I am a Professor in the Department of Geography and the Faculty Ombudsperson at Texas State University. You can find me on BlueSky @fermentedlands as well as on The Conversation and at Forbes.com.

I am a cultural geographer and political ecologist with specialties in land and environmental management; (ex)urbanization; (rural) sustainability and tourism; wine, beer, and cider geographies (aka fermented landscapes); and agriculture, inclusive of urban, peri-urban, and “local”.

I am involved in a number of projects (independently, in collaboration, or as supervisor) related to environmental politics and management, rural change and sustainability, the definition and dynamics of the rural-urban interface, and the environmental, economic, and sociocultural implications of fermentation in both rural and urban places.

I advise students in the Master of Applied Geography, Master of Science in Geography, and PhD in Geography as well as Masters of Sustainability students at Texas State University. These students, and others whom I work with closely, are organized into the Fermented Landscapes Lab.

I teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate level at Texas State, including courses on: Environmental Management, Cultural and Political Ecology, Land Management, Managing Urbanization, Research Techniques and Design, Qualitative Research, Rural Sustainability, and the Geography of Food and Agriculture. I also lead a field school to Tuscany and Umbria (approximately) every other summer.

In addition, I serve (or have served) on several internal (TXST) committees, including the College of Liberal Arts Study Abroad Council, the university-wide Environment and Sustainability Committee (which I chaired), and the Sustainability Grad Council, among others. I also volunteer in leadership roles with the American Association of Geographers, including the Rural Geography Specialty group (RGSG), serving as both as a student representative and then as an at-large member, in the Wine, Beer, Spirits Specialty Group (WBSSG), having served as both Vice President and President, as well recently serving as a Regional Councilor for the Southwest to the National Council of the American Association of Geographers.