Here are some of my funded research
projects. This is mostly for those who got here from the geography
department website, but some of you who got here from other paths may also
enjoy this as well.
Intergraph Registered Research Laboratory - Intergraph
Corporation has granted me a $116,000 grant to use all of their
GeoMedia GIS products for a year. This registered research
status is linked to some very interesting local research that I've
been pursuing for about five years. My research teammates and
I have discovered a very exciting method for classifying the very
sparse vegetation in the Chihuahuan Desert. The classification
system is what we have called a triage approach to land evaluation
of desert grasslands. The method is rapid, very effective and
inexpensive which means it lends itself to applications in countries
that have marginal lands and limited financial resources. I've
coined the term REAL for rapid evaluation of arid lands. I've
recently teamed up with two anthropologists here at NMSU on an NSF
proposal to evaluate the effectiveness of the methodology in Lybia.
Check out the following link to learn a little more about out
laboratory activities
http://synergy.intergraph.com/orl/member.asp?track=402364.
GIS Education Research - In early autumn of 2006 the
Association of American Geographers published the first edition of
the Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge
(BOK) http://www.aag.org/bok/.
This document constitutes the first ever compilation of topical
information encompassing the discipline. Some of my research
in GIS education involves analyzing the 1600 plus learning
objectives found in that document to determine if they are at the
appropriate intellectual level (based on a set of criteria called
Bloom's Taxonomy). I am also examining the relationship
between job descriptions around the US and Canada to determine what
skills the employers are seeking. This research will provide a
solid link between the BOK and workforce development. Soon I
will also be pursuing a Certificate of Online Teaching and Learning
and I've been spending a lot of time learning how to take my GIS
courses on-line. While that is important, I'm also preparing
research designs to investigate the effectiveness of this method of
instruction.
