I grew up in a small town in east central Utah called Green River. Here I enjoyed the outdoor activities of fishing, hunting and exploring the desert where I found Indian artifacts, dinosaur bone and many interesting things linked to nature. I received an Associates Degree in Biology from Rick's College (now BYU-Idaho), a Bachelor's and Master's of Science in Range Science from the Department of Botany and Range Science from Brigham Young University, and a Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Utah. My specialty is plant community and ecosystem ecology (biogeography) and the use of satellite remotely sensed imagery for studying earth system processes as they are influenced by humans and varying climatic conditions. I have conducted research in China, Mongolia, varying countries on the African continent, Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, Canada and of course the United States.

I teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in: physical geography, plant biogeography; univariate, multivariate and geospatial statistics; environmental conservation; field and laboratory data collection and analysis techniques; introductory and advanced digital imaging processing of satellite remotely sensed and airborne imagery; geographic information systems (GIS); and Ph.D. and Master's level seminars in hyperspectral analysis; landscape ecology; and softcopy Photogrammetry.

I have around 200 publications in national and international refereed journals and conference proceedings, presented research findings at over 250 national and international conferences and was the invited keynote speaker at national and international conferences in Zambia and Australia. I also served on two National Research Council committees where I helped prepare publications and recommendations for the US Secretary of State and members of the US House of Representatives and the Senate. I have testified before a US Congressional Subcommittees and help write national level legislation that was passed by both the house and senate.

I am a professor in Geography at the University of Kansas, but will transfer to Kansas State University in August of 2008 where I have a joint appointment in Agronomy and Geography at Kansas State University.

On the side, I enjoy studying the religions of the world and reading about new discoveries of ancient religious writings such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi library.