Abstract
As a human-environment geographer, it is both my vocation and my privilege to explore the alchemical interactions of people and place. Every time I return to the field, I am inspired by the limitless ways in which the two come together to form landscapes of both professional and personal stimulation. T hrough geographical fieldwork, I have had the fortune to rank Alan Jackson songs with a Maya craftsman in the shadow of Volcán de Agua in Antigua Guatemala; leap into the turquoise waters of the Belize Barrier Reef with veteran conch fishermen to escape a swarm of Africanized bees; and help a Romanian archaeologist pluck Ancient Roman pottery from a freshly tilled corn field in the heart of Transylvania. T hese and other adventures (and misadventures!) have been at times exhilarating, discombobulating, gratifying, and humbling, but my most life-changing fieldwork experience was my f irst: Campeche, Mexico, in October 2016 with my then-M.S. and later-Ph.D. advisor Michael Steinberg. Over the course of one week in Campeche, human (Mike) and environment (the area’s mangrove swamps) came together to transform the trajectories of my personal and professional lives. That week in Campeche pulled me toward a career as a geography professor, and it continues to influence my approach to the profession every day.
Recommended Citation
Cissell, Jordan R.
(2021)
"Roots of a Career: Finding Direction in the Mangrove Swamps of Campeche, Mexico,"
The Geographical Bulletin: Vol. 62:
Iss.
2, Article 9.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/thegeographicalbulletin/vol62/iss2/9