Courses & philosophy
Approach
My teaching aims to make students not only understand fundamental theory but also develop the capacity to explore the unknown in a rapidly changing world. I help students build conceptual understanding in geospatial science and use those methods, tools, and knowledge to address broad problems — within the field and beyond. My ultimate goal is to make students succeed, which is the most rewarding thing for a teacher.
Indiana University Bloomington
GIS is a computer-based system to aid in the collection, maintenance, storage, analysis, output, and distribution of spatial data and information. This course is designed to provide introductions to concepts, principles, and practices of collecting, acquiring, storing, analyzing, displaying, and use of geographic information. This course also explores the science behind GIS and software, techniques, and methods that are necessary to manipulate geographic data and produce good maps.
Analyzing geospatial data is a key component of GIScience and data analysis within the field of geography. This advanced GIS course is designed to introduce students to the free and powerful programming language Python. Python is highly efficient for analyzing all kinds of data. This course provides introductions to the basics of Python programming and uses Python to read/write spatial data from/to different file formats, visualize data, create interactive maps, and conduct spatial analysis. This course works with data in general and geospatial data in particular, aiming to improve students’ big geospatial data analysis skillsets.
This course introduces critical thinking and reasoning in a collaborative setting, focusing on mapping approaches and methodologies. In this class, we explore technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) using web-based mapping among others. This course will introduce methods and techniques for creating maps and representing information in space and time, but just as importantly this course will also address thinking about how to effectively communicate with maps. Maps can be used to convey significant amounts of information, but they also have the potential to blur meaning, obscure facts, and entail deception. The techniques and concepts learned in this course will teach you how to make meaningful maps in a responsible way.
University of Central Arkansas
A computer-based system to aid in the collection, maintenance, storage, analysis, output, and distribution of spatial data and information. This course introduces concepts, principles, and practices of acquiring, storing, analyzing, displaying, and using geographic information — and explores the science behind GI systems and the techniques professionals use to answer questions with a spatial component.
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have transformed modern life. This course introduces fundamental concepts and theory of GNSS, using a variety of receivers for positioning, navigating, tracking, and data logging in the field, and integrating field data into GIS software. It also explores several online mapping methods for visualizing and analysis.
Cartography is the knowledge associated with the art, science, and technology of maps. Maps are an effective way to represent the world, analyze spatial phenomena, and communicate with audiences. This course introduces the principles, conventions, and concepts of cartography and the software necessary to produce good maps, especially within the context of geographic information systems.
West Virginia University
This course introduces students to the field of geography through the comparison of major world regions, beginning with key geographical concepts that enable regional comparison. Major world regions are examined based on significant physical, sociocultural, environmental, political, and economic features — with critical attention to interconnections between regions and the impact of global-scale phenomena on local peoples' lives.