Craig Fergus is a spatial analyst and lab manager at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Conservation Ecology Center, where he works for the Changing Landscapes Initiative and the Working Land and Seascapes Lab. His current research focuses on using GIS and other tools to examine the connections between landscape patterns and functioning ecosystems in both Virginia and Smithsonian study areas around the world.

Fergus received his bachelor's degree in wildlife, fish, and conservation biology from the University of California, Davis in 2008. He earned his master's degree in biology from Central Washington University in 2012. His master’s research examined the landscape genetics of the American pika on either side of Interstate Highway 90 in Washington state, in preparation for a now complete wildlife crossing structure. Fergus joined the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute as an intern and contractor before becoming a staff analyst in 2018.  

Like many wildlife enthusiasts, Fergus imagined he would be a field biologist and spent a full year with the U.S. Forest Service and California Fish and Game Department looking for goshawks, martins, and salmon. However, in the off-season, he took a job mapping the locations of these threatened species and caught the GIS bug. He is thrilled to work somewhere that allows him to continue to combine these interests in new and exciting ways.

Article

• Ahmadisharaf, Ebrahim, Lacher, Iara L., Fergus, Craig, Benham, Brian L., Akre, Thomas, and Kline, Karen S. 2020. "Projecting land use change impacts on nutrients, sediment and runoff in multiple spatial scales: Business-as-usual vs. stakeholder-informed scenarios." Journal of Cleaner Production, 257 Article 120466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120466. 2024
• Lacher, Iara, Akre, Thomas, McShea, William J., McBride, Marissa, Thompson, Jonathan R., and Fergus, Craig. 2019. "Engaging regional stakeholders in scenario planning for the long-term preservation of ecosystem services in Northwestern Virginia." Case Studies in the Environment, 3, (1) 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1525/cse.2018.001180. 2019
• Cove, Michael V., Fergus, Craig, Lacher, Iara, Akre, Thomas, and McShea, William J. 2019. "Projecting Mammal Distributions in Response to Future Alternative Landscapes in a Rapidly Transitioning Region." Remote Sensing, 11, (21) 2482–2482. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11212482. 2019
• Lacher, Iara, Akre, Thomas, McShea, William J., and Fergus, Craig. 2019. "Spatial and temporal patterns of public and private land protection within the Blue Ridge and Piedmont ecoregions of the eastern US." Landscape and Urban Planning, 186 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.02.008. 2019
• Lacher, Iara L., Ahmadisharaf, Ebrahim, Fergus, Craig, Akre, Thomas, McShea, William J., Benham, Brian L., and Kline, Karen S. 2018. "Scale-dependent impacts of urban and agricultural land use on nutrients, sediment, and runoff." Science of the Total Environment, 652 611–622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.370. 2018