Teaching

My love of teaching and student mentoring inspired me to work in academia. In classroom, field and research settings, I find it is important to not just describe the social and environmental issues we face today, but to also detail how and why economic, political and cultural forces come to produce these conditions and mediate the way we understand and respond to them. Critical thinking is of particular importance. As a teacher I am equally interested in how students learn when outside my classes as I am with what students learn while inside them. Courses that are part of my current rotation are listed below.

Note to potential students: I actively advise a number of graduate students at MA/MS and PhD levels. Those interested in working with me should send an email detailing your interests.

Courses

ENVS 1342

Introduction to Environment, Society and Sustainability

Overview of perspectives on environmental issues within the context of sustainable development and taking a systems approach. The focus is on social science approaches to explore the human footprint on the earth, environmentalism, scientific uncertainty, policy creation and social change.

GEOG 4/5420

The Politics of Nature

Examines how economic systems, scientific discovery, institutional policies, and environmental knowledge converge to shape the environment and mediate the way societies understand, manage and respond to environmental changes in both the United States and the developing world.

GEOG 4/5440

Science, Policy and the Environment

Examines the social, economic and political forces shaping scientific discovery and the development and enforcement of environmental policy. Students will examine perspectives on issues such as risk, expertise, uncertainty and objectivity that influence the problem-defining, standard-setting and policy-making process.

GEOG 4/5680

Urban Sustainability: Perspectives and Practice

Examines various perspectives on sustainability, including ambiguities and opportunities of sustainability as a conceptual framework. Class also examines what sustainability looks like in practice, using numerous topics such as poverty and urban farming to water and climate change.

GEOG 4700/ENVS 5700

Synthesis for Interdisciplinary Science

Synthesis is an approach in interdisciplinary research and education that links ideas, data and methods. This course develops synthesis skills through the lens of systems theory. It includes exercises for synthetic thinking, examination of integrative tools, and a service-learning project. Breadth and depth training in environmental sciences. Interest in interdisciplinary collaboration.

GEOG 6300

Foundations Seminar in Human-Environment Interactions

Seminar allows students to gain a deeper appreciation for historical and contemporary geographical approaches to understanding the relationship between society and the environment through a survey review of foundational readings, concepts, theories and debates that have shaped the discipline.

GEOG 6750

Research Design

Reviews relevant research frameworks and epistemologies for geographers and other scholars of the environment. Reviews key steps in designing and executing high-caliber independent research, including topic selection, literature review and data collection analysis. As a final product, students will develop a thesis research proposal.