My training as a historian was shaped by the three years I spent in China and Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s.  My experiences on a tropical island, a fertile inland basin and on the arid highlands of the Chinese - Tibetan borderlands taught me how deeply history is rooted in local customs and stories. 

It's fascinating how local conditions, milestones, heroes and villains create a distinctly local sense of the past and present.  Researchers must observe, ask questions and above all listen to all the diverse sources of local data to build a sound foundation for productive work. During those years, my work in East Asia was primarily in education.  My first job was at a junior college in Sichuan province.  I completed my Ph.D. in History at the University of Iowa in 1999 and joined Pacific in 2001.