Topic: ‘Flung Like A Net Over The Hill’: Reflections from Glacier National Park Residency
Abstract:
Matthew Dickerson will share some of his experiences including photographs and narrative non-fiction writing from June of 2017 when he was selected as artist-in-residence at Glacier National Park in Montana. The title of his book project is The Music of Rivers: Reflections on Places Wild and Almost Wild and he will share from the section on Glacier National Park titled “The Strength of the Hills”. His writing interweaves reflections from time spent with USGS and NPS biologists working in the park as well as native voices writing about the region along with his own experiences and observations. During his time in the park, he was particularly interested in the ecological impact of climate change and invasive species on river ecology and native trout.
Biography:
In 2014, Prof. Matthew Dickerson completed his 25th year as a member of the computer science department at Middlebury College. He earned a BA from Dartmouth College in 1985 and PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University, and was the first faculty member with a Ph.D. in computer science hired by the college. During his 25 years at the college he has received more than ten federal funded research grants including grants through the National Academy of Sciences, NATO, and various NSF programs. His primary research area has been algorithms and data structures for geometric, geographic, and spatial computing—an area known as computational geometry in which he is internationally known for his work on Voronoi diagrams. He has also done research and published several papers on computer science education, and is in the final year of an NSF grant exploring the use of agent-based modeling in the introductory computer science curriculum. Currently, Professor Dickerson is working on a research project on spatially explicit agent-based modeling of killer whales in southeast Alaska in collaboration with biologists and computer scientists at the NOAA and the University of Alaska.
Prof. Dickerson also did graduate work in Old English Language and Literature and has published several books including a recent medieval historical novel titled The Rood and the Torc, set in mid 7th century Europe. He is an internationally known scholar on the works of J.R.R.Tolkien with four published books about Tolkien as well as book chapters on Tolkien in five other volumes.