Researchers

I began my formal studies in Geography at the University of Nevada, Reno where I completed my B.S. For my Masters I explored the shifting demographics and changing economy of a mixed Sioux, Assiniboine and Anglo community in northeastern Montana. That project, undertaken at Montana State University, spurred my interest in the cultural and social complexity of the Mexico-U.S. borderlands. I had long been fascinated with the borderlands as the continental intersection of the American West and the Mexican Norte, and that fascination shaped my research interests as a graduate student. As a PhD student in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University I explore the historic and contemporary struggle over public lands in southern Arizona. My research in the Sonoran Desert concerns the historic challenges and the future potential of public lands in the context of indigenous land claims, conservation struggles, and the heavy presence of the border security industry.