Jessica L'Roe
Assistant Professor of Geography
- Office
- McCardell Bicen Hall 636
- Tel
- (802) 443-5387
- jlroe@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- Spring Term: Mon. & Wed. 2pm-3pm, Fri. 11am-12pm
Middlebury College
Geography
McCardell Bicen Hall 636
Middlebury, VT 05753
Jessica L’Roe
Assistant Professor of Geography
Email: jlroe@middlebury.edu
Phone: (802) 443-5387
Office Hours: Winter Term: Tues & Thurs. 11am- 12:30pm
Office Location: McCardell Bicen Hall 636
I study human-environment relationships in forest landscapes undergoing rapid change. I focus on the intersection of conservation and development initiatives, with particular attention to land access, trends in inequality and well-being, and livelihood transitions. My field-research has been in the Amazon Basin and the highlands of East Africa, and I partner with organizations working on similar issues other parts of the world.
I attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I received a Ph.D. in Geography, an M.A. in Agricultural and Applied Economics, and a M.Sc. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development. My undergraduate degree in Environmental Science is from the University of North Carolina, where I grew up. I enjoy natural history, gardening, making things, and raising a feisty little family.
For more information, please visit my Website
Courses Taught
FYSE 1524
Nat History Across Disciplines
Course Description
Dirt Across Disciplines-Finding our Place
What can birds tell us about borders? Deer about politics? Earthworms about epistemology? In this class, we will use elements from the non-human world to explore a set of human conversations across academic traditions. We will take natural history seriously as science and metaphor, learning tree identification while discussing trees as tools in climate science and poetry, for example. We will also practice web-building, exploring conventions for communicating from a variety of disciplinary perspectives—from natural science to humanities, from scholarly questions to personal quests for meaning. Be ready to venture outside. May include 2-3 fieldtrips Friday afternoons or weekends. 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
GEOG 0139
Upcoming
Research Craft Human Geography
Course Description
Research Craft in Human Geography
Whether you are planning to do your own research or want to be a more savvy consumer of research produced by others, it is useful to develop an understanding of the process of creating, discovering, and interpreting information about the world. In this course, students will explore quantitative and qualitative methodologies and the ways they can be used in human geography research. Through examples, exercises, and readings, students will learn the types of questions different techniques are designed to answer, how they work, and how to interpret the results. Students will gain hands on experience conducting surveys, generating and interpreting qualitative data, selecting and implementing statistical analyses, and writing research reports, to build competence and critical awareness in the practice and communication of research. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. lab (formerly GEOG 0339)
Terms Taught
Requirements
GEOG 0208
Land and Livelihoods
Course Description
Land and Livelihoods - From Local to Global
How do flows of money, people, materials, and ideas connect local livelihoods to distant sites and global processes? How do geographers study patterns of poverty and inequality at different scales? How do we define human development and wellbeing, how do we determine who participates, and why does it matter? In this course we will draw from perspectives in fields ranging from development geography and political ecology to post-colonial studies to examine livelihood dynamics in the Global South. We will use texts, interviews, writing assignments, problem sets, and mapping exercises to explore relationships between economy, identity, and place in an increasingly connected world. 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
Requirements
GEOG 0225
Upcoming
Environ Change Latin America
Course Description
Environmental Change in Latin America
This course examines Latin America from a geographical perspective with emphasis on the social, political and ecological underpinnings of change in the region. Building upon the theme of global environmental change in the context of human-environment geography, we will explore urgent challenges linked to the agricultural and extractive industries, urban expansion, land grabs, land reform, indigenous rights, and rural and urban poverty. 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
Requirements
GEOG 0339
Practicing Human Geography
Course Description
Practicing Human Geography
Whether you are planning to do your own research or want to be a more savvy consumer of research produced by others, it is useful to develop an understanding of the process of creating, discovering, and interpreting information about the world. In this course, students will explore quantitative and qualitative methodologies and the ways they can be used in human geography research. Through examples, exercises, and readings, students will learn the types of questions different techniques are designed to answer, how they work, and how to interpret the results. Students will gain hands on experience conducting surveys, generating and interpreting qualitative data, selecting and implementing statistical analyses, and writing research reports, to build competence and critical awareness in the practice and communication of research. (At least one course in geography, AP human geography credit, or instructor approval) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. lab
Terms Taught
Requirements
GEOG 0406
Sem in Human-Environment Geog
Course Description
Seminar in Human-Environment Geography: Landscapes in Transition
What will Vermont look like in 100 years? What about the Brazilian Amazon, the Albertine Rift, or your home town? In this seminar, we will explore the ways that processes of change discussed in our thematic Geography classes like urbanization, climate change, gentrification, commoditization, 'globalization', and more may interact and play out in the future. We will discuss studies of historic and ongoing landscape transitions and conduct our own studies of student-selected places, focusing both on the changes most likely to occur given existing trajectories, and attempting to imagine and articulate what changes would be desirable. (Open to senior majors only; others by waiver) 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
GEOG 0500
Upcoming
Independent Study
Course Description
Independent Study
A one-credit intensive research project developed under the direction of a faculty member. Junior majors only. (Approval Required)
Terms Taught
GEOG 0700
Upcoming
Senior Research
Course Description
Senior Research
A one-credit intensive research project developed under the direction of a faculty member. Senior majors only. (Approval Required)
Terms Taught
GEOG 0701
Upcoming
Senior Thesis
Course Description
Senior Thesis
Students with a departmental GPA of 3.3 or higher are eligible to complete a two-credit senior thesis. In order to complete a senior thesis, students must have a proposal approved by a primary thesis advisor and a secondary departmental reader prior to registering for the first 0701 credit. Upon completion of the thesis, thesis students will present their work in a public seminar and defend the thesis in front of the departmental faculty. Thesis presentations and defenses will typically take place during the final week of classes or the examination period. Upon completion of the presentation and defense, the primary advisor and secondary departmental reader will be responsible for evaluating and grading the thesis. It is strongly encouraged that students considering a thesis discuss their ideas with an advisor during the semester prior to registering for formal thesis credits. (Approval only)
Terms Taught