EDUCATION:

University of California, Berkeley.

B.A.                        June 1980, Geography (Highest honors).  Thesis: Late Holocene Sedimentation at Zaca Lake, Santa Barbara County, California.

M.A.                       June 1983, Geography.  Thesis: Late Quaternary Vegetation Change in Western Costa Rica: Pollen Evidence from Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 565.

Ph.D.                      May 1986, Geography.  Dissertation: Fire and Páramo Vegetation in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica.

 

UNIVERSITY APPOINTMENTS:

1986                        University of California, Berkeley, Office of Summer Sessions, Lecturer (Geography).

1986–87                  University of California, Berkeley, Department of Geography, Visiting Lecturer.

1987–93                  University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Geography, Assistant Professor.

1988–1998              University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Graduate Program in Ecology, Faculty member.

1992–                      University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Botany, Adjunct Faculty member.

1993–2000              University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Geography, Associate Professor.

1998–                      University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Adjunct Faculty member.

2000–                      University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Geography, Professor.

 

PROFESSIONAL HONORS AND AWARDS:

1992                        Phi Beta Kappa Certificate of Merit for Scholarly
Achievements in the Liberal Arts, Phi Beta Kappa of Tennessee.

1992                        Junior Faculty Award for Research and Creative Achievement, College of Liberal Arts, University of Tennessee.

1994                        Finalist, Chancellor's Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Tennessee.

1993–2001              Science Alliance Award, University of Tennessee (8 awards).

2000                        Outstanding Teaching Award, Department of Geography, University of Tennessee.

2000                        Fellow, Center for Undergraduate Excellence, University of Tennessee.

2001                        Fellow, Center for Undergraduate Excellence, University of Tennessee.

2002                        Carl O. Sauer Distinguished Scholarship Award , Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers.

2003                        Provost’s Award for Research and Creative Achievement, University of Tennessee.

2003                        Nominee, NSF Distinguished Teaching Scholar Award, University of Tennessee.

2003                        Elected as a Fellow, Section on Geography and Geology, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

2005                        Named an Honorary Member of the Asociación Antropológica Costarricense (Costa Rican Anthropology Association).