University of Colorado DenverCollege of Liberal Arts and SciencesUniversity of Colorado Denver

Casey Allen

Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2008

Office: NC 3421
Phone: 303.556.6007
E-mail: casey.allen@ucdenver.edu
Website: http://clas.cudenver.edu/faculty/callen/

Areas of Interest:

Biogeomorphology, Human-Environment Interaction, Geography & Science Education, Environmental Perception & Sense of Place, Humanistic Geography, Epistemology & Geographic Thought, Landscape, Field Techniques, Latin America & the Caribbean, Rock Art

Teaching

  • Principles of Geomorphology
  • Introduction to Physical Geography
  • Biogeochemical Cycles
  • Field Studies

Current Research

  • Rock art management.  Using the rock art stability index (RASI) to help manage this precious cultural heritage resource.  RASI utilizes three-dozen weathering processes to quickly analyze petroglyphs and pictographs.  The next step is to extend this useful tool to stone monuments and other stone edifices (buildings, bridges, etc.

  • Spatiality of biological soil crusts (BSCs).  Monitoring BSCs in alpine regions, polar regions, and hot deserts around the world to give us a solid indication of past, present, and future environments.  Found in nearly every locale, BSCs are superb indicators of long-term environmental change.

  • Alternative pedagogy in science.  The “traditional” way of teaching science (lecture and lab) has recently come under fire for a plethora of reasons.  There are alternative ways to teach science that need to be explored, tested, and then brought into the classroom, allowing people to not only gain an appreciation of science but also understand its value for society.

Select Publications

Arreola, D.D., W.E. Doolittle, L.M. Sutton, A. Fernandez, J. Finn, C. Smith, and C. Allen. (2009). Huepac Revisited: Cultural Remapping of a Sonoran Townscape. Journal of the Southwest 51(2): 137-164. [pdf: lg & md]

Finn, J., A. Fernandez, D.D. Arreola, L.M. Sutton, C.D. Allen, and C. Smith. (2009). Puerto Penasco: From Fishing Village to Tourist Mecca. Geographical Review 99(4): 575-597. [pdf: lg & md]

Allen, C.D., J. Dorn, and R.I. Dorn. (2009). Fire in the Desert: Initial Gullying Associated with the Cave Creek Complex Fire, Sonoran Desert, Arizona. Association of Pacific Coast Geographers Yearbook 71: 182-195. [pdf]

Allen, C.D. (2009). Monitoring Environmental Impact in the Upper Sonoran Lifestyle: a New Tool for Rapid Ecological Assessment. Environmental Management 43(2): 346-356. [pdf]

Allen, C.D. and R.I. Dorn. (2008). Graduate Degrees in Geographic Education: Exploring an Online Model. The California Geographer 48: 85-103. [TOC and pdf]

Dorn, R.I., D.S. Whitley, N.V. Cerveny, S.J. Gordon, C.D. Allen, and E. Gutbrod. (2008). The Rock Art Stability Index: A New Strategy for Maximizing the Sustainability of Rock Art. Cultural Heritage 1(1): 37-70. [pdf]

Lukinbeal, C. and C.D. Allen. (2007). Virtual Egalitarianism, Critical Pedagogy, and Geography Education. Journal of Geography 106(5): 199-205. [pdf]

Allen, C.D. (2005). Micrometeorology of a Smooth and Rugose Biological Soil Crust Near Coon Bluff, Arizona. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Sciences 38(1): 21-28. [pdf]