Degrees:

Ph.D.     Geography, University of Colorado, U.S.A., 1981:  Synoptic Analysis of Arctic Ice-Atmosphere Interactions Using Satellite Microwave Data

M.A.      Geography, University of Colorado, U.S.A., 1978:  Synoptic Controls on the Energy Budget Regime of an Ablating Fast Ice Surface

B.A.        Geography, University of Reading, England, 1976:  Gully Erosion and Land Use in the Calabria Region of Southern Italy

Research

My research interests are broadly within the field of climate and climate change. I am particularly interested in regional and local scale climate change and its implications for biophysical and human systems. Much of my work involves downscaling global climate model data for regional applications, and much of this has been undertaken with Bruce Hewitson at the Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Teaching

I have taught a range of graduate and undergraduate courses in physical geography, climatology, earth system science, and remote sensing.  I have also taught first year seminars in ocean science, climate change in Africa, and Globalization (with Michael Adewumi, Vice Provost for Global Programs).  I regularly taught an introduction to climate science for elementary education majors (in collaboration with Mark Merrit, College of Education) and coral reef systems in collaboration with Tim White (Earth and Environmental Systems Institute).

Science Diving

I helped establish Penn State’s Science Diving Program in 2001 and served as the University Dive Safety Officer until 2006.  The Penn State Science Diving Program is an administrative unit functioning under the Office of the Vice President for Research. The program supervises all compressed gas diving for scientific purposes at the University and is administered by a Diving Control Board.  The Penn State Science Diving Program is an Organizational Member of theAmerican Academy of Underwater Sciences  (AAUS).