Dr. GUY KING, Professor of Geography

TEACHING AND RESEARCH STATEMENT

My teaching goal is to communicate a geographical appreciation of the natural environment and the place of humanity within it. My classroom learning environment focuses on the geography of human-environmental interactions from two perspectives: 1) nature as the resource that sustains humanity, and 2) nature as a hazard where catastrophic events such as severe storms, floods, drought, fires, disease outbreaks, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions injure humanity.

My academic research focuses on the earth's surface landscapes which have been shaped by internal tectonic, solar-driven climatic, biological, and human processes. The topics of my published research include overland emigrant interaction with desert environments, origin of vernal pool basins in the Sacramento Valley, the paleolake history of Butte Valley in northeastern California, prehistoric channel changes of the Walker River in Nevada, and the paleolake history of the Carson Desert in Nevada. 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Professor of Geography , Department of Geography and Planning, California State University-Chico, 1988 to Present.

Department Chairperson, Department of Geography and Planning, California State University-Chico, 1998 to 2001.

Assistant Professor of Geography, Department of Geography, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1985 to 1988.

Imagery Analyst, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C., 1983 to 1985.

Cartographer/Photogrammetrist, Defense Mapping Agency, St. Louis, 1983.

Instructor, Truckee Meadows Community College, Reno, Fall-1982.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Geography, 1982, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

M.S. in Geography, 1978, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

B.S. in Geography, 1976, Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno.

PUBLICATIONS

The Hottest and Coldest Places in the Conterminous United States, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers Yearbook 69: 101-114, 2007.

Crossing the Forty Mile Desert. Overland Journal 21: 122-137, 2004.

The Forty Mile Desert Emigrant Trail: Its Natural and Human History. Camp Nevada: Reno, 2003.

Geomorphology of a Dry Valley: Adrian Pass, Lahontan Basin, Nevada. Association of Pacific Coast Geographers Yearbook 58: 89-114, 1996.

Late Quaternary Paleolakes of Butte Valley, Siskiyou County, California. The California Geographer 34: 41-56, 1994.

Late Quaternary History of the Lower Walker River and its implications for the Lahontan Paleolake System. Physical Geography 14: 81-93, 1993.

Geomorphology of Piedmont Vernal Pool Basins, California. The California Geographer 32: 19-38, 1992.

Geography and GIS Technology. The Journal of Geography 90: 66-72, 1991.

Morphological Regions of the Great Basin. Forum for the Association of Arid Lands Studies 2: 65-72, 1986.

COURSES TAUGHT AT CHICO STATE

Geography 101 Physical Geography
Geography 106 The American West
Geography 313 Introductory Cartography
Geography 319 Introductory Geographic Information Systems
Geography 352 The United States
Geography 342 Geomorphology
Geography 343 Climatology
Geography 413 Advanced Cartography
Geography 314 Aerial Photo Interpretation
Geography 417 Field Techniques in Geography
Geography 418 Remote Sensing
Geography 260 Natural Hazards
Geography 300 Advances in Geography Seminar

Geography 601 Research Methods in Geography Seminar
Geography 602 Physical Geography Seminar

Geography 605 Applied Geography Seminar
Geography 606 Special Topics Seminar

Social Science 301 Spatial Concepts

Social Science 302 Temporal Concepts