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Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Jeff is a graduate of DePauw University in Indiana where he studied Creative Writing, History, and Spanish. During his time at DePauw Jeff spent a semester studying culture and development in Ecuador and also completed grant research concerning the political, social, and environmental effects of the mining industry on rural communities in Latin America.

Since his undergraduate studies Jeff has traveled, worked, and studied throughout the Americas having spent time in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and the U.S. Jeff’s experience has seen him managing a cloud forest nature reserve, leading educational excursions in South America, writing for and delivering a bilingual community newspaper, teaching English, conducting research on international education, delivering flowers, and doing door-to-door survey interviews and fundraising. Jeff also spent time as a human rights observer through the Intag Solidarity Network in Junin, Ecuador which continues to be the epicenter of a 15-year-long struggle against large-scale copper mining. Most recently he lived in Mexico City where he worked teaching English and volunteering his time with a variety of civil society organizations.

Jeff earned a Master’s degree in Social Justice in Intercultural Relations from the School for International Training Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, VT. While at SIT he explored social justice and the pursuit of social change towards that end with a focus on education, human rights, and organizing. His research interests lie at the intersection of international education, solidarity, radical pedagogy, and their contribution to social change.

Jeff enjoys living in the complicated landscape of the desert and on the U.S./Mexico border. He would like to live in a more just world and hopes that his work with the Border Studies Program will help him engage in a form of praxis which moves us in that direction. In his spare time he enjoys biking, reading, and exploring the desert with his dog, Ramona.