About Me

When asked where I am from, I like to say that I am from the West. Though I originally hail from the San Francisco Bay Area, I have divided my adult life between Colorado, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, and Oklahoma. I have traveled through every state in the region on multiple occasions, taught in public schools and universities, and attained a master's degree from Northern Arizona University and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. During most of my journeys, I have had the good fortune of being accompanied by my partner, Sacha, and one or more of our herding dogs. 

My journey toward the academic study of history began in the high school classroom while teaching Advanced Placement U.S. History. Though all of my students had passed the national exam, I was restless. The time and preparation involved in teaching the class awakened a desire to learn more. So, I took an undergraduate seminar with nineteenth-century historian Charles Postel, then at Sacramento State. As we read and discussed seminal environmental and western histories by William Cronon (Changes in  the Land) and Patty Limerick (Legacy of Conquest). These books, among others, molded my interests and so, with Sacha’s support the two of us and our dogs moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, where I completed an M.A. in 2007.  Working with western historian Michael Amundson, I wrote a thesis on how Flagstaff packaged itself in the twentieth century as a winter ‘other’ in the desert Southwest.  A conference paper based on this work was given the Valeen Avery Prize for Best Graduate Paper at the 2007 Arizona History Conference. It was later published in article form in the Journal of Arizona History in 2011 (please see ‘selected articles and publications’ under the research tab). 

Despite success, I never sought an academic career. The pursuit of understanding for personal enrichment and as a vehicle to enhance my teaching were always paramount goals. So, we moved to Bend, Oregon, where I taught Global Studies, Geography, U.S. History, and courses designed for English language learners while reprising my role as a high school soccer coach. In spite of personal and professional success, I could not shake the pull of academia.  Consequently, with Sacha’s support once again, I returned to graduate school, this time to pursue a Ph.D. in U.S. and Environmental History with Paul Sutter at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2010.

Little did I know it at the time, but I would find a further academic passion in my backyard soil and the smells that occasionally wafted into my neighborhood from fifty miles to the north. Having purchased the only house we could afford within biking distance to the university, Sacha and I proceeded to excavate layers of rock and weed cloth—the product of years of neglect—into an agricultural space.

While swinging a pick one day I became aware of a certain pungent odor that drifted into our neighborhood from the North. It was the smell of one of the world’s largest collections of commercial cattle feedlots. The town identified with the odor, Greeley, was founded as a cooperative agricultural venture in 1870. A century later it possessed the world’s largest collection of commercial feedlots. It was a story of industrial agriculture that became my dissertation and the subject of my recent book, Cattle Beet Capital. (please see ‘book project’ under the research tab). Throughout the research and writing project, my backyard, however, occupied a central place. For, what better way is there to cultivate thoughts than to put one’s hands in the soil?  

After completing the Ph.D. in the summer of 2016, I taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and as a Lecturer of History at Utah Valley University. Since 2023, I have been an Assistant Professor of History and Director of History Education at the University of Central Oklahoma. I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in U.S. and Environmental History, the American West, Research and Writing, and Methods for Teaching History to Middle and High School Students. Sacha and I, along with our dog, Sienna, live in Edmond, Oklahoma. 

I hope you will spend a bit of time perusing my site. There are details on my book, Cattle Beet Capital, as well as summaries of several published articles and research in progress. Additionally, you will find more on the courses I teach, including teaching philosophy, and syllabi. I am also putting together reading and research resources on the West and Environmental History. These are ongoing projects, so check back from time to time. 

 Thanks for stopping by.