Antonio Bellisario

Professor of Geography

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Bio

Born and raised in Chile, Latin America, I am a Professor of Geography at the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. I hold an MA and Ph.D. in Urban Planning from UCLA. My research focuses on urban sustainability, land rights, agrarian and rural issues, progressive politics in the face of climate change, the political ecology of water, and cryosphere-hydrology interactions in mountain environments. I have previously taught urban planning at the University of Concepción, Chile, and Cal Poly Pomona University.
My academic background spans Planning and Geography, with specialized expertise in international development policy analysis, particularly in agricultural policy, land use, and resource conflict, as well as global sustainability studies. My regional focus centers on development planning in Latin America.
Beyond work, I enjoy travel, reading, cycling, climbing the Andes, fly fishing, and family vacations in Patagonia or Easter Island (Rapa Nui).

Degree

PhD in Urban Planning

UCLA

MA in Urban Planning

UCLA

BA in Geography

California State University, Los Angeles

Published Works

Bellisario, C. A., Janke, J. (2025). Evidence of Active Layer Thermal Instability in a Permafrost Environment of the Dry Andes (32°S). Earth Systems and Environment, 2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-025-00748-2.
Bellisario, C. A. (2025). Entre la épica y el vacío: el callejón político de Chile. CIPER , https://www.ciperchile.cl/2025/08/15/entre-la-epica-y-el-vacio-el-callejon-politico-de-chile/
Janke, J., Bellisario, C. A. . Juncal Norte Glacier and Runoff Dynamics in Central Chile: Mass Balance Modeling and Climate Response. [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research.
Bellisario, C. A., Janke, R. J. (2024). Assessing the Impacts of a Multi-Year Drought on Water Resources and Agriculture in the Aconcagua River Basin of Chile.. Investigaciones Geográficas: Una Mirada Desde El Sur, (67), 72–94. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-5370.2024.75159.
Bellisario, C. A. (2021). The Legacy of Allende’s Revolutionary Cultural Politics, 1970-73. Popular Culture, 54(5), 1051-1072. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.13068.
Bellisario, C. A., Prock, A. L. (2020). Arte ConTexto: Leftist Political Murals in Chile, 1960s to 1990s. Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture, 2(3), 29-52. https://doi.org/10.1525/lavc.2020.2.3.29.
Janke, J., Ng, S., Bellisario, C. A. (2017). An inventory and estimate of water stored in firn fields, glaciers, debris-covered glaciers, and rock glaciers in the Aconcagua River Basin, Chile. Geomorphology, 29642-152. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.09.002.
Janke, J., Bellisario, C. A., Ferrando, A. F. (2015). Classification of debris-covered glaciers and rock glaciers in the Andes of central Chile. Geomorphology, 2418-121. .
Janke, R. J., Bellisario, C. A., Ferrando, A. F. (2015). Classification of debris-covered glaciers and rock glaciers in the Andes of central Chile. Geomorphology, 2418-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.03.034.
Bellisario, C. A., Ferrando, F., Janke, J. (2013). Water resources in Chile: The critical relation between glaciers and mining for sustainable water management.. Investigaciones Geográficas, (46), 3-24. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-5370.2013.30288.
Bellisario, C. A. (2013). The End of the Old Chilean Agrarian Regime (1955-1965). Revista Mexicana de Sociología , 75(3), 341-370. http://dx.doi.org/10.22201/iis.01882503p.2013.3 .
Bellisario, C. A. (2013). La reforma agraria Chilena. Reformismo, socialismo y neoliberalismo (1964-1980). Historia Agraria, 59(April 2013), 159-190. https://historiaagraria.com/FILE/articulos/HA59__bellisario.pdf.
Janke, J., Bellisario, C. A., . (2010). Geospatial Techniques to Assess High Mountain Hazards: A Case Study on California Rock Glacier and an Application for Management in the Andes. (pp 65-84). Springer Science.
Bellisario, C. A. (2009). The Land Question and the Chilean Transition to Agrarian Capitalism. Problemas del Desarrollo: Revista Latinoamericana de Economía , 40(156), 173-193. https://www.probdes.iiec.unam.mx/index.php/pde.
Bellisario, C. A. (2007). The Chilean Agrarian Transformation: Agrarian Reform and Capitalist ‘Partial’ Counter-Agrarian Reform, 1964–1980. Part 2: CORA, Post-1980 Outcomes and the Emerging Agrarian Class Structure. Journal of Agrarian Change, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0366.2007.00143.x.
Bellisario, C. A. (2006). The Chilean Agrarian Transformation: Agrarian Reform and Capitalist ‘Partial’ Counter-Agrarian Reform, 1964–1980 Part 1: Reformism, Socialism and Free-Market Neoliberalism. Journal of Agrarian Change, 7(2), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0366.2007.00138.x.
Bellisario, C. A. (2006). Las ‘semillas’ de la discordia del desarrollo geográfico desigual: O, por qué los Incas no conquistaron Europa.. Atenea, (494), 111-126. https://www.scielo.cl/pdf/atenea/n494/art07.pdf.
Bellisario, C. A. (2006). The Chilean Agrarian Transformation: The Pre-Agrarian Reform Period (1955-1965). Journal of Agrarian Change, 6(2), 167-204. .
Bellisario, C. A. (2006). The New Imperialism. Revista Mexicana de Sociología, http://www.ejournal.unam.mx/rms/2006-2/RMS006000208.pdf
Bellisario, C. A. (2005). Review of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. Revista Mexicana de Sociología, http://www.ejournal.unam.mx/rms/2005-1/RMS005000109.pdf
Bellisario, C. A. (2003). El Nuevo Imperialismo. Tiempo y Espacio, (10), 53-59. http://www.ubiobio.cl/miweb/webfile/media/222/Espacio/2006_2007/Pág%2053%2059%20geograf%C3%ADa%202007.pdf.
Bellisario, C. A. (2001). Territorio y Economía: La teoría de la especialización flexible. Revista de Geografía Norte Grande, (28), 43-56. http://revistanortegrande.uc.cl/index.php/RGNG/article/view/46571.

Research Interests

Currently, I am engaged in three research projects:

The first study analyzes Rapanui (Easter Island) resistance to settler colonial dispossession while maintaining alternative territorial governance systems, documenting how Indigenous communities have sustained alternative land governance practices through strategic legal action, cultural preservation, and the creative appropriation of state mechanisms.

The second project investigates the classic agrarian reform experiences as a lens for understanding contemporary land access challenges facing smallholder farmers in Latin America, analyzing how land redistribution can address climate change vulnerabilities, food insecurity, and persistent rural inequalities.

The third project examines the intersection of glacial dynamics, water resources, and climate change in an Andean river basin, analyzing how cryospheric changes affect agricultural productivity and freshwater availability for downstream communities.

Teaching Interests

Teaching
My academic background spans Planning and Geography, with specialized expertise in international development policy analysis, particularly in agricultural policy, land use, and resource conflict, as well as global sustainability studies. My work increasingly integrates environmental methods to examine climate-hydrology interactions in high-altitude environments. My regional focus centers on development planning in Latin America.

This interdisciplinary experience shapes my commitment to inclusive education, which extends beyond mere access and the inclusion of diverse backgrounds and identities; it is a commitment to equity, social justice, and full citizenship, using education as a tool to dismantle barriers faced by oppressed groups. Brazilian educator Paulo Freire called education 'the practice of freedom,' a concept I fully embrace in my teaching. I do this by introducing these ideas to students through case studies from my research fieldwork that examine how climate impacts affect marginalized communities, and by incorporating Latin American perspectives to challenge dominant Global North frameworks in development literature.

Office Hours

Monday - [11:00 to 13:15]

Wednesday - [11:00 to 13:15]

Additional Information

rowdy.mscd.edu/~abellisa/Welcome.html