Teaching Statement

I find teaching very rewarding and approach it with great enthusiasm. Geospatial technology is one of the three most rapidly growing fields (according to the Department of Labor) and the demand for specialists in GIS and remote sensing will continue to grow. Teaching students these highly valuable skills and exposing them to many areas where GIS is used is essential. All my classes carry two distinct signatures: 1) ample opportunities for hands-on work, and 2) a wide spectrum of examples showing applications of these technologies.

In technical fields, such as GIS and remote sensing, “learning by doing” is the best way to learn. In every class, lectures are followed by hands-on practice using the software. Most of my current classes are a mix of undergraduate and graduate students, with a substantial number of international students. For hands-on practice I create exercises that demonstrate practical applications of the tools, using international examples as much as I can (GIS data for developing countries is generally scarce). For example, in Advanced Vector GIS class we mapped primary election results within hours of the results’ release; analyzed distribution of toxic release inventory sites in Worcester and their relationship to population characteristics; looked at locations of Starbucks and Wal-Mart stores to identify what markets they target; analyzed spread on zebra mussels (an invasive species) in the US and arsenic water contamination in Bangladesh. My goal is to prepare students to be educated users of GIS technology, and to question what they see on a map. By analyzing publicly available maps in class, students develop important cartographic and critical thinking skills.

Engaging students in community-based projects remains a passion. Recently students in my classes created a map of wheelchair-accessible ramps on campus (highly praised by the Coordinator of Disability Services on campus), a map of emergency phone locations (the map was shared with Campus Police). I make connections with local government and non-government organizations with the dual goal of 1) helping the agencies with their community mapping needs and 2) providing students with an opportunity to create a product that will be useful. At the request of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, students created a series of maps showing where students from 10 Worcester colleges volunteer. Few years ago, at the request of the Superintendant of Worcester Public Schools, students mapped residences of school choice children and high school “drop-outs”. While creating these maps student had to work in teams and learn both analytical and cartographical skills. Last year, students helped Regional Environmental Council (REC) with mapping existing community gardens in Worcester and identifying potential sites for future community gardens.  More recently, students in my Advanced Vector GIS class analyzed solar panels suitability in Worcester and in Auburn, at the request of the local governments.