CSAW REU Multidisciplinary Research Team
Students in the CSAW REU site will benefit from the expertise of distinguished faculty scholars and educators from multiple disciplines. All personnel are committed to community-based research and teaching that examines social and environmental disparities. All personnel have multiple years of direct experience supervising undergraduates in research and teaching. The PI and Co-PI are well trained in multiple subfields, frameworks and methodologies and are committed to community-based geographic inquiry, including the training of undergraduates in such inquiry.
CSAW REU Principal Investigators
Dr. Timothy L. Hawthorne, Principal Investigator (PhD in Geography, The Ohio State University): The PI is trained in human and urban geography, community geography and GIS, PGIS, mixed methods, community-university partnerships, geographic education, and service learning. As a young scholar, he has published most extensively on community-university partnerships using PGIS and service learning to address social and environmental disparities in urban communities (see Hawthorne et al., 2006, 2008; Hawthorne, 2011; Hawthorne & Kwan, 2011, Hawthorne, forthcoming; Case & Hawthorne, 2013). He has successfully led undergraduates in community-based research as lead developer and full instructor of Geography 580S: Serving the Community with Cartography and GIS at The Ohio State University (OSU Geography’s first service learning course) and in GIS/cartography courses at Columbus State University and Georgia State University. In 2010, he won the Association of American Geographers Applied Geography Specialty Group’s national award for his work with undergraduates in his cartography and GIS service learning course in Columbus, Ohio. Email the PI at thawthorne@gsu.edu.
Dr. Katherine B. Hankins, Co-Principal Investigator (PhD in Geography, University of Georgia): The Co-PI is an urban geographer trained in qualitative methods, whose expertise is in urban politics, neighborhood activism and community development. Her work has been published in Urban Studies, the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Antipode, Urban Geography, and Social and Cultural Geography (forthcoming), among others. She is currently Co-PI on a National Institutes of Health research grant, examining the health outcomes of relocated public housing residents in Atlanta. She has been involved in Atlanta-based research projects since 2001 and has developed community contacts through years of research, teaching, and advising students. Email the Co-PI at khankins@gsu.edu.
Additional CSAW REU Faculty Mentors:
Dr. Daniel Deocampo, PhD in Geological Sciences, Rutgers University: Dan is an environmental geologist and geochemist who studies natural and urban landscapes around the world, including East Africa, Italy, California, and Georgia. He brings cutting edge analytical approaches to the study of how water, minerals, and organisms (including humans) interact. Current research efforts in human landscapes include studies of the impact of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coastal salt marshes in Louisiana, and the legacy of lead pollution in urban landscapes of California and Georgia. Dan’s research has been funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund, and the Georgia Department of Transportation. His work has been published in journals such as the American Journal of Science, Clays and Clay Minerals, the Journal of Sedimentary Research, and Applied Geochemistry. He is also currently the Chair of the Limnogeology Division of the Geological Society of America, which focuses on the geology of lakes and paleolakes. Email Dan at deocampo@gsu.edu.
Dr. Leslie Edwards, PhD in Geography, University of Georgia: Leslie is a biogeographer with a particular interest in the landscape ecology of the southeastern United States. She is the lead author of the upcoming Natural Communities of Georgia, a 1,000+ page book that describes the ecological systems of Georgia, and also discusses basic ecological principles and management and conservation strategies for the ecosystems. The book has been partially funded by grants from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. She also takes a strong interest in applied geography and community outreach, working with Trees Atlanta, Sweetwater Creek State Park, and serving as president of the Georgia Botanical Society, as well as giving numerous presentations and teaching workshops state-wide relating to the ecosystems of Georgia. Email Leslie at ledwards16@gsu.edu.
Dr. Christina Fuller, ScD in Environmental Health, Harvard University: Christina is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University. Her research interests include characterization of pollution exposure, environmental epidemiology and environmental justice. Her current research is in the area of traffic-related air pollution and its effects on biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. Christina has worked as an environmental engineer in Chicago and as an advocate for environmental justice communities in New York City. She has participated in research projects that utilize a community-engaged framework to identify and characterize air pollution and other environmental exposures. Email Christina at cfuller@gsu.edu.
Mr. John Steward, MPH in Public Health, University of Michigan: John A. Steward, R.E.H.S., MPH, has been a member of the faculty of the Institute of Public Health of Georgia State University since 2006. Mr. Steward is a retired Captain in the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, having served for 30 years. Mr. Steward was assigned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for 20 years as an environmental health scientist and program manager. He participated in efforts regarding injury prevention, chronic disease prevention, toxic substances exposures in communities, health disparities, and public health administration. Prior to joining CDC, his public health experience included 10 years serving the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona with the Indian Health Service and in the area office in California as an environmental health officer and consultant. Mr. Steward was an adjunct instructor in the Commissioned Officers Training Academy of the USPHS and served as senior advisor to the Surgeon General for junior officer career development during his Public Health Service career. He was also formerly a member of the National Safe Kids Program Advisory Committee. At Georgia State, Mr. Steward manages the Partnership for Urban Health Research, a university-wide initiative to improve the health status of people in urban settings. He works with faculty to foster interdisciplinary research in the conditions of urban areas and to better understand how to prevent injury and violence, chronic diseases, alcohol and drug abuse, and infectious diseases in multiple settings. He also conducts and facilitates research in many aspects of environmental health. He also serves as the Director of the Administrative Core of the Center of Excellence for Health Disparities Research at Georgia State University, a National Institutes of Health-funded center. Mr. Steward regularly teaches graduate-level courses in public health, urban health, and environmental health. Email John at jsteward@gsu.edu.
Dr. Andy Walter, PhD in Geography (Florida State University): Andy Walter is an urban and economic geographer with training and experience in qualitative and quantitative methods, field-based research, and GIS. His expertise is on questions of social and economic justice, including poverty, hunger, homelessness, and struggles against labor exploitation. His work has been published in Urban Studies, The Professional Geographer, Human Geography, and ACME (forthcoming), among others. Andy’s current research project involves a study of Christian community development organizations and how and to what effects they change the urban landscape. Email Andy at awalter@westga.edu.
Mr. Joe Hurley, MLIS in Library Sciences, University of Pittsburgh: Joseph A. Hurley is the Data Services, Geosciences, Government Information, Maps and GIS Librarian at Georgia State University. He has an M.L.I.S. from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in History from Western Carolina University. His research interests include access to government information, urban renewal and neighborhood and built environment change. He is currently leading the Georgia State University Library digital map project Planning Atlanta: A New City in the Making, 1950s – 1980s. Email Joe at jhurley@gsu.edu.
Mr. Ray D. Maldonado, MS in Geographic Information Science, Univ. of Southern California: GSU Dept. of Geosciences Technology Manager, Ray’s work includes GIS web development, DOT safety routing analysis, data visualization, and GIS training. Research areas include data aggregation, urban planning, transportation systems, web GIS, and spatial analysis. Email Ray at rmaldonado@gsu.edu.