Education

I have had a passion for maps since I was a young child. At age 11, I was the youngest member of the New York Map Society.

When I was in high school, my stepfather gave me a copy of über-geographer Peter Gould's book The Geographer at Work. Later, as a student at the University of Chicago, I wrote to Peter (left-hand photo), and he invited me to spend a junior semester "abroad" at his Penn State campus. Thus began my work toward being a professional geographer, sometimes extended into the related field of environmental design.

Ph.D. in Geography, University of Kansas

◦ Dissertation committee members: Peter Herlihy (adviser), Jerome Dobson, and William Woods, Dept. of Geography; Brent Metz, Dept. of Anthropology; Jorge Soberón, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

◦ Coursework included Mesoamerican and Central American geography, remote sensing, GIS, cultural ecology, critical theory, development studies, and indigenous studies

M.L.A. in Landscape Architecture, University of California, Berkeley

◦ Professional project: Incorporating Regional Landscape Elements in the Future Development of the Stewart Properties, New York State

◦ Coursework included landscape assessment, forest ecology, park design, land use law, and Latin American economic and social geography

B.A. in Geographical Studies, University of Chicago

◦ Senior thesis: Dzibilchaltún, Yucatan, A.D. 500 - 1992: Continuity and Change in a Constructed Landscape

◦ Coursework included urban geography and cartography