Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences - Faculty Research

Dr. KATIE ALGEO  is a cultural geographer who joined the faculty of Western Kentucky University in the fall of 2001 to teach a variety of human geography and GIS classes. Her research interests include tourism, rural development, agricultural geography (particularly recent change in the Burley Tobacco Belt), interfaces between folk and popular culture, the role that media places in the representation and formation of cultural identities, and Appalachian development. Her current project explores the historical geography of tourism to Mammoth Cave and looks both at economic development accompanying tourism and ways in which Mammoth Cave was "symbolically constructed" to appeal to tourists. She received her Ph.D. in 1998 from Louisiana State University, where her dissertation focused on the historical development and political economy of tobacco farming in western North Carolina. She is treasurer of the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers (SEDAAG), and her work has appeared in Journal of Geography, Southern Cultures, Southeastern Geographer, and Names. Before coming to WKU, Dr. Algeo taught at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where she enjoyed leading field trips to explore aspects of Wisconsin culture such as vernacular shrines and grottos, polka masses, concrete art, dairy barns, and ginseng farms. For more information about her teaching and research interests, contact Dr. Algeo via email at katie.algeo@wku.edu.

Dr. MARGARET CROWDER  is a geologist focused on geoscience education and the advancement of women in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She has an M.ST. in Geology from the University of Florida and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Western Kentucky University. Her specific research interests from a pedagogical perspective are in the classroom incorporation of student-centered, problem-based learning for enhanced student engagement and understanding. She is currently working to develop more hands-on, inquiry focused laboratory experiences for introductory geology students. From an educational leadership perspective, Dr. Crowder is also interested in gendered organizations and the effects that gendering has on women in STEM disciplines and on women in the wider world of academia. In her dissertation The University as a Gendered Organization: Effects on Management Type, Climate, and Job Satisfaction, she studied faculty job satisfaction and perceptions of organizational management type and climate, particularly focusing on the differences in these areas between genders and among college disciplines. For more information about her teaching and research interests, please contact Dr. Crowder at margaret.crowder@wku.edu or at (270) 745-5973.

SCOTT DOBLER has enjoyed over a decade in the department and is a synoptic climatologist as well as a GIS Professional (GISP). Prior to coming to WKU, Scott was employed in the private sector as a GIS specialist and education consultant, as well as serving in the Kentucky National Guard as an E-7. He has broad teaching and research interests in the fields of meteorology, climatology, human-environment interaction, demography, folklore, K-12 education, and economics. Scott is actively pursuing research topics that address various economic development problems in Kentucky. One factor has been the impact of legal and illegal migrants on Kentucky farming communities. For more information about his teaching and research interests contact Scott at scott.dobler@wku.edu. He would especially like to hear from Kentucky K-12 teachers interested in geoscience pedagogy development.

Dr. JOSH DURKEE joined the Department in Fall 2008 after completing his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. His primary research interests include assessing the role of mesoscale convective complexes (MCCs) in precipitation variability in North and South America. He is particularly interested in using space-borne instruments, such as the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, for estimating rainfall. He is also interested in understanding how changes in land cover may alter the physical and rainfall characteristics of MCCs. Josh has also published research pertaining to severe wind storms that are not associated with thunderstorms. He is particularly interested in developing dynamic models that help determine the various origins of these non-convective wind events (NCWEs), and coupling these models with remote sensing data in order to improve the forecast for these potentially dangerous wind storms. Josh has also conducted education-based research with the aim of improving teaching and learning of science and mathematics in introductory weather and climate laboratories and developing modern educational student assessment tools. He directs the CHAOS lab in EST, engaging students in observational and analytical meteorology. For more information about these or other of his research projects, as well as opportunities for research collaboration, feel free to contact Dr. Durkee at joshua.durkee@wku.edu.

Dr. XINGANG FAN joined the Department in August 2009. He is an atmospheric scientist with interests in weather and climate modeling and prediction, as well as in multidisciplinary areas such as the interactions between weather-climate and soil temperature and moisture, land use and vegetation, geothermal heat flow, and karst landscapes. His long-term interests concern the impact of land surfaces on weather and climate, particularly soil temperature and moisture. In the mesoscale modeling area, he has conducted research on satellite data assimilation in an attempt to improve cloud modeling, surface wind modeling and, ultimately, to improve the accuracy of weather prediction. In climate studies, he has conducted studies and published in climate predictability, climate downscaling and applications, regional climate change and afforestation/reforestation, seasonal to annual climate prediction, as well as climate modeling. Raw data analysis and diagnostic studies applying statistical methods are also components of his studies. Dr. Fan has broad interests in weather, climate, and environmental sciences. You can contact him via email at xingang.fan@wku.edu for more information about his research and projects, as well as for opportunities in collaborative research.

Dr. STUART FOSTER  is a geographer with technical interests in data visualization and analysis, including the development and application of varying-parameter models and other tools for exploratory spatial data analysis. His topical interests are centered on climatology. He received a Ph.D. in Geography from The Ohio State University. He serves as the State Climatologist for Kentucky and is Director of the Kentucky Climate Center. He is a member of the Kentucky Drought Mitigation and Response Team and serves as co-chair of the Climate and Water Resources Data Team. Dr. Foster is also Director of the Kentucky Mesonet, a research-grade network of automated weather and climate monitoring stations that serves the Commonwealth. Dr. Foster serves as the 2012-2013 President of the American Association of State Climatologists. For more information about his research interests, the Kentucky Climate Center, or the Kentucky Mesonet, contact Dr. Foster at stuart.foster@wku.edu.

Dr. NAHID GANI  is a an associate professor of Geological Sciences specialized in tectonics, geomorphology, and strtuctural geology. Her overarching research goal is to explore the complex interplay among tectonics, climate, and exhumation/unroofing to address the grand challenges of how earth-systems feedback plays a critical role in surface processes, topography, landscape evolution and deformation. Her research also investigates the link between tectonics, and geologic and anthropocene environments. She routinely integrates low-temperature apatite (U-Th)/He and Fission-track thermochronology, zircon geochronology, quantitative geomorphology, tectonics and structural analysis and modeling, thin-section petrography, field studies, GIS, and remote-sensing-based tectonic geomorphology to gain a more robust understanding of her research challenges. Dr. Gani is conducting her research in both international and regional areas, including the Ethiopian Plateau in East Africa, Colorado Plateau, Himalayas, the Bengal Basin, Kentucky karst region including Rough Creek Graben, Mammoth Cave, and Pine Mountain Thrust in southeastern U.S. Dr. Gani directs the LeGo (Landscape Geodynamics) Lab, where she actively involves and trains graduate and undergraduate students in every aspect of her research to work with the cutting-edge analytical and modeling facilities. The international nature of her current research allows students to travel to Ethiopia and Nepal, gain international research experiences, and cultivate inter-cultural relationship. For more information on her current research projects, including Master's and undergraduate research opportunities and possible research collaboration, visit Dr. Gani’s website or email her at nahid.gani@wku.edu or at 270-745-2813.

Dr. ROYHAN GANI  is an Associate Professor of Geological Sciences. He is the director of the StrataMax Lab (Stratigraphy Maximum). He has research interests in sedimentary geology, including sequence & seismic stratigraphy, river deltas, reservoir analogs, integration of subsurface data (well logs, 2D/3D seismic and cores), basin analysis, tectonic sedimentology, and the sedimentology of Mars. His interests also include geology and human evolution, including tectonics, climate, and hominin evolution of East Africa; and paleoclimate, including compound specific isotopic study of lipid biomarkers, GDGT paleotemperature, and paleoaltimetry. He runs the AAPG-IBA (Imperial Barrel Award) competition at WKU. Visit Dr. Royhan Gani's website and contact him at royhan.gani@wku.edu or at 270-745-5977.

Dr. GREG GOODRICH  joined the faculty in 2005 after completing his Ph.D. from Arizona State University. His research focuses on how multi-decadal climate teleconnections such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) influence precipitation patterns associated with interannual teleconnections such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). He is especially interested in the impact of drought and precipitation patterns on agriculture. Dr. Goodrich is also interested in climate regionalization and has developed seasonal drought models based on a number of climatic variables. Dr. Goodrich has published his research in a number of peer-reviewed Journals, including Climate Research, Bulletin of the American Meteorology Society, and Weather and Forecasting. For more information about his research topics and agenda, contact Dr. Goodrich at gregory.goodrich@wku.edu.

Dr. MARGARET "PEGGY" GRIPSHOVER  is a Professor of Geography in the Department at WKU and currently serves as the Associate Department Chair. She is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and joined the Department of Geography and Geology faculty in August, 2009. Prior to arriving in Bowling Green, she was a member of the faculty at Marshall University and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Gripshover is the recipient of several prestigious teaching awards including the “University of Tennessee Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching,” the “University of Tennessee National Alumni Association Outstanding Teaching Award,” and the “Southeastern Division of the American Association of Geographers Excellence in Teaching Award.” At WKU, Dr. Gripshover’s teaching responsibilities include undergraduate and graduate courses in Honors World Regional Geography, Cultural Geography, Economic Geography, Urban Geography, Geography of Kentucky, and the Geography of Potent Potables. Her research is centered on the interplay between cultural, historical, and economic geography in the U.S. South (especially Kentucky), and the Midwest. She earned her Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Tennessee, where she wrote her dissertation on the development and diffusion of the Tennessee Walking Horse. She has continued her interests in equine geographies with research on specialized horse and mule breeding and the Thoroughbred racing industry. In addition to her equine geographies, Dr. Gripshover’s specialties also include sports geography—more specifically, baseball. She is also engaged in research on the spatial and temporal importance of patents and innovation as well as the ever-changing and dynamic craft brewing industry.
       Dr. Gripshover has spent much of her life involved with horses—both on the ground and in the saddle. She has taken her lifelong love of horses and translated it into a career-long research agenda. She has presented and published works on the geographies of Walking Horses, Thoroughbreds, Saddlebreds, and mules. In 2014, she published, “Born to Run: Kentucky Derby Winners’ Foaling Locations in Kentucky: 1875-2013,” in Focus on Geography, in which she identified specific locations in Kentucky where Derby winners were born and mapped her findings. Prior to her research, no one had documented the winners’ foaling sites, nor had anyone linked the pattern of foaling to geographic and historical conditions. Dr. Gripshover continues to do research on equine geographies and is currently preparing a book-length manuscript on the Kentucky Derby. Sports geography is another area of research for Dr. Gripshover. She is currently writing a book on the life and times of Charles H. Weeghman--the man who built what is known today as Wrigley Field, home to the Chicago Cubs. Dr. Gripshover’s book examines the roles that “Lucky” Charlie Weeghman had in shaping the cultural and economic landscape of the north side of Chicago. Prior to her book project, Dr. Gripshover’s research on “Wrigleyville,” the neighborhood surrounding Wrigley Field, appeared as a book chapter in Northsiders (Wood, G.R., Hazucha, A. (eds.), McFarland Press, 2008). Dr. Gripshover is also interested in African Americans’ contributions to baseball culture and, in 2017, contributed a chapter to the book Bittersweet Goodbye: The Black Barons, Grays, and the 1948 Negro League World Series (Nowlin, B., Bush, R. (eds.), Society for American Baseball Research). She also has a chapter in the forthcoming The 1946 Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues (Nowlin, B., Bush, R. (eds.), Society for American Baseball Research). Dr. Gripshover has also published peer-reviewed articles on the effects of culture and spring training weather during baseball’s “Deadball Era” in the Baseball Research Journal.
      Other areas of geographic inquiry for Dr. Gripshover are the influences of people and place on landscapes and innovation. She, along with husband and fellow geographer, Dr. Thomas L. Bell, have published research on environmental perception, suicide rates, and media influences after the “Great Chicago Fire” (2006 Bulletin of the Illinois Geographical Society). In 2012, Dr. Gripshover and Dr. Bell published a journal article, “Patently Good Ideas: Innovations and Inventions in U.S. Onion Farming1883-1939,” in which they documented immigrants who were granted patents related to specialized onion farming (Material Culture 44(1): 1-30). Their onion patent article has been cited by researchers from Harvard University, Yale University, and the London School of Economics, as evidence of the positive economic outcomes and technological contributions made by immigrants.
In 2018, Dr. Gripshover introduced a course titled, “Potent Potables: The Geography of the Brewing, Distilling, and Winemaking.” The class is now an elective within the WKU Brewery Science certificate program. The course is an outgrowth of Dr. Gripshover’s research interests in the craft beer industry. She has presented conference papers and published research on the geography of craft beer. Dr. Gripshover, along with co-authors Dr. Neil Reid of the University of Toledo and Dr. Thomas L. Bell, professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee, contributed a chapter titled, “Craft Breweries and Adaptive Reuse in the U.S.: The Use and Reuse of Space and Language” in Handbook of The Changing World Language Map (Brunn, S., Kehrein, R. (eds.), Springer, 2019). Dr. Gripshover’s research work also includes volunteer work with the “Friends of the Blue Grass Army Depot Cemeteries” organization in Madison County, Kentucky. The group’s mission is to restore and reimagine two historic reinterment cemeteries that were necessitated by the establishment of the Blue Grass Army Depot in 1942. Dr. Gripshover support for the “Friends” group includes geographical and genealogical research, social media outreach, and fieldwork assistance, gravesite documentation, and mapping. Dr. Margaret M. Gripshover is an active member of numerous professional organizations including the American Association of Geographers (AAG), Southeastern Division of the American Association of Geographers, the Society for American Baseball Research, and the International Society for Landscape, Place, and Material Culture. She also serves as a board member for the AAG World Geography Bowl, the Kentucky Geographic Names Committee and the Kentucky Geographic Alliance. For more information about Dr. Gripshover’s teaching, research, and service interests, contact her at margaret.gripshover@wku.edu

Dr. CHRIS GROVES  is the University Distinguished Professor of Hydrogeology at Western Kentucky University, where he directs the Crawford Hydrology Lab. He received a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, and has since developed an active international research program in hydrogeology, geochemistry, and water resources, with karst fieldwork in 25 countries. He has been particularly active in the extensive karst region of rural southwest China, having now made 36 trips. In January 2017, Groves received the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, that country’s highest honor for foreign scientists, from China’s President Xi Jinping.
Groves has served as co-Leader for several karst-related United Nations scientific programs, including IGCP/SIDA598 “Environmental Change and Sustainability of Karst Systems” from 2011-2016. He also serves on the Governing Board of the International Research Center on Karst under the Auspices of UNESCO. He is an Associate Editor of the Hydrogeology Journal, and has published in the field’s leading journals, including Groundwater, Water Resources Research, Journal of Hydrology, and Geomorphology.
For many years, Groves has studied and explored of the caves and surface landscapes of Mammoth Cave National Park and International Biosphere Reserve. This has included service as an expedition leader, Member of the Board of Directors, and President of the Cave Research Foundation. For more information about research opportunities contact Dr Groves at chris.groves@wku.edu.

Dr. DAVID J. KEELING  is the Emeritus Department Head (2001-2017) and the University Distinguished Professor of Geography. In 2019 he was recognized by the Royal Geographical Society (UK) with the Alan Hay Award for contributions to transport geography. As a cultural geographer, he addresses issues of transportation, sustainable development, globalization, urban growth, and regional change, with Latin America and Europe his primary areas of research. His recent research projects include an analysis Iceland's transport environment, an analysis of Argentina's airline networks, a review of Argentine territorial identity, a critique of Argentina's claims on the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), an analysis of Comuna 13 in Medellín, Colombia , an evaluation of research on Latin American transport issues, a three-year-long decadal assessment of research on transportation issues published in Progress in Human Geography, globalization's impact on Latin American societies (published in the Journal of Latin American Geography, transportation challenges for Latin America [published in 2008 in the Journal of Latin American Geography), landscape changes in World Cities, and the cultural geography of Rock and Roll music. He recently completed updated chapters on Transportation and the Southern Cone for the 7th edition of Latin America and the Caribbean (Blouet and Blouet (2015): Wiley). Dr Keeling served on the Board of Councilors for the American Geographical Society until 2014 as the Society's Assistant Treasurer. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Transport Geography. In his role as a Fellow of the AGS, he contributed Op Ed pieces on issues of geopolitical or economic change, observations on current geopolitical issues, and he continues to lecture around the world representing the AGS and WKU on educational geography expeditions. Dr. Keeling also has led multiple departmental study abroad programs to various corners of the globe, with past programs visiting Chile (2005), Australia (2002), Turkey, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Mexico, England, Belgium, Egypt, and France, with recent KIIS programs in Argentina or Chile (2010, 2011, 2015). Both undergraduates and graduates are encouraged to participate in research projects underway in the Department, including those available through the Center for Human Geo-Environmental Change and through the Kentucky MesoNet initiative. Dr. Keeling previously directed a research project in Colombia with the support of the American Geographical Society's Bowman Expeditions. More detailed information about his research publications and course offerings can be found at his Website. For more information about his research topics and agenda, contact Dr. Keeling at david.keeling@wku.edu

Dr. MICHAEL MAY  is a sedimentary geologist with expertise in subsurface and outcrop mapping in carbonates and siliciclastics and in sedimentologic aspects of environmental geology. He received his Ph.D. in 1992 from Indiana University, where he worked on a tectonostratigraphic reconstruction of pre-Laramide basins and their associated Jurassic and Cretaceous fluvial sediments in Wyoming. Earlier graduate work at The University of Kansas afforded him research opportunities on western Pacific atoll islands investigating modern carbonate sedimentology and diagenesis. Dr. May also has experience from two major oil companies in both West Texas and the Gulf Coast and from two environmental consulting companies in the Midwest. He routinely incorporates his past employment experience into his undergraduate and graduate curriculum offerings as case studies or class projects. His wife, Beth, presently works as a geologist for an environmental consulting firm and she also provides information for his case studies, keeping him with a fresh supply of exercises! He has recently published papers dealing with the use of X-ray fluorescence technology at mining waste sites in Mississippi Valley Type ores and on hydrogeologic complexities in Ordovician rocks at a military installation in Kentucky. He also recently co-authored a paper on diagenetic mineralogy, geochemistry, and dynamics of Mesozoic arkoses in the Hartford Rift Basin in Connecticut. His current research effort includes undergraduate and graduate student-assisted outcrop and subsurface investigation of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rocks in south central and western Kentucky associated with the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian Unconformity. The goal of the current research is to incorporate geophysical well log, petrography and outcrop data to map out the unconformity and ultimately define in detail the tectonostratigraphic framework for basal Pennsylvanian channel sequences. He recently was successful in getting an EPA environmental geophysics short course directed to WKU. Any professional or student is invited to attend this summer short course (usually run in late June). The course provides good hands-on experience in the use of electromagnetic, resistivity, ground penetrating radar, seismic, and magnetic methods to map subsurface geologic features. Dr. May is also involved with co-teaching science to pre-service teachers through a NASA-funded course (NOVA -NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics) and co-teaching environmental regulations and technical issues as an adjunct faculty member for the University of North Carolina. Through his short-course and other nontraditional teaching opportunities and participation in seminars he has traveled to coastal Virginia, Florida and, China. For more information about his teaching and research interests contact Dr. May at michael.may@wku.edu.

Dr. LESLIE NORTH earned her doctorate in Geography and Environmental Science and Policy from the University of South Florida in Tampa. Since she was first exposed to karst science as an undergraduate student, Leslie has focused her collegiate and research activities to understanding and protecting these fragile terrains. During her master’s thesis research, which focused on evaluating anthropogenic karst disturbances, Leslie reached the startling conclusion that both the general public and policymakers have a very limited understanding of karst terrains, resulting in widespread misuse of these landscapes. As a result, for her dissertation Dr North conducted the first holistic study of karst-related educational programs implemented in the United States and abroad, and the tools, techniques, and feasibility of educating the general public at karst attractions, particularly show-cave facilities. Through a large body of data collected from over 100 show caves worldwide, she was able to illustrate the existence of multiple missed opportunities and misconceptions about educational pursuits in informal learning environments that are ultimately hindering the pursuit of appropriate geologic education and encouraging erroneous measures of program success. For more information about his teaching and research interests contact Dr. North at leslie.north@wku.edu.

Dr. JASON POLK  is an Associate Professor of Geoscience and and Director of the Center for Human GeoEnvironmental Studies (CHNGES) and the HydroAnalytical Lab . Dr. Polk's current research investigates climate change, water resources and sustainability, isotope hydrology and geochemistry, karst resource management, and global climate dynamics. He conducts research in various places all over the world, including the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, South America, and Iceland with expertise karst geoscience, paleoclimate reconstruction, climate teleconnection dynamics, multi-proxy climate record analytics, hydrologic monitoring, water quality and quantity assessment, and isotope geochemistry. Dr. Polk aims to engage students in applied research that addresses both global and local geoenvironmental challenges related to water resources, climate change, and cave and karst processes. Please contact him at jason.polk@wku.edu or 270.745.5015 or visit www.wkuchnges.com for more information.

Dr. FRED SIEWERS  is Chair of the Department (2017 -  ) and a sedimentary geologist, with expertise in carbonate sedimentology, stratigraphy and invertebrate paleontology. He received his Ph.D. in 1995 from the University of Illinois, where he worked on the origin and stratigraphic significance of discontinuity surfaces (hardgrounds and paleokarst surfaces) in Middle Ordovician limestones of Nevada. He has a wide range of interests in geoscience research, including instructional technology. In 1997 while teaching at Rock Valley College, Rockford, Illinois, he founded and co-administered the Rock Valley EdNet, an educational intranet and on-line learning community. Since joining the Department of Geography and Geology in 1998, Dr. Siewers has worked on the origin of "coal-ball" concretions in Pennsylvanian coal seams and the preservation of plant remains in those concretions. Dr. Siewers enjoys working with students and colleagues on research projects and is always looking for new students and colleagues with whom to collaborate. He has extensive experience in field geology as well as with a variety of laboratory techniques, including sedimentary petrography, cathodoluminscence microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and geochemical microanalysis. He is actively involved in geoscience education, both regionally and nationally, and enjoys maintaining a "web-log" of noteworthy happenings in geology. He is an associate of the WKU Center for Biodiversity Studies and is the secretary and treasurer of the WKU Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society. Additionally, he has served as the secretary of the Geology Section of the Kentucky Academy of Science. Feel free to contact Dr. Siewers via e-mail or phone (270-745-5988).

Dr. ANDREW H. WULFF's recent research interests include the petrogenetic history of volcanic rocks in the Chilean Andes and Mojave Desert, the health effects of residential radon and airborne particulate quartz dust, and connections to anthropology/archeology such as the sourcing of chert artifacts using trace element signatures, and the modeling paleoenvironments associated with early hominid finds in Java. These research interests involve quantitative analysis of a wide variety of geological materials using XRF, XRD, ICP-MS, SEM and electron microprobe, and he is pleased to have both undergraduate and graduate students as colleagues in all aspects of these investigations. Dr. Wulff also has a strong interest in developing innovative teaching strategies for all levels and is active in contributing to the earth science curricula in the local school district. Andrew is the 2013 winner of the WKU and Ogden Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching. He is active in training and leading workshops for pre- and in-service earth science teachers. Dr. Wulff serves as advisor for undergraduate Honors students and for undergraduate research projects. Students are expected to become proficient in analytical techniques, write grants, abstracts, and papers - and present research results at professional meetings. Students on these projects have so far received 34 grants from different sources. Contact Dr. Wulff at 270-745-5976; or email at: andrew.wulff@wku.edu

Dr. JUN YAN joined the WKU faculty in 2004. He has a Ph.D. in GIScience from the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB), an M.S. in GIS and Remote Sensing from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a B.S. in Urban & Regional Planning from Peking University, China. Dr. Yan's professional interests range from the theoretical development of GIScience to the applications of GIS technologies and spatial quantitative methods. One of his interests is the adoption of computational methods in a geographic domain. His current research activities mainly focus on spatio-temporal data mining in large geospatial databases. Dr. Yan conducts research on the applications of GIS and other information technologies in solving a variety of real-world geographic problems. Particularly, he works in the areas related to urban and regional analysis, transportation, public health, criminology, and environmental studies. He is looking forward to working with students who are interested in pursuing geography and GIS as a professional career! For more information, contact Dr. Yan at 270-745-8952 by phone or via email at jun.yan@wku.edu