Professor, Geography, ISAT
teelws@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Education
- Ph.D. in Agroforestry, Soil Science and International Agriculture, Cornell University
- M.S. in Natural Resources, Cornell University
- MTS in Church History, Gordon-Conwell
- B.S. in Chemistry, Seattle Pacific University
Experience
- 9 years in Sudan, Kenya and Mozambique with the Mennonite Central Committee primarily working on agroforestry projects with an emphasis on small, subsistence farming systems.
- Teaching at Eastern Mennonite University focusing on environment and development in situations of conflict.
- Working with Virginia Save Our Streams on water monitoring and water quality issues.
- 12 years + on the Board of the Pure Water Forum in the Shenandoah Valley
Scholarly Interests/Research Topics
- Agroforestry – Identify and develop information on trees useful for agroforestry primarily in Kenya, but with additional experience in 5 other countries.
- Biochar – Use of charcoal as a soils amendment to improve soil fertility and sequester carbon.
- Permaculture – Ideas originally developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in Australia and have now become the most common way of improving local, small scale agriculture.
- Water – In the Shenandoah Valley this issue relates to nutrient pollution from agriculture. In Africa issues focus on availability and sanitation.
Courses Taught
- ISAT 100: Energy and Environment
- ISAT 112: Issues in Science and Technology, The Environment
- ISAT 280: Topics in Environmental Science
- ISAT 302: Instrumentation and Measurement of the Environment
- ISAT 320: Fundamentals of Environmental Science and Technology I
- ISAT 321: Fundamentals of Environmental Science and Technology II
- ISAT 390/391: Transportation
- ISAT 425: Environmental Hydrology
- ISAT 429/GEOG 429: Sustainability: An Ecological Perspective
- ISAT 473/GEOG 350: Agricultural Internships
- ISAT 480: Kenya Study Abroad
- ISAT 492/3: Senior Projects
- ISAT 567: Sustainable Agriculture
- GEOG 200: Global Dimensions
- GEOG 322: Agricultural Systems
- GEOG 335: Geography of Africa
- GSCI 163: The Matter of Matter
- ENVT 400: Capstone Seminar
College of Integrated Science and Engineering
