Teaching, advising, and mentoring students are fundamental to my role as a scholar/educator. I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of GIScience, human dimensions of environmental change, and water governance. In my teaching, I try to focus on the connections among human-environmental issues, methods, and policy-relevant solutions.

My teaching philosophy is centered around collaboration, critical problem solving, and adaptive self-reflection. Below are the courses I’ve taught at some point. In some cases, I provide links to syllabi or GitHub pages (if relevant) - but feel free to contact me at pbitterm@kent.edu for more information.

Current courses:

Environmental Analysis in R (GEOG 49073/59073/79073) | GitHub link

This is a special topics course focused on spatial analysis using open source tools grounded in the R programming language. This is a project-based, student-led course that explores how to implement GIScience concepts, theories, and methods using R and R-based tools. Students develop algorithms and tools to edit, query, manipulate, visualize and analyze spatial data. Students create static and dynamic visualizations to communicate their findings. Students also develop a public-facing portfolio documenting their learning and course outputs to communicate their skills to potential mentors, employers, and the public.

Past (or irregularly offered) courses

Principles of GIS | Syllabus link

Global Environmental Issues | Syllabus link

Spatial Dimensions of Decision-Making in Social-Ecological Systems (graduate seminar) | Syllabus link

Proseminar in Research and Professional Development | Syllabus link

Advanced GIS | Syllabus link

Programming, Scripting, and Automation for GIS (GEOG 432/832) | GitHub link

Systems Dynamics and Strategic Management for Community Resilience | Syllabus link