2015 Geography Faculty Development Alliance Workshop
Participants and Leaders
Derek H. Alderman, dalderma@utk.edu, Twitter: @MLKStreet
I am a Professor of Geography and Department Head at the University of Tennessee. I joined the
faculty at Tennessee in 2012 after serving at East Carolina University for 12 years. I also held a
tenure-track position at Georgia College right after getting my PhD from the University of
Georgia, serving as a stand-alone geographer in a Department of History. This wide range of
institutional settings has proven useful in helping me think about the different challenges and
opportunities that geography faculty encounter in different places and the importance of being
prepared. One universal theme connecting all of my experiences has been the good mentorship
that I have received, including my participation in the very first GFDA Early Career Workshop
held at the University of Colorado. I am a cultural and historical geographer with interests in
public memory, race, heritage tourism, politics of place naming, and social/spatial justice. I am a
devoted scholar-teacher who enjoys teaching, coaching, and publishing with students, both at the
undergraduate and graduate levels. I am also committed to conducting critical public scholarship
that engages, informs, and helps the news media, government officials, community activists and
organizations, and the broader citizenry. I am a past President of the Southeastern Division of the
AAG and a former Regional Councilor on the AAG Council.
Ken Foote, ken.foote@uconn.edu
I'm a professor of geography and department head at the University of Connecticut. I am
interested in: landscape history and issues of public memory and commemoration; geographic
information science and technologies; and learning and teaching geography in higher education,
including instructional technology and issues of professional development for early career
faculty. I have served as president of both the National Council for Geographic Education and
the Association of American Geographers and have taught previously at the University of Texas
at Austin and University of Colorado at Boulder. 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, Isobel Stevenson, and I
have twin boys, Andrew and Douglas Stevenson, born in February 2003.
Rina Ghose, rghose@uwm.edu
Rina is Professor of Geography at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is also affiliated
with two graduate programs on campus: Sustainable Peacebuilding, Urban Studies. She has
served as the graduate program chair for the Geography department for five years. Her areas of
expertise are urban geography, critical GIS, political economy, South Asia (although she was a
physical geographer once). Her research projects have included: rural gentrification in the
Rocky Mountain region, public participation GIS in the context of inner-city revitalization,
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participation of marginalized citizens in urban governance, urban community gardens, and
identity construction through Internet among Indian diaspora. She has published in journals such
as Antipode, Geoforum, Environment and Planning A, Urban Geography, Cartographica,
Cartography and GIS, Progress in Human Geography, and Transactions in GIS. She has taught
courses on Introduction to GIS, Advanced GIS, World Regional Geography, South Asia,
graduate seminar on GIS and Society, graduate seminar on Urban Geography, graduate seminar
on transdisciplinary research: methods and practices. Her hobbies are: reading (anything and
everything), hiking in the Rockies (or nature walks/ exploring neighborhoods). She is passionate
about art and architecture, loves films, music, cooking, traveling, and hanging out with her best
friend Scott (spouse). She hails from India, and has practiced yoga since childhood. She is owned
by her cat Piku, and has to beg his permission to do anything. She is a bleeding heart liberal,
sucker for sob stories, loves animals and children and wants to live in a cabin in the mountains as
soon as possible.
Cynthia Gorman, cynthia.gorman@gmail.com
Cynthia Gorman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and the Center for
Women’s and Gender Studies at West Virginia University. Cynthia has a BA from Bates College
in Political Science and an MA in Women’s and Gender Studies from Rutgers University, where
she also completed her Ph.D. in 2013. Her research interests include U.S. immigration law and
policy, gender violence, human rights advocacy and detention practices. She teaches online as
well as large lecture courses, including World Regional Geography, Women and International
Development and Migration and Human Rights. Cynthia has two very active and curious
daughters (4 and 6 yrs old) and enjoys exploring the outdoors and running.
Aretina Hamilton, hamilta1@ohio.edu
Aretina Hamilton is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of African American
Studies at Ohio University where she will be entering her third year in the Fall 2015. She
received her B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from Kentucky State University, her M.A.
in Urban and Regional Planning from The University of Delaware. She is currently completing a
PhD in Geography at the University of Kentucky.
Her research focuses on the intersections of race, gender and sexuality and how these differences
create a new understanding of the American South. Her dissertation examines how African
American lesbian and queer individuals in Atlanta, Georgia have created symbolic spaces of
belonging. She is developing a book project partially based on this research that builds on this
research by exploring the entire gamut of black LGBTQ communities. In addition to this
research, she is currently working on a project that examines African American, racial
landscapes and the current police state.
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James W. (“JW”) Harrington, jwh@uw.edu
June 2015 is JW’s eleventh year as a GFDA leader, a highlight of each year! JW is Professor of
Urban Studies at the University of Washington’s Tacoma campus. He moved there from the
Geography Department at UW Seattle, to serve as academic vice chancellor for the 25-year-old
campus. An economic geographer, JW has taught, written, and researched regional economic
development, international trade and retail geography, occupational attainment and workforce
development. He served as department chair from 2000-05, spent three years representing the
UW Faculty in Washington State legislative and educational policy matters, and served as \ 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 (as it was called) at the National Science Foundation.
On leave this past academic year, JW has developed a passion for painting and an interest in
studying the formation and organization of artist communities. His other hobbies include
cooking/entertaining and vocal music (as a trained baritone). He’s been very active in UnitarianUniversalist churches in Buffalo NY, Reston VA, and Seattle WA.
Alisa Hass, ahass@vols.utk.edu
Alisa is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography at the University of Tennessee. She
completed a B.S. in Geography (Environmental Management and GIS) at the University of
Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2006 and an M.S. in Geography (Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction and
GIS) at the University of Tennessee in 2008. Before returning to the University of Tennessee to
pursue her Ph.D., Alisa spent more than 5 years working in academia as a lecturer in the
classroom and online. During this time, Alisa taught courses in weather, climate, landforms, and
geology as well as served as a co-instructor for three field courses. Additionally, she spent
several years building and coordinating a Science Outreach office. Alisa’s current research
interests include climatology, microclimates, and human-environmental interactions, including
fine-scale weather data acquisition and understanding the human and environmental explanations
for variations in exposure to heat across cities. Previous research has included
paleoenvironmental reconstructions in eastern Tennessee and western Oregon using lake
sediments, charcoal, and pollen. She is also interested in pedagogy, experiential learning, and
outreach. Outside of academia, Alisa enjoys hiking, reading, travel, and cooking.
Megan Heckert, MHeckert@wcupa.edu
Megan Heckert is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at West
Chester University in West Chester, PA. An urban geographer, she focuses on the use of
geographic information systems and spatial analysis to explore urban social issues. She is
interested in urban sustainability and neighborhood revitalization, with a particular focus on how
sustainability initiatives contribute to urban revitalization efforts. In addition to her academic
work, Megan has served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer, worked for a national environmental
nonprofit helping K-12 teachers to facilitate community-based service learning projects, and has
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worked as business development manager and GIS analyst for Azavea, a geospatial software
development company. She holds a bachelor of science in Aquatic Biology from Brown
University and a master of arts in Geography and doctorate in Urban Studies from Temple
University.
Francis Koti, ftkoti@una.edu
Francis Koti is Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography at the University of North
Alabama, Florence, AL where he also directs a study abroad program in Tanzania. An Urban
Geographer, Dr. Koti’s research and teaching interests revolve around the use of GIS to
understand urbanization processes in developing countries. His regional focus is Africa. Francis
is also a founder member and Executive Secretary of Ohio-based Kenya Scholars and Studies
Association (KESSA) in which he also doubles up as Newsletter Editor. Francis holds a PhD and
MA in Geography from West Virginia University (USA) and a Bachelor of Education degree
from Kenyatta University (Kenya). A native of Kenya, Francis is married to Margaret and they
have two children Milton (18) and Arianna (8). Other than traveling with family and also
following my son’s soccer career, I enjoy watching college football.
Weronika A. Kusek, wkusek@nmu.edu
I am an Assistant Professor at Earth, Environmental, and Geographical Sciences at Northern
Michigan University. I joined NMU in the Fall of 2014 and I have taught Human Geography,
Population Geography, and Geography of Russia. I serve as an advisor for the All Nations Club
which is an organization that facilitates the interaction of international and domestic students on
campus. I also chair a diversity conference called the UNITED Conference which aims at
exposing NMU and the broader community to diversity.
I received my PhD from Kent State University in 2014. My doctoral research focused on Polish
migrants in London, UK and how they maintain diasporic networks. Migration, diaspora, ethnic
neighborhoods, international students are all research topics that I explore in my academic work
– as a former international student from Poland and an immigrant to the US I approach these
research topics while navigating insider/outsider perspectives. At KSU, I taught a variety of
courses: World Regional Geography, Human Geography, Geography of the US and Canada, a
field study course to Poland and the Czech Republic, and others.
This year, I took the responsibility for chairing the AAG Cultural Geography Specialty Group.
I enjoy research, teaching, and service, and I have published in the Journal of Cultural
Geography, Scottish Geographical Journal, Journal of Urbanism: International Research on
Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, and Journal of International Students.
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Jingjing Li, jli104@calstatela.edu
Jingjing Li is an Assistant Professor in Department of Geosciences and Environment, College of
Natural and Social Sciences at California State University, Los Angeles. She received her M.S.
in Environmental Engineering and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from University of California,
Irvine (2008 and 2012). She currently teaches courses in GIS, statistics, remote sensing,
hydrologic modeling and natural disaster. Her research interests include remote sensing,
precipitation error analysis, GIS-based modeling of watershed-scale processes, hydrologic
modeling, and image processing. Her research has been published in hydrology and remote
sensing journals such as the Journal of Hydrometeorology and the International Journal of
Remote Sensing. She has presented her work at various conferences and research centers,
including NASA JPL, NASA GSFC and AGU. In her spare time, she likes to dance, hike and
play badminton.
Amy Lynch, lyncha@ohio.edu
Amy Lynch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Ohio University. She is
primarily interested in the impact of land use and environmental planning practices on natural
resources and ecosystem services. Amy holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the
University of Pennsylvania and a Masters of Environmental Management from Duke University.
As her background suggests, she is relatively new to geography, but thus far enjoying the
diversity and interdisciplinarity of the field. Her research is oriented toward environmental and
community sustainability and can be generally divided into two areas: green infrastructure and
sustainable community indicators. Amy currently teaches courses in environmental, land use,
and sustainability planning, in addition to environmental geography and a graduate seminar in
urban geography.
Tom Ptak, tptak@uoregon.edu
Tom is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Oregon. During his
time as a graduate student he has taught several classes (both advanced and introductory level) in
formal classroom settings, field courses, and online. Tom’s research focuses on the intersection
of energy production, economic development and environmental sustainability in a rural and
remote corner of China’s Yunnan province. His dissertation analyses how small hydropower
projects influence quality of life indicators and shape community development in small ‘ethnic
minority’ villages. Additional research objectives are understanding how small dams contribute
to China’s broader energy security initiatives, and their influences on local environmental
conditions in Asia’s most biodiverse region, the Nu River valley. Tom found his way to
Geography through exploration and traveling. Thus far he has visited over 65 countries on five of
the world’s continents and hopes to visit the remaining two within the next ten years. When not
face down in his computer working Tom loves to be outdoors. He can often be found climbing
one of the Pacific Northwest’s mountains, riding his mountain bike, skiing, backpacking or
simply sitting next to a river reading a book, or staring into space…..likely planning his next
adventure.
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Steven Radil, sradil@uidaho.edu
I am an assistant professor at the University of Idaho which is located in Moscow, ID. I earned
my PhD in Geography from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011. At Idaho, I
teach courses in political geography and geopolitics, quantitative methods and spatial analysis,
and critical GIS. I have previously also taught courses on introductory GIS, and urban social
geography. I think of myself primarily as a political geographer and my research generally
focuses on issues connected to political violence at multiple scales. I am currently working on
several projects, including the geographies of police militarization in the US and the diffusion of
war in the international system. Prior to joining the University of Idaho, I spent three years as an
Assistant Professor at Ball State University in Muncie IN and have worked for the Sanborn Map
Company as a GIS technician. I also hold BA and MA degrees in geography from the University
of Colorado at Colorado Springs. In my spare time, I enjoy exploring the inland northwest with
my family and trying to train our new puppy not to chew on our shoes or dig up our garden.
Michael Solem, msolem@aag.org
Dr. Michael Solem is Educational Affairs Director for the Association of American
Geographers. Dr. Solem currently directs the Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education
in Geography (EDGE) project and the Center for Global Geography Education (CGGE)
initiative, both funded by NSF. 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 University–
San Marcos, and is Treasurer for the International Geographical Union's Commission on
Geographical Education. Dr. Solem twice received the Journal of Geography in Higher
Education’s award for promoting excellence in teaching and learning for his research on faculty
development and graduate education in geography.
Scott Stephenson, Scott.Stephenson@uconn.edu
Scott Stephenson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of
Connecticut. He studies linked human and natural systems in the Arctic and sub-Arctic, with
focus on shipping, extractive resources, trade networks, and emissions impacts. His dissertation
(UCLA, 2014) investigated the impact of melting sea ice on marine accessibility in the Arctic.
He currently teaches courses on climate change, transportation, and geographic data visualization
at UConn. Prior to becoming a geographer, Scott dabbled in things such as microbiology,
political campaign finance, English teaching, and public health research. In his free time, he
enjoys traveling, music, running, and games of all sorts.
Maggie Sugg, kovachmm@appstate.edu
Maggie recently earned a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of North Carolina in Chapel
Hill, and will begin an Assistant Professorship in the Department of Geography and Planning at
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Appalachian State University this upcoming Fall. Maggie is a medical and environmental
geographer, and her research employs geographic information systems (GIS) to understand how
social and physical environments influence spatiotemporal patterns of human-health.
Her dissertation research focused on the spatiotemporal patterns of heat-related illnesses and how
these patterns relate to environmental, socioeconomic, and climatic determinants. The necessity
of this research has resulted in awards from the Environmental Protection Agency in Public
Health and from the National Science Foundation in Geography and Spatial Science. At
Appalachian State University, Maggie will be teaching Medical Geography, Introduction into
GIS, and Advanced Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Graduate Students.
George F. Thompson, george@gftbooks.com
George has been a professional editor and publisher since 1984, when he joined the Johns
Hopkins University Press as an acquisitions editor. He then served as the founder, president, and
publisher of the Center for American Places (1990-2010), a pioneer in place-based publishing,
and in 2010 he started his own imprint, George F. Thompson Publishing (www.gftbooks.com).
Early in his career, George helped to establish new fields of publishing in geography and
environmental studies, landscape and planning history, architecture and photography, and other
fields, for which he has received lifetime achievement awards and commendations from the
Association of American Geographers (AAG), Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture,
Vernacular Architecture Forum, and PDN (Photo District News). Books brought to publication
by George have won more than 100 editorial prizes, among them "best-book" honors in thirtytwo academic, artistic, and professional fields, including five J. B. Jackson Book Prizes and two
Globe Awards from the AAG.
George is also the editor and contributing author of six books, among them Nature and Cities:
Urban Ecological Design and Planning, with Frederick R. Steiner and Armando Carbonell
(forthcoming in 2016 from The Lincoln Institute), Ecological Design and Planning, with
Frederick R. Steiner (John Wiley, 1997; 2007), and Landscape in America (Texas, 1995), which
was designated a "Notable Book of 1995" by Harper's magazine. As a student, George was a
founding editor of The Black Warrior Review (University of Alabama), still regarded as one of
the top twenty literary journals in the U.S., and also the first book review editor and editorial
assistant of Landscape Journal: Design, Planning, and Management of the Land (University of
Wisconsin Press). Born in Colorado and raised in Connecticut, George has lived in the
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia since 1983 with his wife, Cynthia, a professor of dance and the
associate director of the School of Performing Arts at James Madison University. Their daughter,
Haley, is a rising senior in high school.
Russell Weaver, rcweaver@txstate.edu
Russell Weaver is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Texas State
University, where he teaches courses in urban geography, urban design, and quantitative
methods. His research applies evolutionary theory to investigations of neighborhood change,
and explores the relationships between spatial contexts and individual behavior.
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Shaolu Yu, shaolu.yu@uconn.edu
I am currently a Ph.D student in Geography Department at the University of Connecticut. I will
start my postdoctoral position at Rhodes College in August. I obtained my Bachelor degree
(Resources, Environment and Urban Planning) and my Master degree (Urban Geography) in
China. My current research interests lie in urban geography and ethnic geography, more
specifically in immigration, ethnic communities, transnationalism, (im)mobilities, Qualitative
GIS and mixed methods. My dissertation looks at the (im)mobilities of Chinese (im)migrants in
Flushing in New York City at both transnational and local scales and how they affect their
identity and sense of place. This topic allows me to expand my knowledge and skills in both
qualitative and quantitative methods. Also, I have been involved in college teaching for 7 years,
both in in-class and online courses, including Introduction to GIS, Transportation Geography,
World Regional Geography, Human Geography and Urban geography. When I have free time
(which is rare), I like traveling, reading, cooking, photographing and outdoor activities.
Yihong Yuan, yuan@txstate.edu
I am an assistant professor at Texas State University, located in San Marcos, TX. I received my
PhD in Geography and MA in Statistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in
2013. At Texas State, I teach courses in geographic information science, cartography, and
geographic analysis. With an interdisciplinary background, my research interests include but not
limited to big data analytics, human mobility modeling and travel behavior analysis. I am
particularly interested in extracting human activity patterns from multiple data sources such as
telecommunication devices and social network usage. My doctoral dissertation “Charactering
human mobility from mobile phone usage” was supported by both the Swiss National Science
Foundation (SNSF) and the US Department of Transportation (USDOT). The goal of this project
was to develop a framework for extracting and characterizing human mobility patterns from
georeferenced mobile phone datasets (e.g., Call Detailed Records), as well as developing human
mobility models and data mining methodologies for spatio-temporal knowledge discovery. Since
arriving at TxState, I have also been involved in multiple interdisciplinary projects, such as
leveraging big Data to improve the preparedness, mitigation and management of city fire
services. In my spare time I am an avid movie lover and enjoy traveling as much as I can.
Elyse Zavar, zavare1@southernct.edu
Elyse just completed her first year as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at
Southern Connecticut State University. Her primary research interests are in hazard and disaster
management. Her scholarship emphasizes sustainable recovery from disasters as well as the need
for hazard mitigation programs that promote resiliency. She currently teaches a First Year
Inquiry course associated with the environmental learning community, Physical Geography,
Principles of Sustainability, and Applied Sustainability. Elyse holds a PhD in Environmental
Geography from Texas State University, MA in Geography from the University of California,
Los Angeles and a BA in Geology from the College of Wooster.
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