Steve is a GIScientist and biogeographer who studies forested ecosystems, with a focus on forests prior to European settlement in the Northeastern US Steve's research examines the factors that shaped past geographic distributions of tree species, as well as methodological issues surrounding this area of inquiry (e.g. spatial representations of ecological phenomena, positional uncertainty in species data). His research utilizes geospatial tools and quantitative methods, such as geographic information systems (GIS), predictive modeling, statistical computing, and programming. Steve's research also utilizes – and studies the usefulness of – unconventional or "found" data sources, such as original land survey records of the 17th to 19th centuries CE. His dissertation explored the impacts of Native American settlement upon tree species composition in Chautauqua County, New York (ca. 1800 CE). Steve's teaching interests include GIS, environmental issues, and geospatial and statistical software. Future research interests are in applying recent methods and paradigms in geographic study – such as information retrieval, text mining, and citizen science – to the pursuit of comprehending past forest conditions in the Northeast.
National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research
