My primary research interests revolve around human-environment interactions in urban settings.  My concern stems from commitments to harmonizing environmental sustainability and social justice.  Recent work has focused on brownfield site restoration and evaluating the environmental costs and benefits of alternative urban planning schemes. 

2006-8: Enhancing Environmental Education Through Watershed Analysis: A National Science Foundation, Co-PI, Course Curriculum Laboratory Instrumentation Grant to use the Seven Mile Creek watershed to strengthen student learning in water resources, hydrology, and GIS.

Summer 2007: The Geography of Young Adults in Minnesota. A spatial analysis of locational patterns for young adults in rural, micropolitan, and metropolitan areas of Minnesota. Funding: Center for Rural Policy Development.

Summer 2007: The Changing Faces and Spaces of Minneapolis' Lutherans. A spatial analysis of church-going behavior for a wide variety of Lutheran churches including African immigrant congregations. Funding: Minneapolis Synod of the ELCA.

2004-5:  Sustainable Redevelopment of Brownfield Sites: This project examines brownfield redevelopment for housing in the U.K. and compares brownfields redevelopment in the U.K. with North America.  Funding: U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission 

2002-4: Student-Faculty Collaborative Research:  How Green is Smart Growth? 
This project examined the environmental benefits of smart growth projects constructed in the Twin Cities metropolitan region.  Case studies included rural cluster developments, suburban town centers, and infill residential developments on former brownfield sites.  Funding:  Rockefeller Brothers Fund 

Street scene in Liberty on the Lake, Stillwater, MN 

Post-Tornado Rebuilding of St. Peter, Minnesota 
Cities are built up as layers of historical accretion.  Until recently, in the small, historic Minnesota River valley town of St. Peter, Minnesota, change had been gradual, producing a  town known for its wide main street, tree-shaded avenues, and historic houses.  On March 29th, 1998 a 1.0 mile wide F-3 tornado ripped through St. Peter.  Nearly ten years later, a different place has emerged through a combination of major public decisions and a multitude of incremental decisions made by hundreds of individual homeowners.  The result is a fascinating set of changes to the cultural landscape of St. Peter, MN

Structures Destroyed by the 1998 Tornado.