Main Content
I have been an instructor in Environmental Geomatics and Geodesign with the Landscape Architecture program here at Rutgers since Fall of 2013. I have a background in both art and ecology as well as geomatics. I received my B.A. in Visual Arts from Antioch College in Ohio, and worked for several years as a graphic artist before returning to my education to study geomatics and ecology. I received my M.S. in ecology and a graduate certificate in geospatial information science from Rutgers in 2011.
I teach introductory to advanced level courses focusing on the use of GIS and remote sensing to address questions about the natural and built environment, and how we interact with and shape it. I also teach the undergraduate regional design studio, which focuses on bringing these ideas into practice. Here we apply concepts of geodesign to regional scale planning questions, and the complexities posed by the numerous interacting human and natural systems at that scale.
My interests in the field of geomatics are fairly broad. I’m excited by just about any question that poses an interesting challenge or makes me think about geomatics in a new way, whether it’s a particularly complex cartographic problem or learning a new technology. For example, I am currently designing a system of map design standards for the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, representing the great diversity in size, form, and use of New Jersey’s 40 or so state parks and forests in a single consistent visual language. Prior to that I developed a method for producing highly detailed maps of coastal and barrier island habitat using object-based image analysis techniques, combining the advantages of automated and visual interpretation of aerial photography and LiDAR imagery, to support management of Marine Protected Areas in New York and New Jersey. More than any of that, though, I enjoy working with students to form their own questions and develop approaches to answering them.