I’ve been teaching geography at City College since 1990, and served as chair of the Earth Sciences Department from fall 1995 through spring 2009.

After completing my bachelor’s degree in geography at U.C. Berkeley in 1978, I served for two years as a teacher in the Peace Corps on the Korean island of Cheju-do. Upon returning to the United States after the Peace Corps, I worked for six years as a photographer, writer and educational audiovisual producer. I completed my master’s degree in geography at UCLA in 1990.

I am the author of the textbook, McKnight's Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation by Darrel Hess, illustrated by Dennis Tasa and published by Pearson/Prentice Hall. My association with the late founding author Tom McKnight began while serving as one of his teaching assistants at UCLA. I first wrote the Study Guide for the fourth edition of his book, and then the Laboratory Manual for the fifth edition. In 1999 Tom asked me to join him as co-author for the sixth edition of the textbook, which is now in its tenth edition.

My wife and I live in the East Bay. In our leisure time we enjoy photography, hiking, camping and scuba diving.