Department of Geography: Faculty - Bob Hickey

Bob Hickey Lind Hall 119A Phone: (509) 963-2178 Email: rhickey@cwu.edu Web: www.onlinegeographer.com

I began life in the 'burbs of Philadelphia. Fortunately, my parents soon had a fit of common sense and moved to north-central Pennsylvania. Small town, rural - hunting, fishing, and ford vs chevy trucks. Very little stress and the great outdoors made it a great place to (sort of) grow up. Between my Dad and the place, a love of Ma Nature developed.

In 1983, I escaped the Parents and headed a whole 4 hours west to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. There I spent a great 4 years obtaining a degree in Geology. In fact, I loved it enough that I decided to go on for another. So - after a year working as a environmental consultant in Boston, I headed to Washington State University to obtain a MS in Geology. I worked at the Crown Jewel prospect in northern WA and added to the base of knowledge regarding the evolution of gold skarns.

Then I graduated. Ouch. Real world? More geology grad school and increasing specialization? Something else? Welfare?

Fortunately, a wise geology prof at the University of Idaho told me to go talk to the geographers. They told me about this cool GIS stuff and offered me a fellowship. Thus began my career as a geographic computer geek.

In 1994, I finished my Ph.D in Geography and took the only academic job I could get - assistant prof at the State University of West Georgia. In January of 1997, I escaped the Deep South and headed to the (relatively) progressive Western Australia.

The 3.5 years I spent there (at Curtin University) was a blast. Cool country. Great people. Wonderful experience. But no mountains....

As such, I returned to the part of the world I love best - the northwestern US (although I would go to New Zealand in a heartbeat). CWU offered me a job, and here I am. For more babbling, please visit my homepage.