramurally-funded research grants totaling more than $18 million from state and federal agencies including the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
In addition to teaching and research, Hutchinson developed K-State’s bachelor's degree program in Geographic Information Science & Technology as well as the university’s successful undergraduate and graduate GIS certificate programs. He also serves as the director of the Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences Secondary Major and was part of the multidisciplinary team which developed the bachelor's degree in Environmental Science at Kansas State University.
Dr. Hutchinson also actively supports his discipline’s primary professional society, the American Asssociation of Geographers (AAG). In 2013-2014, he served as chair of the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Division of the AAG and was the region representative to the AAG Council from 2014-2017 when he chaired the committee of regional councilors in 2016-2017. Hutchinson is also a current K-State delegate to the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, a non-profit organization that creates and supports communities of practice for GIScience research, education, and policy endeavors in higher education.
Following his undergraduate training, Hutchinson served as a combat engineer officer in the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division from 1990-1995 where he was awarded the Army Achievement, Army Commendation, and Meritorious Service medals.