Contributor Biographies
Rent from DeepDyve- Contributor Biographies
Natchee Barnd is an assistant professor of Ethnic Studies and Native American Studies at Oregon State University. Dr. Barnd’s teaching and research focus on comparative ethnic studies, space, and indigenous geographies. He is currently completing his first book, Inhabiting Indianness: Native Space and America (OSU Press, First People's Initiative), addressing the relationship between spatial production and Indianness.
Kelsey Brain received her MS from Portland State University and now teaches as an adjunct instructor of geography for Portland State University and Portland Community College. With prior education and experience in business management, her research and publications have focused broadly on economic geography, globalization, transnationalism, development, and inequality.
Sean Crotty is an expert in urban economic geography. His research examines the spatial organization of informal labor markets as well as the effectiveness of policy interventions into those markets. He leads and supports projects examining a variety of issues in the greater Fort Worth community, including local impacts of immigration, community/economic development, and infrastructure development.
Elena Givental is a lecturer in physical, economic, and regional geography at CSU East Bay and Berkeley City College. Her research interests are at the intersection of the society and the environment where physical, social, and economic elements interact. Her latest research focuses on comparisons of the environmental and economic processes in Vietnam and Ethiopia, where she has done field work over the past several years.
Jeffrey P. Schaffer is retired but still teaches part-time at Napa Valley College. Trained as a naturalist, he became interested in climbing and switched to geography, receiving an MA and Ph.D. from Cal. He has written a dozen nature-oriented hiking guides for Wilderness Press and is now researching Sierran uplift and glacial histories. [End Page 11]
Michael J. Schmandt is professor of geography and department chair at Sacramento State University. His areas of specialization include urban and cultural geography, food geography, field methods, spatial thinking, geographic information systems (GIS), and cartography. Combining these interests, his research focuses on understanding the evolution of the urban landscape by analyzing changes in building form, ground plan, land use, and people. He has supervised a diverse array of GIS projects that have focused on urban and agricultural land-use change, crime analysis, travel reduction, data sharing, and climate change. Most recently, he and his students are creating a food atlas for the Sacramento region. Dr. Schmandt was awarded the National Council of Geographic Education’s Higher Education Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009 and the California Geographical Society’s Outstanding Educator award in 2014. He is a past president of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers. [End Page 12]
