I am a geographer in the nature-society tradition, whose research has examined the relationship between park management approach and conservation effect, particularly the extent to which participatory, ‘bottom-up’ co-management can not only protect biodiversity, but also local people’s livelihoods. Many of my publications are based on studies which employ a political ecology framework and ethnographic field research. I have worked with fishing communities in New England and the Florida Keys in the United States and Swahili-speaking communities living near marine protected areas in Kenya. Africa is my regional area of interest and expertise. Most recently I have used memoirs, newspapers, and radio broadcasts for Africa- focused, non-field based people-environment studies and sought out exceptional students with shared research interests for mentoring.

Ph.D. (Geography) 1997, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Dissertation title: Fishers, Parks, and Power: The Socio-Environmental Dimensions of Marine Resource Decline and Protection on the Kenya Coast (Dr. James Delehanty and Dr. Matthew D. Turner, Advisors)
Certificate in African Studies, 1993, University of Wisconsin-Madison; African Studies Program
M.S. (Geography) 1992, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Thesis title: The Masai and the Masai Mara: People, Park, and Policy (Dr. James Delehanty, Advisor)
B.S. (Human Development) 1987, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.  Concentration in Minority Studies  [Study abroad at Universität Hamburg, Germany 1986]

Professor of Geographyand Chair Dept. of History and Geography, Elon University
Associate Professor of Geography, Dept. of History and Geography, Elon University (2003-2009)
Assistant Professor of Geography, Dept. of History and Geography, Elon University (1998-2003)
Visiting Assistant Professor of Geography, Mount Holyoke College, (1997-98)                  
Lecturer, University of Wisconsin Department of Geography (Spring 1995 and 1997)
Marie Christine Kohler Fellow, University of Wisconsin Graduate School (1996-97)
Fulbright Scholar, Kenya (1995-96)
Teaching Assistant, University of Wisconsin Department of Geography (Fall 1994)                   
Social Science Research Council Scholar, Kenya (Summer 1994)
Title VI Fellowships, Foreign Language Area Studies (Swahili)(1992-94)
Teaching Assistant, University of Wisconsin Department of Geography (Falls of 1991 and 1993)
Research Assistant, University of Wisconsin Land Tenure Center (Spring 1992)
Project Assistant, University of Wisconsin Department of Geography (1990-91)
Counselor, Community Mainstreaming Association: Port Washington, N.Y. (1989-90)
Teacher, WorldTeach program, Harvard University’s Institute for International Development (1987-88)

Surveys:
GEO 131: The Worlds Regions, GEO 121: Global Physical Environments; GEO 250 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, GST 110: The Global Experience
Upper Level:
GEO 310: Development and the Environment in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, GEO 320: Africa's People and Envrionments, GEO 491 Independent Study; GEO 499 Independent Research; PER 351/2 Junior Year Periclean Scholars, PER 451/2: Senior Year Periclean Scholars, INT 461: International Studies Senior Seminar
Study Abroad:
Winter term courses in Britain, Ghana, and China
Advising:
Elon 101

Chair, Department of History and Geography (2009-present)
Periclean Scholars Class of 2010 (Ghana Group) faculty mentor (2006-present)
Faculty Advisor for Visions Environmental Magazine (2008-09)
Coordinator of the Geography Program(1998-present)

National Level
2007: Project Pericles,New York, Course Enhancement Grant, $2000
2003:National Science Foundation, GIS Summer Seminar, Monterey Peninsula College*
2001: Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program Fellowship (Argentina)*
2000: Gamma Theta Upsilon Honor Society, Visiting Scientist Program Grant, $700
1999: National Science Foundation, Human Geography Seminar, Arizona State University*
1995: IIE Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation Abroad Fellowship (Kenya), $25500
1995: Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad Fellowship (Tanzania)*
1994: Social Science Research Council, Pre-dissertation Fellowship, $2500
1994: US Dept. of Ed., Academic Year Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (Swahili)
1993: US Dept. of Ed., Academic Year Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (Swahili)
Campus Level
2007: Fund for Excellence Grant with four Elon students, $5200
2007: Matching Funds for Project Pericles Course Enhancement Grant, $2000
2006:Undergraduate Research Program, SURE mentor, $1000
2005: Sabbatical
2005: Undergraduate Research Program, SURE mentor, $1000
2004: Honors Program, Course Development Grant, $1200
2003:Faculty Research and Development Summer Research Travel Grant, $3076
2002: Technology Course Enhancement Grant, $3825
2002: Faculty Research and Development Summer Research Travel Grant, $3195
2001: Technology Course Enhancement Grants, $4000 and $1055
2001: Program Initiative Grant, $3000
2001: Faculty Research and Development, Summer Fellowship, $4635
2001: Isabella Cannon Center, Course Development Grant, $1700
2000: Campus Carnegie Initiative Grant, $6000
1999: Technology Initiative Grant (w/ Dr. Janet MacFall and Dr. Betty Morgan), $5000
1999: Faculty Research and Development Travel Grant, $915
1999: Program Initiative Grant, $1000
1998: Academic Steering Committee Grant, $320
1997: University of Wisconsin Graduate School, Marie Christine Kohler Fellowship**
1994: University of Wisconsin African Studies Program Travel Award, $1970
* Award included room, board, tuition, and in some cases airfare for a one to eight week program
**Award for free housing for one academic year in the Old Governor’s Mansion, Madison, Wisconsin

Refereed Journal Articles

1. Media Image and Social Integration of Liberian and Togolese Refugees in Ghana (with Elon student co-authors Kristine Silvestri and Amanda Brown), in Africa Media Review Volume 17, Number 2, 2009
2. Development through Civic Service: the Peace Corps and National Service Programs in Ghana, (with Elon student co-author Lauren Taylor) 2009 Progress in Development Studies, 9(2): 87-99.
3. Ideologies of Land and Place: Memories from Zimbabwe’s War of Liberation.2008, South African Geographical Journal (co-authored with Elon student Justine M. Davis), 90 (1): 54-63.
4. Marine Protected Area Management for Whom? Stakeholder Concerns and Resistance in the Florida Keys, USA and Mombasa, Kenya. Focus on Geography, spring 2006, Vol. 48(4) 17-24.
5. Ideologies of Land and Place: Gikuyu and Settler Colonist Women in Kenya, Geographical Bulletin, May 2005, 47(1): 14-35. (Co-authored with Elon student R. Rebecca Hewitt)
6. New England Fisheries and Participatory Management: Rhetoric and Realities, Studies in New England Geography, Issue 20, July 2005, pp. 1-27. (with New England fisherman Mark Simonitsch)
7. Learning: Bringing the Geography of Africa to Life, Teaching Geography (Oct. 2004, pp. 132-134).
8. State and Local Resistance to the Expansion of Two Environmentally Harmful Marine Fishing Techniques in Kenya, Society and Natural Resources 13: 321-338, Summer 2000.
9. They're not just 'Samaki': Towards an Understanding of Fisher Vocabulary on the Kenya Coast, Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere vol. 51: 165-79 (Swahili Forum IV) Sept. 1997, U of Cologne, Germany
10. Traditional Fisheries Management, Its' Decay, and Effect on Fisheries Yields and the Coral Reef Ecosystems of Southern Kenya, Environmental Conservation, June 1997. vol. 24 (2): 105-120 with McClanahan, T.R., J. Rubens, and R. Kiambo.

Non-refereed Journal Articles

1. Knowledge, Power, and Society: Participatory Marine Management in East Africa and Eastern North America in Women in Natural Resources, Sept. 2004 (http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/winr/).
2. How to Support and Expand Strong, Existing Study Abroad Programs, pages 77-79 in African Issues, Vol. XXVIII/1&2, 2000, African Studies Association.
3. Community-level Marine Resource Management and the Spirit Realm in Coastal Kenya, Women in Natural Resources (Special Issue: Fisheries & Aquatic Ecology) 2000. 21(4): 35-42.

Encyclopedia Entries

1.  “Popular Culture” entry (with Elon student Kristine Silvestri), May 2010, in the Encyclopedia of African Thought: Irele, F.A. and B. Jeyifo (Eds.). NY and Oxford: Oxford University Press.   
2. “Afikpo” entry (on the people of SE Nigeria), May 2010 in the Encyclopedia of African Thought: Irele, F.A. and B. Jeyifo (Eds.). NY and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3.  “Fishing” entry, 2009, available with online subscription in the Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (GREENr). Gale Publishing.
4. “Social Justice” entry (with James O. Brown), 2009, available with online subscription in the Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (GREENr). Gale.
5.  “Northwest Africa’s Environments” entry; in November 2008 in the Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy: Macmillan Reference USA
6. “Managing Coral Reef Fisheries” entry in the Coral Reefs Collection of the Encyclopedia of Earth (with Elon alumnus Alexander Hopkins) http://www.eoearth.org/ (July 2008)
7. "Coastal Resources, Africa" entry in Kwame A. Appiah and Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. (Eds.) Africana: The New Encyclopedia Africana, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press (March 2005) 
8. "Conservation in Africa" entry in Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. (Eds.) Africana: The New Encyclopedia Africana, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press (March 2005) 

Book Section
Fisher Folklore: A Basis for Flexible Marine Management Plans for the Future, pp. 43-46 in McClanahan, T.R., C.S. Sheppard and D.O. Obura (Eds.) 2000. Coral Reefs of the Indian Ocean: Their Ecology and Conservation.  NY: Oxford University Press.

Research Reports
1.  “The Discourse of Participatory Democracy in Marine Fisheries Management”, pp. 57-67, in Haggan, N., Brignall, C. and Wood, L. (Eds.) Putting Fishers’ Knowledge to Work, University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre Research Report, ISSN: 11989-6727. In: Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstractsand available on CD.(with Mark Simonitsch), 2003.
2.  The Diani-Kinondo Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Traditional Management. 1996 report for Kenya Wildlife Service, with McClanahan, T.R., J. Rubens, and R. Kiambo

Book Reviews
More than 30 book reviews on Africa, resource management, parks, development, or fisheries in African Affairs, African Studies Quarterly, African Studies Review, Canadian Journal of African Studies, Geographical Review, H-Net, Journal of Modern African Studies, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, North Carolina Geographer, Professional Geographer, Society and Natural Resources,  and Southeastern Geographer.

Conference Papers Presented

1. “State Policies and Outmigration of Health Professionals from Ghana and South Africa” (with Elon student Lauren C. Taylor) presented at the Association of American Geographers conference in Washington, DC, April 14-18, 2010.
2. “Development through Civic Service: The Peace Corps and National Service Programs in Ghana” presented at the Association of American Geographers conference in Las Vegas, NV, March 22-27, 2009.
3. “Media Image and Social Integration of Togolese and Liberian Refugees in Ghana” presented at the African Studies Association conference in New York, October 18-21, 2007.
4. “Ideologies of Land and Place: Memories from Zimbabwe’s War of Liberation, presented at the African Studies Association conference in San Francisco, CA, November 16-19, 2006.
5. “Ideologies of Land and Place: Settler Colonist and Gikuyu Women in Central Kenya” presented (with Elon student Rachel Rebecca Hewitt) at the Association of American Geographers conference in Chicago, March 7-11, 2006.
6. “Marine Protected Areas for Whom? Stakeholder Inequalities in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve, Kenya,” presented at the annual African Studies Association conference, New Orleans, LA. November 11-14, 2004.
7. “A Comparative Analysis of Participatory Marine Management in East Africa and Eastern North America,” paper presented at the 46^th annual African Studies Association conference, Boston, MA. Oct 30-Nov2, 2003.
8. “Challenges in Community-Based Management: A Comparative Study of Eastern Africa and Eastern North America” at the Enhancing Natural Resources and Livelihoods through Community Management conference, hosted by the Coady International Institute, Saint Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, Nov 6-9, 2002.
9. “Enriching the Collegiate Experience through Learning Communities” (presented by Ann Wooten, Seena Granowski, and Deborah Long) at the 13^th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, April 9-13, in Jacksonville, FL.
10.  “Increasing Authentic Participation in Marine Fisheries Management" (with Mark Simonitsch) presented at the Putting Fishers' Knowledge to Work Conference, August 27-30, 2001 at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
11. “Local and State Perspectives on Scientific Fisheries Management" presented at the 97^th annual AAG (Association of American Geographers) meeting, New York, NY Feb 2001.
12. Study Abroad: Elon College in Ghana" presented (with Brian Digre) at the 43^rd annual ASA (African Studies Association) Meeting in Nashville, TN, November, 2000.
13. "Coastal Management in Kenya” presented at the ASA (African Studies Association) Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA November, 1999
14. "The Expansion of Rogue Technologies in East Africa's Marine Environment," presented at the 94th AAG (Association of American Geographers) Meeting, Boston, MA, March 1998.
15. "Community Resource Management in Kenya: Implications for Conservation and Marine Parks," presented at the 93rd AAG Annual Meeting, Fort Worth, TX, April 1997.
16.  “Human Impact on the Malindi-Watamu Biosphere Reserve, Kenya: Local and Extra-Local Forces,” presented at the 36th ASA Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, December 1993.
17. “The Maasai and the Maasai Mara: People, Park and Policy,” presented at the 89th AAG Annual Meeting; Atlanta, Georgia, April 1993.
18. “The Masai and the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya: Conflict and Coexistence,”  presented at the Fourth North American Symposium on Society and Resource Management at the University of Wisconsin, May 1992.

Invited Talks

1. “Co-management and Integrating Fisher Knowledge into Coastal and Marine Management,” a forthcoming talk at the invitation of Departments of Biology and History and the Environmental Studies program at Washington and Lee University, spring 2011.
2. “The Developed—Developing Divide: Marine Park Management in Kenya” an invited talk presented at the University of Notre Dame, March 23, 2007.
3. “Participatory Management Strategies in Marine Protected Areas: Case Studies from the USA and Kenya” presented at the Duke University Marine Lab, Beaufort, NC, Jan. 25, 2006.
4.   Participatory Marine Management: Rhetoric and Realities” presented at UNCG, Sept, 2005.
5. “The Expansion of Environmentally-Harmful Marine Fishing Techniques in Kenya,” presented at the Geography Colloquium, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, October, 1999
6.   "Rough Waters: Fishers, Park Management and Ecological Change on the Kenya Coast," presented for the University of Wisconsin African Studies Program lecture series, Feb. 1997
7.   "People-Environment Relations in East Africa's Rift Valley" and "The Physical Geography of E. Africa" presented for the School for International Training. Naivasha, Kenya, March 1996.
8.   “Differential Perception of Racism and Sexism among New York High School Students,” presented for the Chi Psi Honor Society (Psychology), Cornell University, April 1986.

Grant Reviewer for:
Undergraduate International Studies Foreign Language Program
Association of American Geographers (AAG): Research Grants Committee (Chair, 2006-2009)
National Science Foundation—Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program
Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad and Faculty Research Abroad Programs
Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program
Jacob Javits Fellowship Program
Reader for:
Educational Testing Service, AP Human Geography program
Manuscript Reviewer for:
African Affairs; African Studies Review; Gender, Place, and Culture; Journal of Applied Geography;Journal of Environmental Management; Journal of Environmental Science, Policy, & Planning; Journal of Geography & Geospatial Information Science; Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences; Journal of Women’s Studies; Maritime Studies (MAST); Society and Natural Resources; Studies in New England Geography; World Development

Since 2007, I have been working with Elon students in the Periclean Scholars program to improve access to healthcare and promote sustainable development in Ghana's Volta Region through community partnerships, outreach, and education. January 2009 marked the opening of the Kpoeta Community Clinic, our major development initiative. Please explore our web site to learn about us and how to support our projects. http://org.elon.edu/pericleanscholars2010
Service to Elon University
Chair, Department of History and Geography (June 1, 2009-present)
Faculty Advisor, Visions [Environmental] Magazine ( 2008-2009)
Faculty Advisor, Periclean Scholars, Class of 2010 (2007-present)
National Fellowships Advisory Committee (2008-present)
University Environmental Advisory Council (2006-09)
Moderator for three Spring Undergraduate Research Forum panels (2007-10)
Member of seven search committees (GEO, HST, ENS, etc.) (2000-present)
Faculty Research and Development Committee (2005-07)
Common Reading Committee (2004-09)
Honor Board (2004-06)
Arts and Sciences Facilities Committee (fall 2004)
Library Committee (2002-04)
African/African-American Studies Steering Committee (2002-present)
American Studies Committee (2003-05)
Advisor for Gamma Theta Upsilon Geography Honor Society (2002-present)
General Studies Council (2000-02)
Campus Fulbright Program Advisor (2000-04)
Faculty mentor for visiting foreign faculty members (2000-04)
International Programs/Study Abroad Advisory Committee (1999-03)
Women's Gender Studies Advisory Board (1998-03)
Environmental Studies Program Committee (1998-04)
Coordinator of the Geography Program (1998-present)
Geography Program Representative for the Library (1998-06)
Service to Mount Holyoke College
Five College African Studies Council (1997-98)
Women's Studies Research Center (1997-98)

Foreign Language Competence: Swahili and German 

I have received grants/awards from: the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program, IIE Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation Abroad program (Kenya), Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad program (Tanzania), Social Science Research Council, and theUS Dept. of Ed., Academic Year Foreign Language Area Studies program (Swahili). I have also been awarded the honorary title of Queen Mother (female equivalent of an African chief) by the people of Kpoeta, Ghana for my work there via the Periclean Scholars Program, http://org.elon.edu/pericleanscholars2010