1.) Congratulations on becoming the new director of the State of the Rockies Project. What attracted you to this position?
The founder and former director of the Rockies Project, Walt Hecox, had approached me about four years ago. At the time, I was on sabbatical and obsessed with water in New Mexico (which hasn’t changed) and was not in the right frame of mind to take it on. But the more I mulled it over, I couldn’t help but think what a great opportunity it is to provide our students with ways that merge a summer collaborative research opportunity with some dimensions of what a regional think-tank does: connect students to outside opportunities and experts. Plus, I was simply flattered when Jill Tiefenthaler later asked me to assume the mantle.
2.) You’re a human-environment geographer and political ecologist, and hold a joint appointment in both the Environmental and the Southwest Studies programs at CC. How do these elements coalesce?
I’m in year nine, and I think in some ways I’m still figuring that out. I was extremely fortunate to have gracious, patient, and agnostic colleagues about what a geographer does, but I do think the spatial skill-sets and the broad education of a geographer provide a larger view of what interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programs can do for students—and for faculty development. As a political ecologist, I view my job as challenging the notion that Southwest Studies is simply “regional studies” and, on the other hand, that “environments” exist without preconceived political goals imposed by humans. It’s been great fun.
3.) As the new State of the Rockies director, what is your vision for the program?
First, coming onboard in the spring of 2014, my goal was to “do no harm” to what works in the Rockies. That said, we will be bolstering the academic content and links of the Rockies Project in a way that feeds back into the curriculum, such as getting the Rockies summer students into other CC classrooms to share and learn. We also will continue to provide our researchers with connections to the outside world through fieldwork, meeting experts and residents of the West, and (I hope) further professional development pathways after life at Colorado College.
4.) What is the largest challenge you face?
I think it is this: How can we increase participation without completely depending on further college monies? Imagine a theme like “Water in the West” where, say, an artist, a scientist, and a sociologist collaborate with their own groups of students. This could further both faculty development and provide for a larger circle of opportunity for students. The possibilities for collaborating with foundations, public and private, are exciting.
5.) Why is the State of the Rockies Project important?
The Rockies project has succeeded in producing dozens of focused graduates who are now dedicated to conservation, natural resource, and sustainable development questions throughout the country. We also offer a different kind of summer research focus, one that balances on-campus work that focuses on expert literature on state-of-the-art conservation problems with on-the-ground interviews with experts and Westerners affected by natural resource challenges. It certainly has given the college greater visibility at the regional and occasionally national level, too. The Rockies Project does what we already do well here at CC: It focuses on undergraduate research development and long-term outcomes.
6.) How does the State of the Rockies Project align with your research interests?
Remarkably well, and it took a few years to realize this. Right now, I am haunted by water issues in New Mexico and the western United States in general, and it is both daunting and exciting to think of ways the project can connect to this general concern about water shortages, drought, and climate change in our region. I hope to grow into the position over the next year or two, as we may turn our attention to these water challenges.
7.) Tell us more about your interest in water issues.
Since arriving at CC in 2005, I have become enthralled by New Mexico’s approach to water rights, resources, and management. My current book project, “Unruly Waters,” focuses on how the shift in water resources in that state has much to say about how we will all cope as Westerners, as humans, with water demands and increased scarcity. Most of the work in New Mexico is based on a spatial ethnographic approach; it pays attention to place and space, but also to what people think about how the state is handling water resources. At this point, I’ve spoken to more than 240 people about the issues, and simply cannot wait to put it into clear prose.
8.) Tell us a little about your background.
I am a public liberal arts college product, from Mary Washington College (’92), and all my degrees have been in geography but with later focus on biophysical aspects of geography. It’s odd; I was in Virginia with no family connections to the Southwest or even previous exposure to the Southwest. Yet, for some reason, I read a few pieces about Latino cultural diversity in New Mexico in my junior and senior years, and I was hooked. Only later did I visit that state and get truly hooked on the intersection of land, water, and human livelihoods. What sealed it was my Masters at Louisiana State University on Zuni Pueblo and their efforts to revitalize traditional agriculture. Moving to Colorado simply makes it easier, now, to do my work in the Southwest.
9.) What do you do in your personal time?
I will reluctantly admit that I hack at a guitar and occasionally croon to myself, poorly. My wife and I like to get outdoors whenever we can, for hiking or snowshoeing. I also have an interest in oenology, viticulture, and “all things wine,” since it brings together all my interests. Plus in some way, vineyard landscapes make me a little nostalgic about the French side of my upbringing, as we continue to visit my father’s side of the family in the eastern Pyrenees when we can.
10.) Wild card: What is something people don’t know about you?
OK, maybe that I can dance decently? Not ballroom dancing, mind you, but I’m not averse to looking like a fool on the dance floor.
