Lab Personnel

  The lab is supervised by a full-time Laboratory Operations Manager. She supervises the day-to-day operation of the lab, and also provides on the spot technical support and consulting for laboratory users. In addition to the laboratory manager, there are also several laboratory proctors and research assistants working in the lab at any given time. At present, there are four full-time or part-time faculty who use the laboratory on a regular basis, using it either to teach courses or parts of courses.

Vinton Valentine

Director of USM GIS

Telephone: (207) 228-8455

Email: vvalentine@usm.maine.edu

Biography:

Vinton Valentine (Ph.D. University of Delaware) is the most recent addition to the USM GIS Staff.  One of his current research interests is wetland vegetation classification using remotely sensed data.  In his dissertation, he used remote sensing and GIS to investigate the displacement and spatial structure of the scrub-shrub/emergent wetland ecotone along tidal rivers in response to sea-level change and other human impacts. Most recently, he was working for The Ecosystem Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts where he analyzed creek network patterns to develop indicators of condition and stability for tidal marshes facing sea-level rise and other stressors. 

Michele Tranes

GIS Lab Manager

Telephone: (207) 780-5063

Email: mtranes@usm.maine.edu

Biography:

Michele Tranes has a background in Natural Resources, GIS, and GPS.  She attended the University of Connecticut, earning a B.S. in Natural Resources and an M.S. in Earth Resource Information Systems.  In her thesis, she compared the use of Real Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS,  static GPS, and traditional differential leveling for measuring orthometric height.  After graduating, she worked for the Island Institute as the Peaks Island Fellow.  She also worked for the mapping company DeLorme before joining the University of Southern Maine.

Matthew Bampton

Associate Professor of Geography

Telephone: (207) 780-5184

Email: bampton@usm.maine.edu

Biography:

Matthew Bampton (Ph.D., Clark University) has been teaching at USM since 1992. He teaches Physical Geography, GIS, Social Transformation of Nature, Regional Geography of Western Europe, Physical Geography of Urban Environments and a Summer Field School. His primary research interest is long-term human modification of environmental process.

Firooza Pavri

Assistant Professor of Geography

Telephone: (207) 780-5941

Email: fpavri@usm.maine.edu

Biography:

Firooza Pavri (Ph.D., Ohio State University) joined USM in 2004.  Prior to that, she taught at Emporia State University in Kansas where she co-directed the GeoSpatial Analysis Program.  She has taught a variety of geography courses over the past few years including World Regional Geography, Human-Environment Geography, and Introduction to Remote Sensing.  Her research focuses on aspects of society-environment interaction. 

Mark T. Swanson, Ph.D. 

Professor of Geology 

Telephone:(207) 780-5024 

Email: Mswanson@usm.maine.edu 

Biography:

State University of New York at Albany 
Teaching interests: structural geology, tectonics, ore deposits, geophysics. Research interests: detailed mapping and structural analysis of fault zones and dike swarm complexes in southern coastal Maine. 

Jack Kartez

Professor
Planning, Development & Environment

Telephone:(207) 780-5389

Email: jackk@usm.maine.edu

Biography

Middlebury College, BA, 1974; University of Oregon, Master's of Urban Planning, 1976; University of North Carolina, PhD, 1990. Professor Kartez teaches Planning Theory & History, Land Use Forecasting, Citizen Involvement & Dispute Resolution, and Local Environmental Planning. He came to the University as implementing director of the new undergraduate Environmental Science and Policy (ESP) Program, an interdisciplinary, collaborative curriculum combining science and public policy. Extensively published, he has served two terms each on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Planning Association and the Journal of Planning Literature. Kartez works on environmental issues such as mitigating natural and technological hazards and balancing rural resource land uses with community growth. He takes a special interest in incorporating principles of dispute resolution as alternatives to nonproductive conflict in community planning and environmental issues.