Teacher | Trainer | Mentor | Lecturer

As a research scholar, mentor, and practitioner, I believe that I have the academic knowledge, and self-knowledge, needed to advance research programs by promoting and supporting students and teams. I feel comfortable researching a range of subjects and directing research (See Attached Document: Translating Ideas into Actions). I would deeply enjoy the opportunity to take part in any research community, and as a contributor who leads staff, projects, and programs, while filling in where need exists. The opportunity to serve in any research role is invaluable in terms of the contribution that I feel I could make professionally.

I am a networker by nature and I am always engaging my contacts in government, international organizations, multi-lateral institutions, among others to connect the dots, and partner to carry out shared goals. My involvement in international education and undergraduate and graduate instruction since 1999, shows my dedication to teaching, research, and mentoring. As an undergraduate Teaching Assistant, or Supervisor, within the Department of Geography, and as a Graduate Instructor in the Joint School of Social Science Research Methods at the University of Cambridge, I have been responsible for instructing courses ranging from State and Society: Latin America and South Asia; Geographies of Development; Society, Environment, and Development; and Documents and Discourse Analysis. I initially developed instructional analysis and design skills during my time as a Conservation Training Specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center in the Division of Education and Outreach 1999 – 2001.

My ability to communicate in front of a variety of audiences improved through consistent delivery of training programs to teach others how to conduct public outreach and education programs, while also serving as a technical expert internal to the USG. I have accumulated teaching experience as a Professorial Lecturer at the University of Colorado, Boulder, 2010 (Global Commodities and Environmental Conflicts) The George Washington University, 2008 (Environmental Quality and Management in the Developing World), and as an Adjunct Professor in the Institute for Environmental Studies at Shepherd University, 2002 (Environmental Ethics and Philosophy).

As a dedicated independent, interdisciplinary scholar and practitioner these experiences, complemented by skills developed while teaching, interacting with, and training students conducting at the University of Zamorano (Honduras) prove invaluable for my career. Zamorano’s innovative approach to education provided me with a greater appreciation of cultural diversity and alternative education methods in a developing country context.

While in Honduras conducting fieldwork, I had the privilege of serving the Escuela Agrícola Panamericana’s (University of Zamorano) Department of Development, Socioeconomics, and Environment (DSEA). I worked with Dr. Arie Sanders to assess socio-economic factors relevant to conflicts in the Gulf of Fonseca. Over 368 household questionnaires, completed in 21 coastal communities throughout the southern part of the country, collected and entered into an Access database, and analyzed using SPSS.

In order to complete the socio-historical analysis of the conflict, I oversaw all preparatory activities for the socio-economic assessments: identifying the goals, selecting the relevant variables, defining the process to conduct the assessments, identifying and consulting with stakeholders and conducting key informant interviews, writing and editing questionnaires, and developing an assessment team consisting of relevant experts. I oversaw open source collection of data, its organization, and analysis, including collection of secondary sources of information such as official and unofficial sources, legal information, newspaper archival information, statistical reports, governmental and non-governmental (earlier or ongoing) project documents, research reports, peer-reviewed publications, historical documents, and extensive web-based research. All information compiled, assessed, and reviewed was congruent with the selected variables for the socioeconomic assessments.