DAVID E. WIDNER Phone: (330) 685-0000 dwidner@kent.edu CURRICULUM VITAE 2621 Fairland St Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44221 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Geography EDUCATION PhD, Geography (Cognate, Biology) May 2014 Dissertation: Bridging the Gap between Traditional and Popular Culture: Developing an Environmental Education and Stream Health Monitoring Plan to Promote the Improvement of the Sugar Creek Watershed and the Preservation of Swartzentruber Amish Culture Committee: Dr. Mandy Munro Stasiuk (chair), Dr. David Kaplan, Dr. V. Kelly Turner, Dr. Darren Bade MA, Geography Dec 2010 Thesis: Old Order Amish Beliefs about Environmental Protection and the Use of Best Management Practices in the Sugar Creek Watershed Advisor: Dr.Mandy Munro-Stasiuk BS, Conservation May 2008 Minor Geography HONORS AND AWARDS Ph.D. Graduate Assistantship August 2013 December 2013 NSF EARS IGERT Fellowship August 2011 August 2013 Ph.D. Graduate Assistantship and Tuition Scholarship August 2010 May 2011 MA Graduate Assistantship and Tuition Scholarship August 2008 May 2010 NSF GK-12 Fellowship August 2008 May 2009 North America Scholar Consortium (Highest Honor)
RESEARCH INTERESTS Physical Geography Fluvial Systems, Soil and Water Conservation Biology Looking at Streams as Sentinels of Climate Change Human Geography Traditional Cultures, Participatory Action Research Ecology Riparian Ecosystems, Human Ecology PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Graduate Teaching Assistant (Ph.D.) (August 2013 Present) NSF IGERT EARS Fellow (August 2011 to August 2013) Undergraduate Mentor (Three Senior Students) (Spring 2012) Graduate Teaching Assistant (Ph.D.) (August 2010 August 2011) Graduate Teaching Assistant (Masters) (August 2008 August 2010) Beech Creek Botanical Garden Amazing Garden Project (Spring 2009 Spring 2010) Senior Pastor Brewster Baptist Church (January 1997 December 2006) COURSES TAUGHT World Geography Spring 2014 Geography of the US and Canada Fall 2013, Spring 2014 Conservation of Natural Resources (Online Course) Summer 2011 Physical Geography Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2014 Introduction to Geography Spring 2010 Remote Sensing (Lab) Spring 2009 GUEST LECTURES Forestry Spring 2011 Geography of Soils Fall 2010 World Geography Spring 2011, Fall 2013 8 th Grade Science (Biology and Earth Science) Fall 2008, Spring 2009
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS International 2011: The Complexity of Authenticity When Socially Constructed According to Gender and Multi-Cultural Concepts The Myth of 19 th Century Western United States Culture and its Memorialization on the Landscape. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4th International Conference on Hazards and Modern Heritage. (Conference Paper) Domestic 2013: Bridging the Gap between Traditional and Popular Culture: Developing an Environmental Education and Stream Health Monitoring Plan to Promote the Improvement of the Sugar Creek Watershed and the Preservation of Swartzentruber Amish Culture. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California. 2012: Bridging the Gap between Traditional and Popular Culture: Developing an Environmental Education and Stream Health Monitoring Plan to Promote the Improvement of the Sugar Creek Watershed and the Preservation of Swartzentruber Amish Culture. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, New York, New York. 2011: Old Order Amish Beliefs about Environmental Protection and the Use of Best Management Practices in the Sugar Creek Watershed. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington. PUBLICATIONS Widner, David E. 2011. The Complexity of Authenticity When Socially Constructed According to Gender and Multi-Cultural Concepts. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Hazards and Modern Heritage 4: 647-663. PROFESSIONAL TRAINING 2012-2013: EARS IGERT Lacawac Workshop Environmental Aquatic Resource Sensing and Interdisciplinary Training Workshop, Lacawac Sanctuary, PA. and Miami University, Oxford Ohio. 2012: Lacawac Ecological Observatory Workshop (LEOW) Environmental Sensor Use and Data Collection Training, Lacawac Sanctuary, PA. 2009: Annual Conference Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) Projects, Washington DC.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Association of American Geographers (2009 Present) Society for Freshwater Science (August 2012 Present) PROFESSIONAL SERVICE Symposium Session Chair Graduate Research Symposium,, 2012 COMMUNITY SERVICE Anchor Baptist Church Choir Director, Massillon, Ohio, May 2011 to June 2013 Alter Care Nursing Home Chapel Services and Visitation, Navarre, Ohio, 1994-2006 INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL EXPERIENCE Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lichtenstein, Mexico, Netherlands, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Wales. FIELD WORK 2012 2013: NSF EARS IGERT Cohort Research Collecting Water Quality Data (Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, ph, Temperature, and Turbidity) from the Tuscarawas River, Nimishillen Creek, Sandy Creek and Sugar Creek in Stark County Ohio. The field work also includes fall leaf litter and Dissolved Organic Carbon analysis to determine if streams are appropriate sentinels for climate change. 2012 2013: Dissertation Research: Using Participatory Action Research with the Swartzentruber Amish of Stark and Wayne Counties Ohio. Developing a watershed management and monitoring plan within the belief system of the Swartzentruber as a means of improving the water quality of the Sugar Creek Watershed and preserving Amish culture.
2009: Master s Thesis - Conducted interviews with Swartzentruber Bishops, Preachers, and Deacons to determine Environmental understanding and the potential for the implementation of farming best management practices. REFERENCES Mandy Munro-Stasiuk Professor and Chair Department of Geography mmunrost@kent.edu Phone: 330-672-2045 David H. Kaplan Professor Department of Geography dkaplan@kent.edu Phone: 330-672-3221 Dan Ross Associate Lecturer Departments of Geography and Biology daross@kent.edu 330-672-2045