Learn more about our faculty members.
Dr. Meredith Marsh
Dr. Meredith Marsh
PhD University of California-Santa Barbara
Associate Professor of Geography
Behavioral Geography, Geography EducationMeredith Marsh is a behavioral geographer whose research focuses on the development of spatial thinking skills. She's specifically interested in how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can scaffold spatial learning in K-College educational settings. She is the co-author of Barron's AP Human Geography Study Guide and serves as an associate editor of the Journal of Geography.
Dr. Marcus Smith
Marcus Smith (BA Anderson University, MA University of Cincinnati, PhD Purdue University) is a historian of Modern Middle East and Global history. Born and raised in Ohio, a deployment to Iraq in 2005 with the U.S. Army sparked an interest in the history and cultures of the region which led to subsequent travels in Israel-Palestine and Jordan. Research topics focus on social, political, and cultural relations of minority communities including case studies of Muslim Americans living in Columbus, Ohio 1980s-Present and the Jewish community in Baghdad, Iraq 1951-Present. His love of history stems from a curiosity about the factors that make for peace or violence in our modern world and is closely linked with social engagement and community service projects.Â
Dr. Kris Runberg Smith
Dr. Kris Runberg Smith
PhD Saint Louis University
Professor of History
American West, 20th-century American HistoryKris Runberg Smith focuses her research on the American West while also teaching courses in twentieth-century American history and the history of gender. She supervises the department’s internship program. She is an experienced public historian, having worked in several museums including the Kansas, Ohio, and Missouri Historical Societies along with serving as curator for the City Museum in St. Louis. Her most recent book is Wild Place: A History Priest Lake, Idaho (2015).
Tara Vansell
Tara Vansell has been teaching Geographic Information Systems classes at Lindenwood since 2011. She holds a Master of Arts in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development from Saint Louis University (2006) and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography with a GIS emphasis along with a History Minor from the University of Missouri – Columbia (2002). Her Master of Arts capstone research focused on the availability of "Workforce Housing in St. Charles County, MO (2006)." In addition to instructing the GIS classes at Lindenwood, she is the GIS Lab Manger. As the lab manager, Professor Vansell is an active member of the St. Charles County GIS User group and hosts a GIS day event every year that brings regional GIS professionals to campus to network with students. The GIS Lab also has a K-12 educator outreach mission and has been hosting the Teach MO Maps! Workshops since 2017. Before teaching at Lindenwood, Professor Vansell spent several years working in the GIS industry for companies such as Surdex and SAIC.
