Galen Murton

Short alumni updates, Spring 2021

Anonymous — Mon, 03 May 2021 22:37:02 +0000

Short alumni updates, Spring 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/03/2021 - 16:37

Michelle Stewart, Executive Director, Yampa Valley Sustainability Council

Michelle O. Stewart, Ph.D. 2014, is currently the Executive Director (ED) of Yampa Valley Sustainability Council (YVSC), based in Steamboat Springs, CO. YVSC is guided by the mission "to serve as a resource and catalyst for building a sustainable community in the Yampa Valley region." As ED, Michelle is responsible for strategic planning, financial growth and management, program development, staff management, and overall organizational function. Michelle uses her teaching, research, mentoring and grant-writing skills on a daily basis to develop programs, partnerships and education that bring sustainability-related knowledge to action at the community level. The organization's priority areas span Climate Action, Waste,

Energy and Transportation, Advocacy for Action and Community Education and Engagement. Having taught both in the classroom (she was the Pick Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Amherst College from 2013-2016) and online since 2013 (she was remote adjunct faculty in the Program of Environmental Policy and Management at University of Denver/University College as well as teaching a Geography courese for CU ��«��Ƶ Continuing Education), Michelle values the opportunity to step into practice, and the related challenges and rewards of developing programs that advance equity, impact and collaboration in the environmental realm. She regularly works with local government, businesses, nonprofit partners, and institutions to bring programs of impact to the Yampa Valley. New to YVSC in 2021 is its YVSC Internship Program, which seeks to provide young professionals with experiences, training and professional development opportunities through project-based action. Michelle is happy to talk with current graduate students who are interested in learning more about how their graduate training equips them for the nonprofit sector: michelle.stewart@yvsc.org.

Galen Murton (Ph.D. 2014), Assistant Professor, Geographic Science Program, James Madison University

It was great to see and reconnect with many CU ��«��Ƶ Geography alumni, graduate students, and faculty at the Annual Meeting of the AAG in April. Despite the very different nature of this year’s event being entirely on Zoom, I was again reminded of the vastness of the CU Geography network and the amazing work that this community does.

Indeed, one of the most valuable post-graduate experiences I’ve had – and continue to have on a pretty regular basis – is the opportunity to collaborate with friends and colleagues from Guggenheim at conferences, workshops, classrooms, and fieldsites around the world. Beyond the annual rendezvous at AAG, this includes organizing and co-chairing panels at conferences such as the Association for Asian Studies, the Annual Conference on South Asia, Dimensions of Political Ecology, and the Himalayan Studies Conference; it is always exciting and motivating to reconnect and share research interests with both students and faculty at these kinds of events. When on the road abroad (back when we could do that – and hopefully we can do so again soon), impromptu and planned meetings with fellow PhD alumni in places like Singapore, Chengdu, and Munich have provided invaluable orientations on first visits to many new places. Over the past couple of years, I’ve also been fortunate to participate in workshops with Emily Yeh and Tim Oakes not only in Colorado but also Germany, Austria, and Nepal; the conversations we’ve continued in these venues are a helpful reminder that my dissertation project did not end with a nerve-wracking defense on campus some years ago but has instead evolved into a productive relationship of collaborative thinking (but still with a healthy dose of critique, too).

Ongoing connections with CU Geography also go well beyond the confines of academic-oriented dialogue; interaction with alumni working as applied geographers in a variety of positions across both the public and private sectors is also a consistent reminder of that which we do – writing the earth and attending to much of what goes on (and below, and above) it. In my own experience, workshops and meetings at Esri in Washington, DC and data on wildfire hazards during increasingly devastating seasons reinforces the expert knowledge and exceptional resources that this community comprises – something that I am ever grateful (and impressed!) to be able to call upon. From the Political Geography Specialty Group of the AAG to leading scientists in Colorado at NOAA, NCAR, NREL, CIRES, USGS, and an alphabet soup of other research laboratories, we are everywhere!

I am happy to remain familiar with CU ��«��Ƶ Geography and hope that you are, too. Get involved, stay connected, and keep in touch! And I’ll come say hi at Guggenheim next time I’m in town as well.

Eric Lovell, ESRI

After spending 2012-2018 interpreting the delicate, sometimes convoluted intersection of Science and Technology Studies and Political Ecology, I departed academia only to find myself at the beck and call of a technoscientific giant often associated with the discipline of Geography – Esri. I am on the Nonprofits & Global Organizations team at Esri, where I support the US Agency for International Development (USAID), USAID implementing partners, and humanitarian affairs NGOs with integrating GIS into their enterprise IT systems. From advising on the latest field data collection tools to managing unstructured data (like oral narratives related to livestock mobility), I still put on my geographer’s cap to help organizations develop their spatial literacy and understandings about how GIS can be used in everyday business operations. When I am not at work, I escape to my home states of West Virginia and Pennsylvania to bike backroads and forage for ramps (wild leeks) and other Appalachian delicacies. Despite missing the camaraderie of the graduate seminar, I have come to embrace the life of a cyborg in all its glory.

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From CU Geography Grad Student to Professor

Anonymous — Thu, 04 May 2017 15:40:49 +0000

From CU Geography Grad Student to Professor Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/04/2017 - 09:40

Galen Murton

Galen packs his backpack in Langtang at the check-post of Langtang National Park in Rasuwa District (Nepal).

In August 2017, I will join the Department of Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) at James Madison University (JMU) as a tenure-track Assistant Professor with teaching responsibilities in the Geographic Science Program (https://www.jmu.edu/gs/). I was hired specifically as an instructor of human geography. My classroom training and teaching experiences at CU Geography were fundamental to achieving this professional goal. In Fall 2017 and Spring 2018, I will teach established classes and later develop new coursework based on my training at CU, including Political Geography, Critical Development Studies, Geographies of South Asia, and Infrastructure and Geopolitics. I will have the opportunity to design and direct study abroad programs at JMU to several of my research sites in Nepal and the broader Himalaya region. Because study abroad experiences were tremendously formative to my career development, I am especially excited to bring my own undergraduate students into the field on collaborative research projects in the years ahead.

In addition to my faculty position at JMU, I received a Marie S. Curie Action (MSCA) Individual Fellowship from the European Commission Horizon 2020 program to conduct independent mobility research with the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Ludwig Maximilian University Munich (LMU). I will take a leave of absence from JMU in my second year to pursue this unique opportunity as part of the ERC research group Remoteness and Connectivity: Highland Asia and the World (http://highlandasia.net/index.html). My MSCA research project at LMU Munich, Road Diplomacy: China in South Asia, builds directly upon and expands my dissertation studies at CU ��«��Ƶ and aims to generate new knowledge about where, why, and to what extent roads are being built between China and South Asia and to untangle the interrelated geopolitical and social impacts of infrastructure development at village, national, and international scales.

Galen in Mustang, sitting above the upper valley and agricultural region of Nyechung, Mustang District. The northern reaches of the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri Himalaya mountains can be seen behind him.

My new professional positions are academic extensions of graduate training at CU Geography and I intend to maintain connections with CU ��«��Ƶ in the future. No matter the locations or institutions, my applied scholarship will continue to draw on the theoretical rigor, global perspectives, and classroom orientations gained through critical training in Geography at CU ��«��Ƶ. In fact, during my hiring interview at JMU, the dean mentioned the prestigious, world-renowned stature of the CU Geography faculty. I believe this gave me a clear advantage during the hiring process. I feel incredibly fortunate to have a tenure track position at this stage of my career and am grateful to all of the CU Geography faculty and staff for the exceptional support along the way. And now I truly understand the old joke that one of the hardest parts of the CU Geography program is leaving ��«��Ƶ when you’re done!

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Galen Murton Photo Essay

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 02:51:52 +0000

Galen Murton Photo Essay Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/21/2016 - 20:51

A Himalayan Border Trilogy: The Political Economies of Transport Infrastructure and Disaster Relief between China and Nepal: This photo essay illustrates and contrasts the infrastructure and operations of three international border posts between China and Nepal. Located at Zhangmu-Kodari, Kyirong-Rasuwa, and Likse-Neychung borders, these posts function as the only motorable China-Nepal border crossings and represent half of the six official, open borders recognized by Kathmandu and Beijing.

See more at Galen Murton Photo Essay >

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Beverly Sears Grants awarded to 6 Geography Students

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 20:36:26 +0000

Beverly Sears Grants awarded to 6 Geography Students Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/10/2016 - 13:36

Beverly Sears Graduate Student Research Grants for 2016/2017 have been awarded to Brendan Buzzard, Katie Clifford, Sierra Gladfelter, Daniela Marini, Galen Murton and Kyle Rodman. These grants are competitive awards sponsored by the Graduate School that support the research, scholarship and creative work of graduate students from all departments. All funding is provided by private donations

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Galen Murton awarded a Quick Response Grant

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 02:48:22 +0000

Galen Murton awarded a Quick Response Grant Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/09/2015 - 20:48

Galen has been awarded a Quick Response Grant from the CU Natural Hazards Center to support his ongoing dissertation work on Chinese development in Nepal. The grant will specifically support Galen's current project, (Re)Building the State: Border Infrastructure, Chinese Development, and the Politics of Aid in Post-Earthquake Nepal. This funding will enable him to return to Kathmandu over the winter break to collect new and perishable data on Chinese aid and investment in post-earthquake Nepal and further examine Beijing's role in current state-building projects both in Nepal and across South Asia.

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Launch of the New Tibet Himalaya Initiative at CU

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 02:42:48 +0000

Launch of the New Tibet Himalaya Initiative at CU Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/07/2015 - 20:42

The Geography Department is excited to announce the launch of the new Tibet Himalaya Initiative at CU, an interdisciplinary hub for research, teaching, and public engagement on Tibet and the Himalayas. CU ��«��Ƶ has unique research strengths in the study of contemporary Tibet and the Himalayas with faculty expertise in Anthropology, Art History, Geography, and Religious Studies as well as a significant location in the history of the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. Many Geography faculty and students have current research projects in Tibet and the Himalayas and are active participants in the THI, including Emily Yeh, Galen Murton, Shae Frydenlund, Sierra Gladfelter, Emily Volkmar, Tashi Dorje, and Rupak Shrestha. More information can be found here: http://www.colorado.edu/tibethimalayainitiative/.

See more at Tibet Himalaya Initiative >

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Taking the Long View on Recovery in Nepal

Anonymous — Mon, 04 May 2015 01:50:32 +0000

Taking the Long View on Recovery in Nepal Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 05/03/2015 - 19:50

Galen Murton's guest commentary published in The Denver Post.

Read commentary.

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Galen Murton Awarded Fulbright-Hays Fellowship

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 16:11:31 +0000

Galen Murton Awarded Fulbright-Hays Fellowship Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/16/2014 - 10:11

The Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowship will support Galen's fieldwork in Nepal and Tibet from November 2014-July 2015. His research examines how international politics and cultural identities intersect and are mutually constituted through development. Using roads as a lens of observation, he will conduct an “ethnography of geopolitics” in Mustang and Rasuwa, Nepal that studies how international road developments in Nepal are influenced by Trans-Himalayan geopolitics and responsible for regional socio-cultural transitions. Galen uses three main bodies of literature (critical geopolitics, cultural materialism, and development studies) and mixed methodologies (qualitative, quantitative, and archival methods) to address the complex dynamics presented by road development at multiple scales. Building upon extensive previous experience in the Himalaya region, this research will advance scholarship on Trans-Himalayan trade and infrastructure development in South Asia and facilitate cross-cultural dialogue between multiple development constituents in Nepal.

See US Department of Education Fulbright-Hays for more information.

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Galen Murton wins Awards at the AAG Annual Meeting

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 03:53:15 +0000

Galen Murton wins Awards at the AAG Annual Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/17/2014 - 21:53

Galen won these awards at the 2014 Association of American Geographers annual meeting in Tampa, Florida, April 8-12, 2014

Political Geography Speciality Group: Dissertation Research Enhancement Award

Cultural and Political Ecology Speciality Group: Field Study Award

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Galen Murton Receives International Dissertation Research Fellowship

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 03:51:12 +0000

Galen Murton Receives International Dissertation Research Fellowship Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/15/2014 - 21:51

Galen is the recipient of a 2014 Mellon International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF) Program, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation the the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). Galen is among only eighty awardees, selected from a total of 1,081 submitted applications from graduate students at 131 universities. The average fellowship award will be $20,000.

The International Dissertation Research Fellowship Program supports the next generation of scholars in the humanities and humanistic social sciences pursuing research that advances knowledge about non-US cultures and societies. Since its inception in 1997, the IDRF program has funded more than nine hundred projects, with research spanning the globe. The IDRF program is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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