We all have had teachers that stand out in our memories because of their love for the material they teach and their infectious excitement and passion. When I read student evaluations of my teaching and I see similar words used to describe how I have taught the class, I know that I accomplished one of my goals for the classroom. To convey my love of science and commitment to the environment, and to inspire the next generation of researchers. I primarily teach about the use of geospatial technologies to quantify and understand our environment. I have taught 17 different courses at 3 different universities in Washington. I am always learning, evolving, and adapting as students and I explore GIS applications in ecology as well as quantifying our human impacts on the environment and understanding environmental justice issues through a geospatial lens.

My initial goal in any classroom is to establish a safe and inclusive environment built upon mutual respect. Learning can’t happen if the classroom isn’t welcoming. This includes acknowledging that students are adults who are in the classroom of their own choosing. I emphasize to students that they must take responsibility for their learning with me as a facilitator. Additionally, I take time to check in about access needs and I strive to offer a flexible space to support diverse learners. Respect for the needs, decisions, and autonomy of students is key to establishing a positive relationship and fostering a productive learning environment. I spend time with students emphasizing the importance of metacognition and I provide students with tools to analysis their own learning success through repeated formative assessments. Examples:

• Classroom Assessment Techniques such as think pair share where small groups take time to develop an answer to a question and then we as a class come to a consensus about the most appropriate proposal to how to address a geospatial question
• In class real time polling where I can determine what core concepts are still unclear so we can spend more time discussing them.
• Weekly short quizzes that allow multiple attempts.

 I employ ever evolving universal design elements to my materials, so students have flexibility in how they engage with course materials while making course expectations extremely transparent. I actively create multiple learning pathways where students can engage with course material in a manner that is most effective for them. All materials for courses I have developed are presented in a multimodal manner:

• A combination of readings and videos for all background information in a teaching module.
• Recordings of all lectures (captioned) are available on the course website.
• In-class, hands-on exploration of geospatial topics without the use of a computer.
• Lab instructions provided as a detailed writeup with an accompanying tutorial video.
• Highly organized LMS websites for all classes so there is never any mystery about what is due when and where the materials are.

For summative assessment there are larger lab projects where students have the time to demonstrate what they have learned with the opportunity (or requirement) for personalized final projects. Rubrics and examples are provided as feedback for all assignments with opportunities to make up points included within the feedback forms. Examples of past student works are provided to show the level of work expected in the class. For most classes I teach, I have started “mock journals” where students peer review final projects and through this process, a few projects are selected to be included as examples for future classes. It is a low stakes experience with a peer review process similar to submitting work to a scientific journal.

While assessment methods and course requirements vary, I do believe that there are unifying characteristics for all successful classes. Chief among these are clearly articulating course expectations and having a solid and well-designed LMS platform for delivering course materials. This is critical to support a diversity of student learners. Every class I teach I have a document where I record what went well and what needs to change. This is true for new classes, and courses I have taught multiple times. Education is always evolving and as educators, so must we.

Courses Taught

GIS certificate coordinator for the University. Updated course work and developed new courses within the certificate.

Introduction to GIS                  Fa 2025 &  Spring 2026

Introductory course on spatial data analysis and map design using ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online. Students learn the fundamentals of coordinate systems, data formats, and spatial analysis while building interactive and static maps that communicate environmental and social patterns. Topics include cartographic design, symbology, georeferencing, and publishing maps to web platforms.

Geospatial Analysis for Natural Resources     Fa 2025

Advanced course focused on the use of R for LiDAR-based forest inventory and landscape modeling. Students integrate airborne, drone, and terrestrial lidar data to quantify forest structure, biomass, and terrain attributes. Emphasis is placed on spatial modeling, data visualization, and reproducible workflows for ecological and resource management applications.

I was the lead faculty for a 7-course undergraduate and professional certificate in GIS at Evergreen. I did all course development for the classes listed below. The course design included consideration of the skills needed for GIS certification from ESRI and GISP.

GIS: Introduction and Principles          Fa 2023 & 2024

Introductory course on the use of GIS. The course primarily used ArcGIS online for sourcing and mapping environmental, built environment, and demographic data. Topics covered map symbology, 2D and 3D web applications, animations of time series data, and the use of graphic design programs for map production.

GIS: Analysis with ArcGIS Pro  Wi 2023, 2024, & 2025

Weekly lectures and preparation of eight weekly labs. The focus of the class is working with basic and advanced GIS concepts, such as coordinate reference systems, Vector and Raster data management, and complex joins and relates. Culminating in a final project for each student.

GIS: StoryMaps and Apps                    Wi 2023 & 2024

Weekly lectures and preparation of nine labs. Labs have a weekly focus on ESRI Web applications, such as StoryMaps, Experience Builder, Insights, Business Analysis Web, Dashboard, and Arcade Expressions. Culminating in a final project for each student.

GIS: Remote Sensing                             Sp 2023, 2024

Weekly lectures and preparation of eight weekly labs. Core remote sensing techniques such as photogrammetry, orthorectification, spectral signatures, and the use of field spectral radiometers. Pixel- and object-based classifications, both supervised and unsupervised. Basic lidar processing.

GIS: Field Data Collection                    Sp 2023 & 2024

Weekly lectures and preparation of nine labs. Labs had a weekly focus on the ESRI applications Survey123, and Field Maps. Active use of GNSS receivers and differentially corrected location data. Culminating in a final project for each student.

GIS: Research Project                          Su 2023 & 2024

Summer long course where students designed a GIS project with the goal of completing a GIS portfolio in the form of a StoryMap. A faculty-directed project was offered, with students allowed to propose their own independent projects. Students had to use remote sensing to quantify changes at the selected site, along with field surveys to quantify what was currently at the site. Field trips were a part of the course.   

College of the Environment Speaker Series          Full academic year 2022-2023

Weekly organization of speakers on environmental issues. Talks open to the public with a class component where students compose weekly essays discussing speakers’ presentations. Speakers list and videos: https://cenv.wwu.edu/environmental-speaker-series/2022-23

Lidar Special Topics class          Wi 2024, Sp 2023, Wi 2023, Sp 2024

A weekend immersive class using lidar data within the ArcGIS Pro framework. Locating and downloading lidar data both lidar derived DEMs and point clouds to look at hydrology and forestry applications

Environmental Studies: A Scientific Approach        Fa 2022

An introduction to environmental studies that emphasizes a scientific approach toward understanding the nature and scope of contemporary problems in the human environment. This course reflects the application of physical, chemical, biological, and geologic principles to define ecological change, both natural and human-made.

Intro to Remote Sensing                                  Wi 2022

Responsible for twice-weekly lectures on topics such as radiation transference, imaging satellites, aerial photography, and lidar. Developed 6 labs that were submitted as written reports in a peer review format. Labs heavily used ArcGIS Pro with elements in ENVI and CloudCompare.

Intro to GIS                              2022 – 2023 (6 classes)

(Instructor of Record) Applications of GIS technology to forest science and management. Fundamentals of GIS systems: Data sources, preprocessing, map analysis, output, remote sensing as a source of GIS data, image analysis, and classification.

Lidar Remote Sensing                                      Sp 2022

(Instructor of Record) Developed the course and created 10 labs dealing with the processing of lidar data. The focus was on using R to process point cloud data, but other programs used were ArcGIS, CloudCompare, and Fusion.

Lidar Remote Sensing             2019 – 2021 (3 classes)

(Teaching Assistant & Lab Instructor) Recorded detailed lab instructions for each lab with the transition of the school to an online environment.

Remote Sensing of the Environment    2018 – 2022 (6 classes)

(Teaching Assistant & Lab Instructor) Redeveloped the course with Dr. L. Monika Moskal where I rewrote / created 10 labs to use ArcGIS Pro and CloudCompare. Course covered basic photogrammetry, spectral analysis, image classification, and lidar. I also created an online accompaniment to the class, including detailed instructional videos for each lab.

Environmental and Resource Assessment      2018 – 2024 (6 classes)

Guest lecturer in the module on remote sensing and GIS applications for forest science.

Climate Change in the PNW                            Su 2019

University of Washington & Nanjing University

A special workshop was held with students from Nanjing University, where we traveled across Washington State to discuss climate change impacts on the Pacific Northwest.