Research Interests

I study political conflict (wars), focused on a few specific parts of the world where I have traveled and worked as a journalist and translator and where the "West" (the US, UK, Canada etc.) has a heavy footprint. In my view these wars have harmed developmental and environmental aspirations, so it's imperative to work to understand them and to imagine better. Trying to understand the origins of these wars has led me further and further back into historical research, which I integrate with studies of current geopolitics.

My scientific research background has been focused on forest fires in Ontario – their spatial and temporal patterns, increases in their numbers and area burned, balancing their role as part of the landscape with the fact that they can threaten people and things of value. Looking at causes of the increases led me to an interest in climate change, and how to manage forests in light of it. My main methods have been modeling using mathematical and computer models to study fire and, now, other ecological problems. I teach landscape ecology and geographic information systems.