Welcome to the secret world of UCSB Geography! We all know that Prof. Dan Montello is a great chef, that Prof. Stuart Sweeney is a surfer, and that Prof. Reg Golledge is an avid fisherman. You probably knew that Prof. Dar Roberts is into snakes, that Prof. Martin Raubal is a ski fanatic, and that Prof. Phaedon Kyriakidis is a keen musician. And you might have guessed that Prof. Tommy Dickey breeds Pyrenean Mountain Dogs, that staffer Christian Brown works part time for UPS, and that grad student Park Williams is a weight lifter.
But did you know that:
- Research Staff Assistant Karen Doehner has an MA in Archeology, did artifact analysis in Peru for 17 years, and was the editorial assistant and designer for the The SAA Archaeological Record (then SAA Bulletin)
- Prof. Reg Golledge has a pair of pet cockatiels
- Prof. Mike Goodchild is fond of mega-jigsaw puzzles (and other spatial challenges!)
- Grad student (and motorcycling grandpa) Karl Grossner has a dormant web design business called “Clear | Edge Design”
- Grad student Laura Harrison’s use of GIS to identify hidden Chinese nuclear facilities made the front page of The Washington Times in 2006.
- Assistant Researcher Greg Husak was a member of a world championship Ultimate Frisbee team
- Prof. Jennifer King used to catch frogs and toads with her grandmother: “That’s how I became interested in biology”
- Prof. Hugo Loaiciga was the Santa Barbara Water Commissioner for 6 years
- Executive Officer Mo Lovegreen is into gravestone and brass rubbing
- Campus Sustainability Coordinator Katie Maynard keeps pet rats
- Prof. Joel Michaelsen worked his way up from selling popcorn to becoming manager of the drive-in movie theater on Hollister in Goleta before it closed in the mid 1970s
- Staff editor Bill Norrington has a leather sculpture business called “Candles in the Rain” (go figure)
- Personnel Analyst Connie Padilla makes the best salsa this side of the Rio Grande
- Our Geospatial Technical Specialist/dude Dylan Parenti can cook a darn good pizza from scratch
- Grad student Seth Peterson collects Inuit art
- Grad student Tom Pingel is an accomplished amateur fencer (the épée type!)
- Information Systems Manager Mark Probert is fascinated by the life and politics of Robert Oppenheimer
- Grad student Ed Pultar is a semi-professional juggler
- Computer Network Technologist Gwen Raubal was an undecadactyl (you’ll have to ask Gwen!) at birth and probably would have been burned as a witch in earlier times
- Prof. Martin Raubal is taking lessons for his private plane pilot’s license
- Staffer Jose Saleta was a potter in a previous life
- Prof. Stuart Sweeney is an amateur finish carpenter
- MSO Beilei Zhang is a gourmet chef, a good choral singer, and a fabulous water colorist
The list goes on. Yes, UCSB Geography is multidisciplinary, and its personnel are multi-talented. No, you don’t have to take Dan Montello’s favorite apron slogan, “Kiss Me, I’m a Geographer!” too seriously. But, maybe, we should all take a fresh look at one another and congratulate ourselves for being such a cohesive, albeit diverse, team. As they say, “a family that plays together stays together.” It’s all about synergy.
Article by Bill Norrington
