I'm  teaching GEOG 142: Human Geography and a FIG (Freshman Interest Group) course this fall and working on my research and administrative duties as well. In winter term 2010, I'm scheduled to teach a university-wide seminar, Living in the 21st Century City. Throughout the year, I also serve as the Coordinator of the College of Arts and Sciences "Educational Careers Advising Team" (ECAT), Co-Chair the UO Canadian Studies Consortium, and serve as Director of our department's unique summer MS program for teachers. 

I'm a human geographer interested in international migration, the construction of cultural and social landscapes (especially urban landscapes), and race, ethnicity, and place. Currently, most of my work focuses on issues related to immigrants and refugees in the Pacific Northwest and in Canada. At the present time, I'm deeply involved in a project centered in analyzing the transnational identities, and the migration and settlement experiences of U.S.-born immigrants in three comparative locales north of the 49th parallel - Vancouver, Toronto, and Halifax. My Canadian collaborators include Dr. Jack Jedwab, the Executive Director of the Association for Canadian Studies and Dr. Heather Smith, a geographer at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

I also have the pleasure this year of once again working closely with an active group of promising graduate students from different parts of Oregon, as well as Australia, Russia, California, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and New York City. They are engaged in exciting projects of their own on immigration; identity; social, cultural, and historical landscapes; indigenous peoples in the Far North; and geographic education. 

I'm pleased (and relieved!) to report that our five year project funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) and the Oregon University State system will be wrapping up this year. With the co-leadership of colleagues in the College of Education, this initiative is providing "content-pedagogy" support for Oregon teachers in five key content areas.  Also on the education front, I continue to direct our department's innovative summer M.S. program for K-12 teachers each year. This program is the only one in the country that provides an opportunity for teachers to complete their master's degree during two summers here in Eugene and the completion of two online courses completed during the academic year. For further information about this innovative, teacher-centered summer program, check out our EDGE web site and its links to the larger world of geographic education.

Finally, more than you ever wanted to know about my academic experiences, publications, and prior research and teaching efforts (!) are provided on my curriculum vita. Feel free to take a look at this is you're having a sleepless night sometime. And do feel free to stop by my office if you'd like to discuss research or teaching ideas - or the possibility of becoming a professional geographer.

Go Ducks!