Ian Baird

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Geography, The University of British Columbia, 2008
M.A., Geography, The University of Victoria, 2003

Interests

Political Ecology; Development Studies; Identities; Indigeneity; Borders and Boundaries; Hydropower Development and Fisheries in the Mekong Basin; Large-scale Land Concessions / Acquisitions; Political and Military Resistance; Marginal Histories; Upland Peoples in Mainland Southeast Asia; Hmong, Lao, and Thai studies

RESEARCH AREAS

My main geographical area of interest is mainland Southeast Asia, especially Laos, Thailand and northeastern Cambodia. My research interests include:

– Political Ecology
– Human-Environment Relations
– Insurgencies and political opposition in mainland Southeast Asia
– Development Studies
– Postcolonial Studies
– Social Movements (in mainland Southeast Asia)
– Social Theory – Social and Spatial (Re)organization
– Hydropower Dams in the Mekong Region and Inland Fisheries
– Large-scale Land Concessions/Acquisitions
– Identities and Identification
– Indigeneity in Asia
– Boundaries and Borders
– Hmong Studies
– Lao Studies
– Thai Studies
– Upland peoples in mainland Southeast Asia, especially the Brao and the Hmong
– 19th and 20th Century History in Mainland Southeast Asia

CURRENT RESEARCH

I am presently engaged in conducting research on the following:

– the political ecology of large hydropower dam development in the Mekong River Basin, with an emphasis on inland fisheries
– large-scale land concessions/acquisitions and land tenure more generally
– Agricultural certification
– Indigenous Peoples in Asia (particularly Southeast Asia)
– political and military issues related to Laos after 1975
– the Hmong and the Communist Party of Thailand the histories of various peoples, ethnic groups and social and political movements in Laos and northeastern Cambodia (particularly the Brao, Hmong and the Lao Na Champassak family)
– Japanese Canadian history

COURSES TAUGHT

Spring 2026
Geog 358 – Human Geography of Southeast Asia
Geog/Env St 557 – Development and Environment in Southeast Asia

Fall 2026
Geog/Env St 337 – Nature, Power and Society
Geog/Env St 557 – Development and Environment in Southeast Asia

Spring 2027
Geog 358 – Human Geography of Southeast Asia
Geog/Env 336 – International Environmental Governance

AFFILIATIONS

Center for Southeast Asian Studies
Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
Center for Culture, History and Environment
Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies
Asian American Studies Program

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

For a full selection of my publications, see: https://wisc.academia.edu/IanBaird

Rise of the Brao: Ethnic Minorities in Northeastern Cambodia during Vietnamese Occupation (2020) (2nd runner up, EuroSEAS book award 2022)

https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5655.htm

AWARDS AND HONORS

Awarded a Fulbright-Hays Foreign Research Award (October 2022)

Awarded a H.I. Romnes Faculty Award for Excellence in Research from UW-Madison (May 2022)

Awarded a Vilas Associates Award from UW-Madison for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years.

Awarded a “Race, Ethnicity and Indigeneity (REI) Fellowship” at the Institute for Research in the Humanities, UW-Madison, for the 2014-2015 academic year. This fellowship supported my research on Indigenous Peoples movements in Southeast Asia.

GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS

Current PhD students: Zhe Yu Lee (Geography, co-advised with Morgan Robertson), Kevin Inks (Geography), Po-Tao Chang (Geography), Le Thu Dinh (Geography), May Pannchi (Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies), Ray Lacko (Geography), Ky Chimrak (Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies), Clifton Skye (Geography)

Current Masters students: Xuan Le Nguyen (Geography)

Past PhD Students: Akarath Soukhaphon (Geography, completed 2026), Puttaporn (Jip) Areeprachakun (Geography, completed 2020), David Chambers (Geography, completed 2020), Peter Swift (Geography, completed 2019), Will Shattuck (Geography, completed 2019), W. Nathan Green (Geography, completed 2019), Pao Vue (Geography, completed 2018)

Past Master’s students: Theint Yee Soe (Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, completed 2025), Tou Saiko Lee (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2025), Russell Chapman (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2023), Bao Xiong (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2021), Zhe Yu Lee (Geography, co-advised with Morgan Robertson, completed 2019), Kevin Inks (Geography, completed 2020) Shengqi Zhang (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2016), Michael Dunford (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2016), Aurore Phenow (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2015), W. Nathan Green (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2014), Nicholas Zeller (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2014), Will Shattuck (Geography, completed 2013), Peter Swift (Geography, completed 2013), Noi Sinouthasy (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2013), David Chambers (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2013), Inthava Borihane (Southeast Asian Studies, completed 2013)

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Main faculty for the UW-Madison part of the Hmong Studies Consortium (in collaboration with University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Chiang Mai Universities and other universities) https://hmongstudies.wisc.edu/