My research explores some of the primary environmental factors including Holocene climatic variability, evolving fluvial landscapes, soil development, and natural resource availability (i.e. soil quality, building materials stone/clay, potable water) that influence human populations.

Geographic areas of research: Italy, Sicily, the Rocky Mountains, and the Midwest (Great Plains)

Sicily: I am particularly interested in the environmental setting of the Late Bronze through Iron Age of the western Mediterranean (Italy and Sicily). What were the interrelationships between the environment and settlement patterns (indigenous and/or colonists)? Perhaps understanding past cause and effect relationships between societies and changing climates may provide insight into our current and future interactions with the environment.

The American Midwest and West : I am also interested in characterizing the role of human and their environment (past, present, and future) in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains). I have been fortunate enough to live in Grand Teton National Park for six summers and will continue to bring my unique skill set to help delineate the anthropogenic and environmental effects that have shaped the landscape the millions of people visit each year.

GIS : Using technology as a tool to understanding spatial relationships and their meanings.

Geologic Mapping: Glacial Mapping EDMAP web link, Natural Resource distribution analyses (IA), Human settlement patterns (Sicily). Mapping is informative and FUN!

The University of Northern Iowa EDMAP team will be working on the surficial geology of the Waverly Quadrangle in 2008 and 2009. (For more informaiton CLICK HERE)