DurhamARCTIC

In addition to practicing education as a means of disseminating my research, I have long had an interest in the art of education and in designing effective, innovative educational initiatives. At Florida State University, I led an initiative to integrate online, student-led reseach into introductory geography teaching in a way that blended the thematic and regional teaching traditions, an initiative that ultimately resulted in one of my first published articles and, subsequently, the ‘People in Places‘ workbook series that accompanied what was then Prentice-Hall’s suite of human geography textbooks.

More recently, my work in education has complemented my focus on Arctic research. In 2017, I founded the Durham Arctic Research Centre for Training and Interdisciplinary Collaboration (DurhamARCTIC), which I continue to direct. In addition to supporting research and Durham’s involvement in the Arctic studies community, DurhamARCTIC hosts an interdisciplinary doctoral training initiative funded by a £1.05 million grant from the Leverhulme Trust, with additional funds from Durham University. Between 2018 and 2023, the programme is funding 15 PhD students. Although students receive degrees in conventional disciplines, the programme provides additional, interdisciplinary training, as well as supplementary funding for fieldwork, placements, etc. My work with DurhamARCTIC is supported by and supports Durham University’s involvement in UArctic, a global network of education institutions dedicated to research in, and for, Arctic peoples and environments. Since 2014, I have led Durham’s linkages with UArctic. In 2022, in honour of my work in Arctic education as well as my more general contribution to the study of Arctic political geography, UArctic named me UArctic Chair in Political Geography.

In addition to supporting the doctoral training programme, DurhamARCTIC is leading the Exploring Arctic Soundscapes project sponsored by Durham University’s Institute for Advanced Study.