Researcher Dedicated to Human Enthusiasm

Identifying the cultural metrics that guide human mobilities


Doctor Who. Geography-themed tattoos. The Grateful Dead. Geospatial analysis of cultural phenomena. Graceland. Veganism. Population stability. Baseball. Comics. What do these things have in common? They are all topics that I have researched in my career as a human geographer. At a cursory glance, it’s fair to beg the question: well, what exactly do you do? The thread that connects these seemingly disparate topics is human enthusiasm. I dedicate my career to understanding how humans develop enthusiasm, and how this influences their movements across (and beyond) planet Earth. I use both qualitative and quantitative methods to determine how and why certain factors influence humans to act, think, move, and spend their money a certain way. I conduct ethnographic interviews. I collect and summarize statistical data. I tell stories. I frequently publish my results. Most important of all, I make my results accessible across all audiences, not just those in academia. I am a firm believer in open source software, open access publication platforms, and open science.

Research

I maintain an active research agenda which includes engagement and outreach at conferences, in journals/publications, and in workshops.

Teaching

I have taught courses (lecture and laboratory) in both the natural and social sciences to students at multiple levels in higher education. I currently teach data literacy and data management fundamentals to students at Carnegie Mellon University.

Career

As a geographer and a data librarian, I am interested in helping others learn how to manage their data so they can tell effective stories about their research.