Keene State College

My research interests currently revolve around three primary foci, each of which fully involves students in a collaborative framework. The first area encompasses research on the delimitation of historical hazardous waste sites and the creation of a planning model to more efficiently designate such sites. To date our work has examined sites in Keene , NH and the Wolverhampton/Dudley conurbation in the English ‘ Black Country .'

A second area of study is based on historical and paleoenvironmental analysis of lakebed sediments to answer the question “Where is the top of Mount Monadnock ?.” This work emanated from a rather casual conversation by a colleague from the University of Wolverhampton, UK while on a field trip to the mountain. Since the site was burned in the late 1800s to rid the area of wolves, subsequent erosion, we believe, has deposited the soils in nearby lakes. Our goal, as part of an annual field course, is to sample these lakebed sediments and relate them to the history of regional land use systems. as part of an annual field course.

Third, in conjunction with colleagues at Plymouth State University and the University of Wolverhampton , we are developing pedagogy of international fieldwork skills relevant to geography and environmental studies.

Lastly, I am the Editor of Studies in New England Geography , an Occasional Paper Series published by the Department of Geography, Keene State College.

Studies in New England Geography

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Recent Publications

“Welcome to Worm Central.” 2006. Teaching K-8, Volume 36, Number 5 (February): pp. 52-55 (with L. Madison, R. Jobin, and C. Sterling).

“The Role of International Staff and Student Collaboration in the Enhancement of the Geographic Curriculum.” 2005. In Changing Horizons in Geography Education. Eds. Karl Donert and Przemyslaw Charzynski, 287-291. Torun , Poland : Herodot Network (with A.Wheeler, J.P. Smith, and Serguey Larin).

Faces: People, Places and Cultures. 2005. “Are We There Yet? Maps Lead the Way.” Consulting Guest Editor, Volume 22, Number 3, November.

“Where is the Top of Mount Monadnock?” Proceedings: New England -St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society, Volume 32, November 2002, pp.23-30 (with J.P. Smith ).

“Identifying Historical Hazardous Waste Sites: Inputs to Urban Regeneration Planning,” Environmental Practice, Volume 3, Number 3, September 2001:163-178 (with John P. Smith).

Feed it to the Worms: A Vermicomposting Geographic Curriculum Guide . 2001. Keene , NH : New Hampshire Geographic Alliance and Impact Earth, Inc.. With C. Sterling and R. Jobin.

“New Hampshire 's Masonian Land Grant: Property Rights at Issue,” Proceedings: New England-St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society, Volume 30, October 2000, pp. 65-73 (with C. Cusack).

“The Grand (Mount) Monadnock,” Studies in New England Geography, Number 14, June 1, 2000 (with K.J. Bayr). Reprinted from Geographical Snapshots of North America , ed. D.G. Janelle. 1992. NY: Guilford Press, pp. 300-303.

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Recent Presentations – Conferences

“Field Work Skills as Applied to International Geographic Fieldwork.” Association of American Geographers Annual Conference, Chicago , IL , March 10, 2006 (with B. Shiplee and B. Middlekauff).

“The Role of International Staff and Student Collaboration in the Enhancement of the Geographic Curriculum.” Changing Horizons in Geography Education HEROTOT/EUROGEO International Conference, Torun , Poland , September 3, 2005 (with A. Wheeler, J.P. Smith, and D. Luckhurst). Also presented as a poster at: Computers in Geographical Education, HERODOT Workshop, Brno , Czech Republic , October 22, 2005.

“Design, Execution, and Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Field Trip to the Southwestern United States .” Association of American Geographers Annual Conference, Denver, CO, April 5, 2005 (with B. Middlekauff, K. Michaud, and J.P. Smith).

“Searching for the Top of Mount Monadnock ,” Association of American Geographers Annual Conference, Philadelphia , PA , March 18, 2004 (with John P. Smith).

“Where is the Top of Mount Monadnock?” New England-St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society Annual Conference, Montreal , Quebec , Canada , November 2, 2002 (with J.P. Smith).

“A Vermicomposting Geographic Curriculum Guide: Grades 3-6,” National Council for Geographic Education Annual Conference, Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada , August 4, 2001 (with R. Jobin).

“Feed it to the Worms,” New Hampshire Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Manchester, NH, November 13, 2001 (with C. Sterling and R. Jobin).

“New Hampshire 's Masonian Land Grant: Property Rights at Issue,” New England-St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society Annual Meeting, Providence , RI , October 2000 (with Christopher Cusack).

"Using GIS for Mapping Requirements," First Annual (National) GIS Day Symposium, Keene State College, Keene, NH, November 11, 1999 (with D. Hunt).

"Identifying Historical Hazardous Waste Sites: Inputs to Urban Regeneration Programmes," The Assessment of Development of Brownfield Sites Conference, Wolverhampton , UK , November 3, 1999 (with John Smith and Tamara Hurd).

Session chair (2 sessions) – "The Middle East: People and Ethnicity," National Council for Geographic Education Annual Conference, Boston , MA , November 1999.

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Research Grants/Consultant Reports

2004 Faculty Development Grant, Keene State College. Sabbatical grant to

study hazardous waste issues and paleoenvironmental analysis

techniques in the UK ($2100).

2004 US Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Education Grant.

“Worms Go To High School: Developing a Vermicomposting

Curriculum for Middle and High School Grades 7-12”. With Impact

Earth, Inc. ($35,040).

1995- State of New Hampshire , Department of Education. New Hampshire

Geographic Alliance Operating Grant. Present yearly allocation

$25,000-30,000.

2001 National Geographic Society Education Foundation Grosvenor Grant.

“Feed it to the Worms : Curriculum Training and Dissemination

Project.” With R. Jobin and C. Sterling ($56,300).

2001 Feed it to the Worms : A Vermicomposting Geographic

curriculum. 2001. New Hampshire Geographic Alliance, Keene State

College, Keene , N.H. EPA Environmental Education Grant

NE991142-01 Keene , N.H. : Impact Earth, Inc.With Cindy Sterling

and Raymond Jobin($40,633).

2000 Keene State College Multi-Cultural/Diversity Commission; Student

Center ; and Student Government. Support for Geography 371/571

Field Course: Costa Rica 2001. With K. Alvarez ($3550).

2000 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. Technology training

workshop for teachers to participate in a web-based "US Community

Atlas" project. With R. Jobin ($2400).

2000 Faculty Development Grant, Keene State College, to attend Summer

Institute in Cartographic Sciences, Salem State College, Salem , MA.

Course: Interpretation and Analysis of Remote Sensing Imagery

($1560).

1999 US Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Education Grant.

“The Wide World of Worms – A Vermicomposting Geographic

Curriculum, Grades 1-6.” With RHI, Inc. ($26,126).

1999 External Program Reviewer, Department of Geography, Plymouth

State College, Plymouth , NH , May.

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Field Trips(click trip for photos)

- Spain (2006)

- New England Environmental Field Course- yearly, in cooperation with the University Wolverhampton, School of Applied and Analytical Sciences (1994-Present)

- Desert Southwest, USA (2004)

- Costa Rica (2001)

- Thailand (1997)

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Web Links

-NHGA New Hampshire Geographic Alliance

-NHCSS New Hampshire Council for the Social Studies

-AAG Association of American Geographers

-NCGE National Council for Geographic Education

-Studies in New England Geography

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Courses Taught