The University of New Mexico

Faculty Member, Geography

About

I am interested in the ways that competing claims about landscape and environment have been formed, legitimized, challenged, and modified in the past. I am particularly interested in the scientific knowledge claims that have been used to define and control water resources and arid landscapes. 

Current projects:

1. Historical transitions in New Mexico’s water resource management -- funded by the National Science Foundation. This research examines the ways local New Mexican communities responded to federal and territorial/state initiatives for centralized water management in the early 20th century. Data sources include district court cases, newspaper publications, and archival materials.

2. Historical GIS of New Mexico water disputes -- funded by the National Science Foundation.  This research attempts to improve the scalar resolution of our understanding of geographical variations in local-level responses to centralized water management policy in late-Territorial New Mexico.  In the current phase, we are creating a historical GIS of all water disputes that occurred in counties along the Rio Grande between 1900 and 1912.

3. Development of hydrological science in the arid West -- funded by the National Science Foundation. This research examines the rhetorical, cultural, and structural development of hydrology as a “science” for irrigation in the late-nineteenth-century American West, focusing on the ways water engineers and water administrators represented their work. Data sources include government documents, newspaper publications, and personal papers of water engineers.

4. Cartography and expertise in water management -- funded by the National Science Foundation. This research examines the role of cartography in early 20th-century water management in New Mexico. Data sources includes government documents, district court cases, and personal papers of water engineers.

5. Critical analysis of modern scientific work on Martian surface and atmospheric characteristics, focusing on the use and selection of terrestrial analogue landscapes. Collaboration with geomorphologist Stephen Tooth (University of Wales-Aberystwyth).

6. Historical investigation of the 1872 mining law, focusing on the role of scientific knowledge and uncertainty in the development and implementation of the legislation. Collaboration with political geographer Paul Matthews (University of New Mexico).

Contact Information