Social Geography anchors all of my ideas…

When I talk to people about my academic work, the question of what it means to be a geographer often comes up. Am I charting new lands? Exploring the core of the Earth? Does it involve a funny outfit and a telescope? In some ways, I suppose the answer is yes but probably not in the way the questioner really means. 

Social geographers look at the relationship between people and place. My work looks at situations of issue within urban community-insitituional relationships and attempts to explore how they are created by the spatial surroundings. There's so much of the human experience to be explored, my personal interest is how that relationship is shaped by the physical environment and, ideally, how to shape the physical environment to improve human experience. Getting there is a lot more difficult than you'd imagine and my current work is focused on creating a structure of intuitive data collection to process to guide urban development.

I currently have two active geography projects:

Graceland Cemetery
VISITING ARTIST - 2024
Mapping the Liminal: Exploring Visitor Experiences in Cemeteries

National Association of Graduate Admission Professionals
GRADUATE EDUCATION RESEARCH GRANT - 2024
A social science approach to Graduate Enrollment Management: Leveraging Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for enhanced strategy in complex admissions markets

Still curious about Geography? Here's a great summary...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwbToV-FvsU&feature=youtu.be

Who am I beyond my geographic work?

I love learning. I've designed my life around the goal of constantly growing, evolving, and making the world a better place through artistic process. I get antsy when I haven't traveled recently. I love cemeteries. I thrive in cities where time and people move as quickly as my brain but find solace dancing at home. I find the world of higher education to be dynamic and ever changing and welcome the challenges and excitement that brings. I’d quit tomorrow if I could figure out how to make cat costuming my full time job. I love to collaborate. I am ambitious. I am a maker. I am open-minded. I am a perpetual student. I am creative. I am excited for whatever comes next.