Teaching
At UNC Wilmington, I teach GGY 230 Weather and Climate, GGY 333 Applied Climatology, GGY 433 Weather Analysis and Forecasting, GGY 235 Environmental Hydrology, GGY 422 Remote Sensing in Environmental Analysis, and GGY 383 Geography of the Caribbean. These classes supports degrees and minors in geography, geology, oceanography, and marine science. I am also active in leading graduate theses, undergraduate honors theses, and independent studies. In short, my favorite teaching activity is involving students in research. I also frequently take students to San Salvador, Bahamas to participate in field research and during the summer, I may teach a field course for K-12 teachers on the Outer Banks or the UNCW Summer Ventures in Mathematics and Science for high school students.
If you are a student interested in becoming involved in research please feel free to contact me.
All course specific information is available to UNC Wilmington students through SeaPort.
UNC Wilmington students investigating an abandoned Haitian sailboat on San Salvador, Bahamas.
Teaching Philosophy
As a teacher of geography, I attempt to instill in students knowledge of place, regions, and landscapes and the physical and human processes that create and modify these geographic entities. Further, I strive for students to understand that in order to reach a thorough comprehension of these geographic phenomena, it requires a unique multi-disciplinary, spatially-oriented perspective of the world. I believe a student that graduates with a geography degree from a university must not only be able to utilize this perspective, but must be able to effectively use it in critical thinking and analysis, and express and successfully communicate such a perspective to others. Such a goal is not completed in one class but rather through a series of classes within a degree program. Thus, I try to incorporate three common themes into all of my classes: 1) active and problem based learning. 2) creativity, and 3) field research. Not all three of these goals are attainable in one class. However, I hope the students that do complete my classes come to a better understanding of how a creative problem solver with a solid knowledge of field research can be successful in their chosen career path.
Mississippi State University Teacher in Geosciences students hike the dunes at Jockey Ridge State Oark, Outer Banks, NC.
Page designed by Ryan Jordan.
Updated by
Doug Gamble 12/07
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