2011 GFDA Workshop Leaders and Participants
Christopher Atkinson, christopher.atkinson@und.edu
Christopher is an assistant professor of geography at the University of North Dakota, where he
teaches courses in GIS regional geography, physical geography, human geography, urban
geography, and cartography. His research interests center around historic climatology of the
Upper Midwest, Great Lakes storm research, rural and urban winter-related hazards, and the
spatial and temporal distribution of blizzards within the context of climate change. He enjoys
supporting students in their educational efforts, including facilitating undergraduate participation
at local and regional conferences. He is also advisor for the local chapter of GTU/Geography
Club on campus. Christopher received his PhD from the University of Kansas.
Lisa Atkinson, lisa.atkinson@yahoo.com
Lisa Atkinson works in the field of Community Development. She is a graduate of St. Cloud
State in Minnesota. She is nearing completion of her Master's Degree at Kansas State
University. She has over ten years of experience in City Planning and has American Institute of
Certified Planner (AICP) credentials.
Holly Barnard, Holly.Barnard@colorado.edu
Holly Barnard is an assistant professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder. She completed her PhD in 2009 at Oregon State University where she studied forest
hydrology. She joined the CU-Boulder faculty in 2010. Her research is focused on investigating
how vegetation processes affect water flow dynamics and pathways in soil and streams, and
conversely, how water flow paths affect vegetation function in mountainous terrain. The ultimate
goal of her research is to improve our knowledge of how changes in land-use and/or climate will
affect water resources and ecosystems. Holly teaches an introductory physical geography
course, as well as, upper division and graduate courses in forest geography and ecohydrology.
Ryan Bergstrom, rbergstr@k-state.edu
Ryan Bergstrom is a doctoral candidate (Ph.D, ABD 2009, intended graduation 2011) at Kansas
State University. His current research focuses on human-environment interactions within
amenity-driven communities in rural areas of the American West, specifically within the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem. He holds a Master of Science degree from Montana State University
(2008) which focused on the economic importance of hunting to rural southwestern
Montana. Mr. Bergstrom has been recognized twice for his work in rural areas, receiving first
place in the student paper competition from the Great Plain-Rocky Mountain Division of the
Association of American Geographers (2008), and best overall paper at the 2009 Applied
Geography Conference. Mr. Bergstrom prides himself on his teaching abilities and has received
exemplary marks on student teaching evaluations at both universities, including being
nominated two consecutive years at Montana State University as the College of Letters and
Science Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant, and was a nominee for the President’s
Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award at Kansas State University.
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Afton Clarke-Sather, Afton.Clarke-sather@Colorado.EDU
Afton Clarke-Sather is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Colorado-Boulder with interest in
the political economy and political ecology of development. His dissertation research examines
how state backed development projects have managed water resources in rural areas of
Western China. He is also involved in research with Chinese colleagues on climate change
policy in China, and has previously done research in rural land ownership change in the U.S.
Melody Crenshaw, mcrenshaw4@alamo.edu
Melody is a tenure-track instructor of geography at Northwest Vista College, a community
college in San Antonio, Texas. Although a bit anxious about teaching Physical Geography at
first, she has found this to be an area of great interest and continued learning. She teaches
World Geography with a focus on peace and conflict as part of an optional concentration at the
college. She received her Ph.D. in Geographic Education from Texas State University-San
Marcos. Reflecting a longtime interest in geography education and U.S. National Parks,
Melody’s dissertation research utilized a content analysis of lesson plans on the NPS website
looking for geography themes and their labeling. She currently works to bring
human/environmental interactions and sustainability issues into the classroom, but would like to
learn more about the geography of food and island biogeography. This fall she will assume the
role of Coordinator of Faculty Development at her campus.
Ken Foote, k.foote@colorado.edu
I'm a professor of geography and former department chair at the University of Colorado at
Boulder. I am interested in: 1) American and European landscape history and issues of public
memory and commemoration surrounding issues of violence and tragedy; 2) geographic
information science and 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'm currently serving as AAG president,
but finish my term at the end of June.
At the time I 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, Andrew and Douglas Stevenson, born in February 2003.
When we can manage it, we foster and adopt ex-racing greyhounds and whippets though,
currently, we are caring for an American foxhound.
Tim Frazier, tfrazier@uidaho.edu
Dr. Tim Frazier studies hazards and climate change. Being raised in a region exposed to
several types of geophysical hazards including earthquakes, tornadoes, drought, and flooding,
he developed an interest in hazards and later climate change as a consequence of the
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necessity to pay attention to the weather around him. As such, Dr. Frazier has long been
interested in hazards and climate change and their impacts on society. This interest coupled
with urban geography and planning has been the focus of his education thus far.
Currently, Dr. Frazier is most interested in pursuing research that seeks to enhance society’s
ability to plan for and respond to contemporary natural hazards and impacts associated with
future climate change. At times he has focused on physical aspects such as GIS based climate
change and hazards modeling often coupled with stakeholder interaction examining issues,
opportunities, and constraints relating to vulnerability reduction and resilience enhancement.
Other times he has sought to identify the type of subdivision design, e.g., grid or curvilinear, that
most effectively enhances evacuation from natural and human-made hazards. As such, to date
the work Dr. Frazier has undertaken and research that he plans for the future focuses on
Hazards, Climate Change, and Urban Sustainability. Tim earned in Ph.D. (2009) and MA
(2005) from Pennsylvania State University.
James W. (“JW”) Harrington, jwh@u.washington.edu
JW is a Professor of Geography at the University of Washington. June 2011 will be his seventh
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 teaches international trade and retail geography. He served as department
chair from 2000-05, spent three years representing the UW Faculty in Washington State
legislative and educational policy matters, and is now vice-chair and chair-elect 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.
Abby Hickcox, hickcox@colorado.edu
Abby is entering her final year as a PhD candidate in the Geography department at the
University of Colorado in Boulder. Her dissertation research examines the overlap between
racial and environmental discourses in Boulder, Colorado. Through her analysis of unexamined
racial and spatial dynamics in environmental discourse she argues that despite people’s desire
to move past race towards a more equitable society, racial meanings continue to play an
indispensible role in people’s understanding of their social experiences, particularly on issues of
cultural difference, social inclusivity, and environmental sustainability. Abby entered the PhD
program after completing an M.S. in Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Her
teaching interests include World Regional Geography, Introduction to Human Geography,
Environment-Society Geography, Natural Hazards, Cultural Geography, and Race studies.
Demian Hommel, dhommel@uoregon.edu
I received my PhD in Geography from the University of Oregon in 2009 for a dissertation that
examined issues of risk and security surrounding the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. I currently
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teach as an adjunct at Oregon as well as at Lane Community College. My research has
generally focused on issues of disasters, development and sustainability in Asia and the Pacific,
but more recently has included topics such as the social/environmental impacts of the Greater
Mekong Subregion project and an analysis of the implications of climate change for international
security and geopolitics. While much of my earlier work was field-based, the demands of writing
and family have led me to emphasize my teaching. I have taught nearly every human/cultural
course the UO offers and teach a variety of classes at LCC. My initial interest in geography
arose from my work on several field-research projects, however, and I hope to develop and
coordinate experiential, field-based programs in the future.
Christine Kirchhoff, Christine.Kirchhoff@Colorado.EDU
Christine is a research associate at the University of Colorado’s Center for Science and
Technology Policy Research. In 2010, she completed her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan's
School of Natural Resources and Environment. Her research explores the challenges and
opportunities of applying science to support water resources decision-making and
understanding how climate information use increases adaptive capacity. Her dissertation
research investigated the supply of climate science by two NOAA Regional Integrated Sciences
and Assessments (RISAs) and the use of that information by water managers across five states
in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest. Christine used a mixed method approach (surveys
and interviews) of water managers to examine information sources, collaborations, and
impediments to and drivers of climate information use. While at Michigan she taught Water
Resource Policy and served as a teaching assistant for a Science and Technology Policy
Seminar. In addition to research and writing, Christine enjoys good coffee, cold microbrews,
and hiking and biking around Boulder.
Chris Laingen, crlaingen@eiu.edu
I'm a graduate of South Dakota State University (BS 2000, MS 2003) and of Kansas State
University (PhD 2009) and have been an assistant professor at Eastern Illinois University ever
since. I'm a regional rural/agricultural geographer, specifically interested in Corn Belt land use
and land cover change and understanding the driving forces of that change. Born on a farm in
southern Minnesota, I've always been fascinated by how we use the land for agriculture and
how our use of it changes over time. My current research deals with remapping the Corn Belt's
regional boundaries and trying to understand how this region has changed since it was last
mapped by the USDA in 1950. I've also dabbled in biogeography and sports geography. My
dissertation topic dealt with how coupled human and natural systems affected pheasant
populations in South Dakota, and I've recently teamed-up with a colleague to investigate how
changes in the format of the NCAA College Baseball tournament have impacted the success of
its participants.
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Caitlin McElroy, Caitlin.Mcelroy@ouce.ox.ac.uk
Hello, I am a PhD candidate in the Geography Department at Oxford University. I received BA
from the University of Pennsylvania majoring in both History and Environmental Studies, and an
MSc from Oxford University in Environmental Policy. My current research interests are in areas
of economic geography, natural resources, and development. I am now writing up my thesis
about the institutional challenges of private sector involvement in development. This is based on
research about corporate foundations in the mining industry conducted in Namibia and Chile.
This research engages both theoretically and through extensive qualitative empirical research.
Rhett Mohler, rlmohler@ksu.edu
Rhett is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Geography at Kansas State University. He
is interested in teaching a wide variety of introductory geography courses, as well as advanced
courses in GIS and Remote Sensing. His research interests include the application of GIS and
remote sensing, and quantitative methods to researching environmental issues, particularly
those that focus on human-environmental interactions. Currently he is working as a Graduate
Research Assistant in the Remote Sensing laboratory at Kansas State University. Prior to
pursuing his doctoral degree at Kansas State, he received his M.A. in geography at Kansas
State, and received his B.S. in geography from Fort Hays State University.
Ben Munro, bmunro@ksu.edu
I came into geography from a blend of two interests, foremost in natural resources and forest
science as an undergraduate, and subsequently in international development and social
change. The period when I lived in Nepal was when I came to see that working in ‘community
forestry’ was more related to promoting women’s literacy, empowerment for low castes and the
poor, and transparency in forest governance, than the technical knowledge required for soil
nutrient improvement or marketing medicinal plants or what have you.
At Kansas State University my dissertation research is in US energy policy and the promotion of
second generation biofuel crops as an alternative fuel source. I’d like to learn how farmers
interpret and respond to federal policies to grow biofuel crops, and to broader issues including
climate change, energy security, and government regulation of agriculture. This is part of my
broader interest in agriculture, and especially food’s importance to both international trade and
cultural expression. I’ve enjoyed teaching undergraduate courses in world regional geography,
human geography, agriculture and food, and tourism geography. I’d like to develop new
courses in medical geography, international politics, and human migration.
Carmi Neiger, neigerc@elmhurst.edu
I’ve just completed my first year teaching fulltime at Elmhurst College in the Department of
Geography & Geosciences. I teach Economic Geography, Urban Geography, Introduction to
Spatial Thinking, Introduction to Spatial Analysis with GIS, Advanced Spatial Analysis, and coteach the Senior Capstone course. I am currently a Ph.D. student in Geography at Northern
Illinois University. I have a BA in History and a master’s degree in architecture (M.Arch.). I had
been working in the CAD and GIS software industries for twenty-five years (including several
years as an adjunct instructor) before my fulltime teaching career. My research interests are
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spatial analysis techniques, urban residential racial segregation, geography of the Holocaust,
and the historical geography of the Industrial Revolution.
Michael Niedzielski, niedzielski@usf.edu
Michael Niedzielski begins as an assistant professor of Geography at the University of North
Dakota in August 2011. He received his M.A. and PhD in geography from The Ohio State
University in 2009. He teaches introductory cartography and GIS, as well as urban and
transportation geography. His research interests are at the intersection of urban, economic and
transportation geography using GIS, spatial optimization, and other quantitative analytical
techniques to investigate relationships between urban transportation, cities, land use patterns
and social, economic and environmental sustainability. One of his current projects extends
existing models to investigate the degree to which residential preferences matter in residential
location decisions. Another project takes him on a virtual global transit journey to investigate the
local and global mobility roles of urban rail transit in making cities more globally competitive. He
hones his photography skills while traveling the world by bus, tram, train and plane.
Stewart A Scales, scaless@vt.edu
I am a M.S. candidate at Virginia Tech currently finishing my thesis on fire behavior and
charcoal deposition during a prescribed fire in the southern Appalachians. I have several
academic and research interest areas including: fire science, biogeography, physical and
Appalachian geography, karst studies, and geographic education. I am originally from Big
Stone Gap, VA and hope to develop future courses in Appalachian geography in collaboration
with the Appalachian Studies department at VT, as well as a course focusing on karst
topography and geology. I currently teach Introduction to Physical Geography at Virginia Tech
and will begin teaching Environmental Science classes at Radford University in August. I will
defend my thesis during the fall 2011 semester and remain as an instructor/lecturer for both
Virginia Tech and Radford.
I have worked summer seasons for the Virginia State Parks as a naturalist and the National
Park Service as an emergency services ranger and enjoy all things outdoors: hiking, biking, and
caving, as well as motorcycles and playing bluegrass music.
Rashad Shabazz, rashad.shabazz@uvm.edu
Dr. Shabazz's academic expertise brings together theories of race and racism, Black cultural
studies, gender studies, and critical prison studies, within a methodological framework that
draws on history, human geography, philosophy and literature. His research explores the ways
in which race, class, sexuality and gender articulate through geographies of anti-Black
racism. Currently Dr. Shabazz is working on a book manuscript that examines how Black
identity, culture and anti-Black racism are produced and disciplined through spatiality. His
scholarship has appeared in Souls and The Spatial-Justice Journal. A long time anti-prison
activist, Dr. Shabazz cites activism as a catalyst for his scholarly work. He is an editor for the
Journal of Prisoners on Prisons (a Canadian-based journal that publishes the work of prisoners
around the world) and an organizer for Critical Resistance (an activist organization that seeks to
redirect America's failed policy on incarceration). He has also taught at San Quentin Prison. He
has taught an Integrated Social Science Program (ISSP) course titled "Prison Cities and Black
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Masculinity" and teaches an advanced level seminar course titled, "Black Space, Identity and
Culture." Dr. Shabazz holds a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from the Minnesota State
University, Mankato (1999), an M.S. from the School of Justice and Social Inquiry at the Arizona
State University (2002) and a Ph.D. from the History of Consciousness Program at the
University of California, Santa Cruz (2008).
Jacqueline "J.J." Shinker, jshinker@uwyo.edu
I am an associate professor of geography at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY. My
education has an Earth Science base in Geology (BS, University of Arizona) and Geography
(MA and Ph.D., University of Oregon) with an emphasis on climatology. I am a 2004 GFDA
alumna and my department at University of Wyoming currently includes five out of ten faculty
members who are GFDA alums. Prior to joining the Geography Department at Wyoming I was
an assistant professor in the Geography, Geology and Anthropology Department at Indiana
State University for two years. My research efforts focus on developing a process-based
understanding of modern seasonal and inter-annual climate variability and examining largescale synoptic patterns that lead to drought, especially in the headwaters of the intermountain
west in North America. My work is also applicable to understanding climatic controls and
variability associated with paleoclimate (e.g. vegetation and lake level) reconstructions.
Additionally, I incorporate visualization of the climate system into my research through
computer-based animated map sequences and 3D visualizations. Off campus I enjoy cross
country skiing with my husband Tom and dog Bica (a Portuguese word for espresso), gardening
at 7200 feet, and biking.
Mitchel Stimers, stimers@ksu.edu, mitch.stimers@gmail.com
Mitchel earned his Ph.D. (2011) and MA (2006) form Kansas State University. His research
interests include natural hazards, tornado classification, effects of tornadoes on communities,
tornado genesis and distribution patterns, climatology, climate and environmental change,
coupled human-environment systems, quantitative geography, geographic information systems
and science. He has taught a range of classes including Natural Hazards and Disasters,
Environmental and Physical Geography, World Regional Geography, Remote Sensing of the
Environment (lab), United States History I & II, Introduction to Sociology, and Computer
Applications (MS Office)
Eric Tate, tateec@email.sc.edu
I have just completed my PhD in geography at the University of South Carolina, and will be
starting this fall as an assistant professor in geography at the University of Iowa. My research
interests generally revolve around the geospatial modeling of natural hazards. My dissertation
research focused on the measurement of social aspects of hazards vulnerability, through
uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of social vulnerability indices. Prior to coming to USC, I
worked in environmental engineering consulting for 10 years, using GIS to model hazardous
waste, floods, and the vulnerability of built environment infrastructure. At Iowa, I'll be teaching
courses in the areas of natural hazards and disasters, environmental justice, water resources,
and sustainability.
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Emariana Taylor, taylo12@kent.edu
Emariana is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Kent State University
where she teaches GIS, Geovisualization, Cities and Urbanization, and a couple courses in
Environmental Geography. Emariana’s research interests lie in biogeography, urbanization,
ecological systems, environmental philosophy, and species conservation. Within these broader
areas, Emariana has focused on species response to human influenced land use change, and
urban ecology. Her dissertation research used multi-agent ecological modeling, combined with
digital imagery to illustrate change, through traditional visual and spatial analysis. Emariana’s
current research interests are in understanding environmental perceptions, citizen action, and
how these elements affect the political process and policy decisions with regard to urban
species conservation and habitat management.
George Thompson, thompsongeorge33@gmail.com
George has been a professional bookman since 1984, when he joined the Johns Hopkins
University Press as an acquisitions editor. At Johns Hopkins, George developed the geography
and environmental studies list, including the "Creating the North American Landscape" series. In
1990, George founded the Center for American Places, which he directed and served as
publisher until November 2010, when he founded his own imprint, George F. Thompson
Publishing. Books developed and published under George's care have won more than 100 book
awards, honors, and prizes, including best-book recognition in 31 academic fields, among them
five J. B. Jackson Prizes and two Globe Awards of the Association of American Geographers. In
2000, the AAG conferred upon George its Publications Award for lifetime achievement. George
is also the editor and author of five books, among them Ecological Design and Planning, with
Frederick R. Steiner (John Wiley, 1997; 2007 paperback), and Landscape in America
(University of Texas Press, 1995), which was designated a Notable Book of 1995 by Harper's
magazine. George has lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia since 1983 with his wife,
Cynthia, a professor of dance at James Madison University. Their daughter, Haley, was born in
1998.
Christopher Uejio, uejio@ucar.edu
Chris’s research examines how the physical environment influences human health and wellbeing. Many important global and domestic health problems are sensitive to environmental
processes. For example, seven of the top ten global causes of death, illness, and disability are
related to the environment. Domestically, the US Environmental Protection Agency concluded
that greenhouse gases threaten public health and should be regulated.
Much of Chris’s work probes the underappreciated environmental drivers of health problems.
For example, his recent work suggests that inadequately treated drinking water continues to
cause childhood illness in many US communities. Similarly, his earlier work tied South African
West Nile virus outbreaks to year-to-year changes in summer rainfall. Due to the complex
nature of human health, Chris works collaboratively with researchers and practitioners from
social, behavioral, public health, medical, ecological, microbiological, and engineering fields.
Chris’s previous studied at UCLA (Geography B.A., Atmospheric Science B.S.), the University
of Arizona (Geography M.A.), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Environmental Studies
PhD). He fondly remembers Jan Monk encouraging him as early as 2006 to apply to the GFDA.
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James Wells, Jewells@ksu.edu
James Wells is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Geography at Kansas State University,
where he has taught courses in both Human and World Regional Geography. His dissertation
involves a repeat photography analysis of Thomas and Geraldine Vale’s work, Western Images,
Western Landscapes: Travels Along U.S. 89 (1989), in order to depict forces of landscape
change at work throughout the American West. Additionally, he received his M.A. in Geography
from Ohio University, where he worked as a research assistant on the Baltimore Ecosystem
Study
Antoinette WinklerPrins, antoinet@msu.edu or anwinkle@nsf.gov
Originally from The Netherlands, Antoinette received her Ph.D. from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and completed a post-doc at ITC-Faculty of Geo-Information Science and
Earth Observation in The Netherlands. She is currently an Associate Professor in the
Department of Geography at Michigan State University where she has been on the faculty since
2000. She served as the department's Graduate Program Coordinator from 2005-2010. Her
research interests are in people-environment geography, especially questions in cultural and
historical ecology in the Brazilian Amazon, but also in urban agriculture and smallholder
livelihoods elsewhere in the world. Her current research project considers Amazonian Dark
Earth soil formation and its implications for the past and future on the region. She has
developed and teaches courses in-class and online in human and regional geography,
agriculture and food, environment and development, and political ecology. She has published in
an array of journals and edited volumes and is a co-author on a world regional geography
textbook. She currently serves as one of the Program Directors of the Geography and Spatial
Sciences Program at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia. Antoinette’s nonacademic life includes spending time with her husband and two teenage sons, practicing yoga,
hiking, and especially bicycling.
Amy Zader, amyzader@gmail.com
Amy Zader is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Colorado,
Boulder. Her research investigates the cultural and environmental geography of China through
the study of agro-food systems. She lived in Harbin, China conducting dissertation research on
the production and consumption of high quality rice from China’s northeast region. In addition to
PhD work at the University of Colorado, Amy holds an MA in Human Ecology from College of
the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME and a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies from
Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. She has served as an environmental education Peace
Corps Volunteer in Sichuan, China, conducted master’s research on China’s environmental
movement, and worked as a volunteer on several Chinese farms.
Amy’s dissertation research is unique in that it combines studies of rice breeding and rice
production with China’s growing consumer society. In China, the state originally promoted the
discourse of suzhi renkou (human quality) with its one-child policy to counter the Mao era’s
emphasis on material mass-production and population growth. Recently, this discourse has
permeated society and provides a new model for Chinese citizenship in which consumption,
rather than labor and production is emphasized. Her dissertation examines the ways that state
ideals of ‘quality’ have moved beyond population quality to the market for rice. She currently
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has articles in the process of publication in the journals East Asian Science, Technology and
Society and Agriculture and Human Values.
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