2009 GFDA Workshop Directory
Stephen Aldrich,
Steve is a newly appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, Geology, and Anthropology at Indiana State University, and will be teaching GIS, Cartography, and Quantitative Methods. His research sits firmly in the human-environment/nature-society tradition of Geography, and has focused on the environmental impacts associated with the interactions of largeholder and smallholder farmers in the Brazilian Amazon. Steve’s dissertation research was in the Department of Geography at Michigan State University, and was a mixed-method exploration of the connection between deforestation and land conflict in one of Brazil’s most notorious badlands, the South of Pará. Though Steve enjoys geographic analysis techniques (and is looking forward to continuing to use them, learn them, and teach them), he also has interests in environmental policy, social theory, historical geography, mixed-method research, and regional geography.
Eric Boschmann,
Eric is an assistant professor of geography at the University of Denver, where he teaches courses in introductory, urban, and economic geography. His research interests center around issues of employment accessibility, transportation, equity/social justice, urban sustainability, and urban form. Additionally, his work is highly motivated by the potentials of mixed-method research approaches – using a breadth of techniques, including spatial statistics, GIS, sketch mapping, and interviews. He received his PhD from the Ohio State University. Current ‘hobbies’ include hiking, appreciating art, and jogging.
Jeremy Glen Bryson,
Jeremy is a PhD candidate in the geography department at Syracuse University. His research interests focus on the historical and contemporary urban environments of the American West. Jeremy is currently writing his dissertation that examines the relationship between environmental amenities and urban redevelopment in the cities of the Inland Northwest. His research combines the nature-society theories of urban environmental history and urban political ecology to explore the ‘nature of gentrification’ in Coeur d’Alene, ID and Spokane, WA. While a graduate student at Syracuse, Jeremy taught Geography 103: America and the Global Environment through University College. Jeremy completed his BS in Planning and Resource Management from Brigham Young University and his MS in Earth Sciences from Montana State University.
Kirsten Valentine Cadieux,
Valentine uses ethnography, land use analysis, historical and contemporary policy analysis, and science studies frameworks to research the cultural geography of land use change and the politics of planning processes at the urban-rural interface. This research focuses on relationships between land use and landscape ideologies as they can be understood through everyday material and representational practices. Concentrating on intersections of urbanization, nature conservation, and agriculture activism, this work serves to help translate between different positions in land use management processes, particularly around the concepts of place, landscape, and nature, and around epistemological issues involved in political ecology and other disciplinary studies of nature-society relations.
Jamison Conley,
Jamison is an assistant professor of geography at West Virginia University, with MS (2004) and PhD (2008) degrees in geography from Pennsylvania State University, where he worked in the GeoVISTA Center. His work there focused on cluster detection and analysis, spatial analysis of epidemiological data, and developing GUIs for editing map symbols. His current research is centered on statistical and computational issues in cluster analysis, particularly of disease clusters, shape analysis, and combining visualization with spatial analysis.
Mona Domosh, , Leader
I am a professor of geography at Dartmouth College, with research/teaching interests in cultural, urban and feminist geography. I write and conduct research on three interconnected topics: 1) the cultural processes and practices of early (pre 1920) United States-based globalization and the makings of American empire, 2) the connections between gender, class and the cultural formation of large American cities in the 19th century, 3) feminist perspectives, theory, and methodology in relationship to matters of space and place. Most of my research has been funded by the National Science Foundation. In addition to my scholarly books and articles, I also co-write an introductory human geography textbook, The Human Mosaic. I was the co-founding editor of Gender, Place and Culture and am just now stepping down as co-editor of Cultural Geographies after a six-year term. Before coming to Dartmouth in 2000, I taught at Florida Atlantic University for 10 years, and before that, I had five (!) one-year visiting appointments around the country. I published a short essay (“Unintentional Transgressions and Other Reflections on the Job Search Process”) about my academic nomadism in The Professional Geographer in 2000.
Ken Foote, , Leader
I'm a professor of geography and former department chair at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I am interested in: 1) cultural and historical geography focusing on American and European landscape history and issues of public memory and commemoration; 2) geographic information science and related computer and Internet technologies; and 3) learning and teaching geography in higher education, including instructional technology and issues of professional development for early career faculty. I have served as president and vice president of the National Council for Geographic Education, a national councilor of the AAG, editor of NCGE Pathways series of publications for geography educators, and North American editor of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education. I received the Association of American Geographers' J.B. Jackson prize for Shadowed Ground: America's Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy in 1998 and Gilbert Grosvenor Honors in Geographic Education in 2005. I will serve as AAG vice-president for 2009-10.
At the time a became a geography professor, I had had far more experience teaching music than geography and wish I had more time to perform early music on flute, recorder, and viola da gamba. My wife and I have twin boys born in February 2003. When we can manage it, we foster and adopt ex-racing greyhounds and whippets.
Lucius Hallett, IV,
Lucius is an Assistant Professor of geography at Western Michigan University, where he focuses on the geography of food networks. He received his Ph.D. in geography from the University of Kansas. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, receiving an Associate Degree in Culinary Arts in 1993. Dr. Hallet is the author of articles "Not Necessarily Better Simply Because It's Local: Investigating the Geographies of Local Food and the 'Local Trap'" and "Different Geographies for Different Folks: Narratives on What Gets Eaten." He is currently working with faculty at the University of Kansas on a project that examines the distances consumers will travel to shop for food, and what influences those decisions.
Hillary Hamann, , Leader
Hillary is a permanent lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Denver. Prior to my appointment at DU, I held positions as an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and a visiting scholar at the ColoradoCollege. I received my BA in Environmental Science from WesleyanUniversity and my MA and PhD in Geography from the University of Colorado at Boulder. My research has focused on runoff flowpaths, water quality and the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance—pollution, climate change and deforestation—in alpine and tropical watersheds. Most recently I have been examining the effects of wildfire on the physical and chemical nature of water and sediment erosion in forested watersheds of the Rocky Mountain West. Outside of research, I have a real passion for teaching and have a diversity of experience ranging from teacher workshops, environmental education and extended field courses, to large physical geography lecture classes (I even participated in the very first GFDA workshop in 2002!). I try to keep balance in my life by spending plenty of time outside— gardening, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, doing triathlons and, of course, skiing.
James W. (“JW”) Harrington, , Leader
JW is a Professor of Geography at the University of Washington. June 2009 will be his fifth year as a GFDA leader, a highlight of each year! An economic geographer, JW, teaches, writes and researches regional economic development, occupational attainment and workforce development, and has recently gained an interest in Chinese regional development. He served as department chair from 2000-05, now represents the UW Faculty in Washington State legislative and educational policy matters, and will serve as vice-chair and then chair of the UW Faculty Senate. He’s served as AAG Secretary and as executive director of the North American Regional Science Association, and spent three years directing the Geography and Regional Science Program at the National Science Foundation.
JW’s abiding interests are in organizational and leadership development, and his hobbies include cooking/entertaining and vocal music (as a trained baritone). He’s been very active in Unitarian-Universalist churches in Buffalo NY, Reston VA, and Seattle WA.
Ziying Jiang,
Ziying Jiang is a Ph.D student in geography at ClarkUniversity. She joined the Department of Geography at University of New Orleans in August 2008. Her research focuses on simulating the road extension using GIS to enhance the land change modeling. Ziying developed the dynamic road development module in IDRISI. This module is a component of the Land Change Modeler for Ecological Sustainability, which was released in the IDRISI Andes edition in 2006.
Ziying teaches a variety of geography courses such as world regional geography, fundamental mapping and GIS, GIS concept and theories, and GIS application.
Wen Lin,
Wen Lin is joining the Department of Geography and Earth Science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse as an assistant professor this fall. She received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee this spring, after receiving her BS in geography from Peking University, China. Her research interests reside in geographic information science and urban geography, particularly in two areas: implementation and usage of GIS in urban governance and GIS applications in environmental studies. During her PhD study at UW-Milwaukee, she has taught several courses including World Regional Geography, Introduction to GIS, and Geography of Asia. She will be teaching an online course of Introduction to Environmental Geography this coming summer at UWM.
Ben Mosiane,
Ben Mosiane is a PhD candidate at Syracuse University, Geography Department. His dissertation uses the ideas of livelihoods and superfluity to explore the transformative potential of cities. A dynamic South African city, Rustenburg, is used as a case study for his research. During his affiliations with the South African North-West University (as lecturer) and Syracuse University (as PhD student), he has developed teaching and research interests in the fields of urban, cultural, and development geography. Ben Mosiane is currently a research manager in the Research and Planning Department of the Royal Bafokeng Nation, South Africa.
Jeremia Njeru,
I am an assistant professor at the Department of Geology and Geography at West Virginia University. My teaching and research interests are in the area of urban geography. In particular, my research focus is on urban development and urban environmental change in both North American and African settings. I use a combination of political ecology and political economy frameworks in my research. The courses I teach include introduction to Urban Geography, Urban and regional planning, and Urban Political Ecology (graduate seminar).
Trushna Parekh,
Trushna is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geography at University of Kentucky. Her research is in urban geography and cultural landscape studies, with a focus on gentrification, racialized identity and cultural memory in the U.S. South.
Anouk Patel-Campillo,
Anouk received her doctorate in August 2008 in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University under the supervision of economic geographer Susan M. Christopherson.
Anouk was a recipient of a 2006-2007 National Science Foundation (NSF) Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement grant (DDRI) in Geography and Regional Science. She was a selected participant in the 2008 Summer Institute in Economic Geography (SIEG) in Manchester University. Anouk is a recently appointed assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at the The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in international development and international rural change. Anouk’s research interests fall into three broad areas: (1) the comparative political economy of development, (2) regulation and economic restructuring, and (3) institutional change and planning.
Parama Roy,
I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Geosciences in Georgia State University. I completed my PhD in geography from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2008. My research and teaching interests are in urban environmental geography. Funded by NSF’s Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant my PhD research focused on the public-private production and management of existing unequal green spaces in the city of Milwaukee. More specifically, I engaged in ethnographic study of a predominantly African-American inner-city community-garden effort to examine the role of such historically marginalized communities in greening urban neighborhoods within the neoliberal political economy. Presently, I am embarking on a new project related to present urban collaborative planning processes and their implications for community empowerment in Atlanta.
Michael Solem, , Leader
Michael Solem is Educational Affairs Director at the Association of American Geographers. Since 2003, Dr. Solem has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on over $3 million in federally funded projects aimed at enhancing the teaching and learning of geography in postsecondary education.
Dr. Solem currently directs the Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education in Geography (EDGE) project and the Center for Global Geography Education (CGGE) initiative funded by NSF. EDGE is a research and action project designed to improve the preparation of geography graduate students for academic and non-academic professional careers. CGGE is an initiative supporting online international teaching and learning collaborations in undergraduate geography courses.
Dr. Solem is the external evaluator for the University of Colorado¹s Geography Faculty Development Alliance and Oregon State University¹s Graduate Ethics Education for Future Geospatial Technology Professionals project. He currently serves as the North American coordinator of the International Network for Learning and Teaching Geography in Higher Education (INLT), is associate director of the Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education at Texas State UniversitySan Marcos, and leads the AAG¹s efforts with the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning program.
Dr. Solem received the Journal of Geography in Higher Education¹s biennial award for promoting excellence in teaching and learning for his research with Ken Foote on faculty development in postsecondary geography. He is co-editor of Aspiring Academics and Teaching College Geography, two AAG books for graduate students and early career faculty.
Kate Swanson,
Kate is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at San Diego State University. She is an urban geographer specializing in poverty, exclusion and Latin America. Her areas of interest include: urban restructuring, informal sector strategies, labor migration, childhood, racialization of indigenous peoples, and gender and public space. After completing her PhD at the University of Toronto in 2005, she spent two and a half years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Glasgow. She joined the faculty at SDSU in 2008.
Su-Yin Tan,
Su-Yin Tan is a Lecturer at the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Canada. She specializes in geographic information systems, remote sensing, and spatial data analysis methodologies. She currently teaches undergraduate courses in the GISciences, digital image processing, and photogrammetry at the University of Waterloo and the International Space University. Su-Yin received her PhD in Geography from the University of Cambridge (UK) and Master degrees from Oxford University (UK) and Boston University (USA). She obtained her BSc in Environmental Science from the University of Guelph (Ontario). Su-Yin is originally from Edmonton (Alberta), but grew up overseas in Papua New Guinea. She is interested in spatial data analysis methodologies in a range of application areas, such as climatology, medical geography, ecosystem modeling, and remote sensing. In her free time, Su-Yin enjoys reading, practicing martial arts, and playing the piano. She is passionate about exploring and learning about the world through adventure and travel.
Daoqin Tong,
Daoqin Tong is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Regional Development at University of Arizona. Dr. Tong received M.S. in Civil Engineering and Ph.D. in Geography from the Ohio State University. Dr. Tong's research interests include spatial analysis, GIS, spatial optimization, geocomputation and location analysis.
Anna Versluis,
Anna is an Assistant Professor in the Geography Department at Gustavus Adolphus College, a liberal arts college about an hour south of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Her research interests include land change, remote sensing, disasters, Haiti, and human interactions with the environment. The 2008-09 academic year was her first full-time year of teaching. She teaches Introduction to Physical Geography, Sustainability, GIS and People and Environment. Anna received her PhD from Clark University, Massachusetts, and her MS, also in Geography, from Oregon State University. Her undergraduate degree is in Biology from Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia.
David Walker,
David is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology and Geography at OhioWesleyanUniversity. Walker focuses on contemporary urban issues and has conducted extensive research in Oaxaca, Mexico City and Tijuana. He teaches Urban Geography, Economic Geography, Cultural Geography, and a course on Neoliberal Spaces in Latin America. Professor Walker's current research interests incorporate a theoretical approach to urbanization and spaces of resistance vis-à-vis neoliberalism and the restructuring of urban spaces within the milieu of Mexican Cities. His research concerns the neoliberalization of space and gentrification as economic and cultural globalism in the Historic District of Downtown Mexico City. Dr. Walker's interests in Latin America and the neoliberalization of space are long standing. He received a BA from the University of California at Berkeley in Latin American Studies with a minor in Spanish and Portuguese, and earned an MA in Latin American Studies from San DiegoStateUniversity. While at SDSU Walker wrote his thesis on changes to Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution and the privatization and urbanization of the Ejido sector in Mexican Border cities. Aside from working in the urban realm, Dr. Walker also conducted a year-long National Science Foundation funded research project into the interconnectivity of NGOs vis-à-vis indigenous agency in the Global South where he worked as volunteer for the WWF in Oaxaca, Mexico.