Health geography; rural and remote health care accessibility; population and social change in resource-dependent communities; the spatiality of health care practice; community-based research
My research interests are in the field of health geography, focusing primarily on health and social care in rural and remote locations. I am presently involved in a number of research projects looking at the interconnections of care and place. These include: a longitudinal study of the role of networks and partnerships in bringing about local primary health care integration; the implications of place attachment for “rural” health professional education, recruitment, and retention; and, exploratory studies of the transformative capacity of community-based networks in response to health and health care challenges.   

I share my research interests with students at the undergraduate and graduate level. I offer GEOG 308 (Environments of Health and Care), which provides a foundation in the concepts and techniques of health geography. This course is cross-listed as HHSC 421 (Medical Geography), which is open to Health Sciences undergraduate students with upper-level standing. I also deliver NRES 773 (Advanced Qualitative Methodology), which provides graduate students with a foundation in the philosophical, theoretical, and practical considerations of undertaking qualitative research.