Brian Fath
Principal Research Scholar
Systemic Risk and Resilience Research Group
Advancing Systems Analysis Program
YSSP Scientific Coordinator
Capacity Development and Academic Training Unit
Biography
Brian D. Fath is a Principal Research Scholar in the Systemic Risk and Resilience Research Group of the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) Program. He is also a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Towson University, Maryland, USA. He teaches courses in ecosystem ecology, environmental biology, networks, and human ecology and sustainability. He has also taught courses on ecological networks and modeling in Austria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Russia.He held Fulbright Distinguished Chair positions at Parthenope University of Naples, Italy (2012) and Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic (2019).
Fath’s work at IIASA contributes to ASA activities in environmental systems modeling, specifically in the area of network analysis of social-ecological systems. In addition, he has been serving as Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) Scientific Coordinator since 2011.
He has published over 200 research papers, reports, and book chapters. He also coauthored the books Explaining Technology (2023); A New Ecology: Systems perspective (2020); Foundations for sustainability (2018); Flourishing within limits to growth (2015); and Ecological Modelling 4th ed. (2011). In addition, he is the editor-in-chief for both the four-volume Encyclopedia of Ecology 2nd ed. (2018) and the six-volume Environmental Management Handbook 2nd ed. (2021). He also serves as editor-in-chief for Frontiers in Sustainable Resource Management, and he is the past editor of the journal, Ecological Modelling.
Fath was also the 2016 recipient of the Prigogine Medal for outstanding work in systems ecology.
Last update: 08 AUG 2024
Publications
Zisopoulos, F.K., Fath, B. , Meirelles De Oliveira, B., Toboso-Chavero, S., D'Assenza-David, H., de Souza, V.M., Huang, H., Scrieciu, Ş., Clark, O.G., Noll, D., Singh, S., Stefanakis, A., Boyd, G., Schraven, D., & de Jong, M. (2025). Towards an ecological metaphor for regenerative circular economies. Ecological Economics 231 e108545. 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108545.
Zisopoulos, F.K., Fath, B. , Tong, X., & de Jong, M. (2025). Network properties of the global waste trade. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators 25 e100550. 10.1016/j.indic.2024.100550.
Zisopoulos, F.K., Fath, B. , Toboso-Chavero, S., Huang, H., Schraven, D., Steuer, B., Stefanakis, A., Clark, O.G., Scrieciu, S., Singh, S., Noll, D., & de Jong, M. (2025). Inequities blocking the path to circular economies: A bio-inspired network-based approach for assessing the sustainability of the global trade of waste metals. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 212 e107958. 10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107958.
Davies, T., Loghmani, T., & Fath, B. (2024). “Solutions” are not the answer. Frontiers in Sustainability 5 10.3389/frsus.2024.1509972.
Sokolova, M., Fath, B. , Grande, U., Buonocore, E., & Franzese, P.P. (2024). The Role of Green Infrastructure in Providing Urban Ecosystem Services: Insights from a Bibliometric Perspective. Land 13 (10) e1664. 10.3390/land13101664.