Sander Van Der Leeuw

Arizona State University

Research Interests

Professor van der Leeuw is an archeologist and historian by training, specializing in the long-term impacts of human activity on the landscape. He is recognized as a pioneer in the application of the complex adaptive systems approach to socio-environmental challenges, and in this context has studied ancient technologies, ancient and modern man-land relationships, and innovation. A native of Holland who speaks five languages, van der Leeuw has done archaeological fieldwork in Syria, Holland, and France, and conducted ethno-archaeological studies in the Near East, the Philippines and Mexico. In the 1990's he coordinated for the European Union a series of interdisciplinary research projects on socio-natural interactions and modern environmental problems. This work spans all the countries along the northern Mediterranean rim, and used the complex adaptive systems approach to improve understanding of these interactions and their impact on sustainability– the first of its kind. In the 2000's he co-directed an (equally EU-funded) project on invention and innovation from a Complex Adaptive Systems perspective. For both these projects, he was awared the 2012 UNEP "Champion of the Earth" award.

His current research interests are in the development of Global Systems Science, the study of the relationship between sustainability and innovation, the long-term evolution of human information processing and the application of transdisciplinarity to research.

His field specializations include: Archaeology, Ceramic Technology, Complex Systems Theory, Ethnoarchaeology, Human-Environment Interaction, Identity and Differentiation, Land Use, Modeling and Simulation, Urban Origins and Dynamics