Use Table of Contents to Find Staff Member.
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Birzeit University
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Calvin College
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Clicking on names below will open resume file.
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Kamal Abdulfattah (Co-Director), Birzeit University |
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| Kamal Abdulfattah, co-director of the Wadi el-Far'a Project, graduated with a BA in Geography from Damascus Univeristy in 1964, and received his PhD in Geography from the University of Erlangen-Nurberg, Germany in 1980. He has taught Geography since 1964, and has been Professor, first of Middle Eastern Studies, then of Geography, at Birzeit University since 1978. He has held visiting professorships at the Universities of Bayreuth and Erlangen in Germany, and of Villanova in the United States. At Birzeit he has held numerous administrative positions, including Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Chairman of the combined Geography, History and Political Science Departments. He is a member of numerous professional societies and has received several professional prizes. Outstanding among his numerous publications in geography is Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the 16th Century (Erlangen: Frankische Geographische Gesellschaft, 1977), co-authored with Wolf Dieter Hutteroth. Many of his students have gone on to advanced degrees and hold key positions in the academic and administrative institutions of Palestine. | ||
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Bert de Vries (Co-Director) , Calvin College | |
| Bert de Vries, co-director of the Wadi el-Far'a Project, graduated with a BSc in Engineering from Calvin College in 1960 and received his PhD in Mediterranean Studies from Brandeis University in 1967. He has taught History and Archaeology at Calvin College since 1967, including courses in Near Eastern, Classical and World History as well as Archaeology. He served as project architect for the Archaeological Excavations at Tell Hesban from 1968 - 1976, and for the Limes Arabicus Project from 1981-1989, and directed the Umm el-Jimal Project from 1974 to the present. He has published numerous maps and architectural drawings, and has written on both the archaeological and current Middle East, including Umm el-Jimal, a Frontier Town and its Landscape in Northern Jordan, Vol. I (Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series 26, 1998). From 1988 to 1991 he served as director of ACOR (American Center of Oriental Research) in Amman, and in 1998 he began "The Environmental Geography of Palestine and Jordan," the course that is now a component of the Wadi el-Far'a Project. | ||
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Brian Blankespoor, Oregon State University | |
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Brian Blankespoor received a B.Sc. in Computer Science and a B.A. in French and in an Interdiscplinary Major in Geography and Chemisty, Calvin College, 2000. He is doing graduate study in geography with an emphasis in Geographic Information Systems (GIS)at Oregon State Univeristy. His graduate experience includes a Research Assistantship as a database administrator for Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database (March 2002-Present) and an Assistantship for the Geoscience department computer support (Sept.2001-June 2002). His professional work experience includes a GIS specialist at Horizon Environmental (May 1999-July 2001) where he managed the GIS projects (ESRI ArcGIS 8.1 and ESRI ArcView 3.2), coordinated database design, programmed customized functionality, and administred workstations, file servers and the website. Additionally, he has created a GIS for a DNR field research project at Calvin College (Sept.-Apr.2000), a GIS coordinator at Home Repair Services (NPO) (Sept.-Dec. 1999), and he is trained with two courses in GIS including an independent study at Calvin College. Career goal is to obtain a position that ameliorates his geographical interests of GIS, physical environments, regions, and cultures. |
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Ihab Dababsa, Palestine Department of Antiquities | |
| Ihab Dababsa received his BA in Geography from Birzeit University in 2000. He combined his major with courses in archaeology and field work with the Palestinian Institute of Archaeology, for which he excavated at Khirbet Bir Zeit. He did an extensive archaeologiccal survey of the springs of 'Ayn Sinya and produced original maps of the springs, their water channels and the water distribution system. Since graduation he has worked for the Palestinian Department of Archaeology, most recently on restoration of Mamluk sugar mills at Jericho. He will be entering the archaeology program at Bergen University in Norway in August 2002. | ||
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Kimberly DeWall, Harvard Divinity School | |
| Kimberly DeWall graduated with Honors in World History from Calvin College in May, 2001, and also earned minors in Archaeology and Greek. She studied Community Development in Kenya, Jan. 2000, and participated in the Environmental Geography of Jordan and Palestine, a joint Calvin College - Birzeit University course, in August 1998. She served as a a volunteer on the Askalon Excavatons in 1996, and as a square (excavation unit) supervisor at Umm el-Jimal in 1998. She completed an internship in museology at the Harvard Semitic Museum in Boston I the summer of 1999. She has student work exerprience includes factory and sales jobs, but particularly relevant is her two years as research assistant in the Calvin College History Department and Archaeology Laboratory. Her duties ranged from the oversight of the developing of an archaeological data base to the organization of speaker programs. She is competent in a variety of computer word processing, data and graphics programs, and plans to enter Harvard Divinity School in Fall 2002. | ||
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Farah Ghalib, Birzeit University | |
| Farah Ghalib received his B.A. in Geography in 1999 at Birzeit University and is currently working on completing his Masters in Geography at the institution. He currently teaches history and geography at Al-mustaqbal schools. He has participated in the Birzeit-Calvin partnership program since 1997. His interests are in environmental studies, particularly water resource development. | ||
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Ahmad Hammad, Palestine Ministry of Planning | |
| Ahmad H. Y. Abu Hammad received both his B. Sc. (1990) and M. Sc. (1993) from the Department of Soils and Irrigation (now the Dept. of Environmental Resources) in the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering of the University of Jordan and is currently in a Ph. D. program at the Agricultural University of Norway. He has taken numerous courses in soil structure and hydrology, and is an expert in hydrology, soil erosion, land degradation and desertification and has special training in GIS and environmental Impact Assessment. He is currently employed in the PNA Ministry of Planning as a specialist in land use and natural resources. He has also worked on preparation of the Soil Data Base for the applied Research Institute (ARIJ), and was a member of research teams studying irrigation and dry land farming in Jordan. These and other activities resulted in numerous publications, including, Endangered West Bank Heritage Sites in the West Bank Governorates - Emergency Natural Resource Protection Plan, Ramallah: Ministry of Planning, 1999. | ||
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Erinn Murphy, Calvin College | |
| Erinn Murphy is currently a third-year student at Calvin College where she is pursuing both Economics and French majors. Having spent fourteen years in the Middle East, in Oman and the United Arab Emirates, she has a deep love and fascination for the Arab people, the Arabic language and culture. She has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East including: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and West Bank. Her international experiences extend throughout Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa and she has most recently spent 6 months studying at Université de Stendhal in Grenoble, France. Her work experience includes both administrative and customer service positions at a variety of different corporate offices in Seattle, Washington. She has also served as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity Jordan. Her involvement in this project began during the summer 2002, when she participated in the report writing for both the Water Rights and Built-Up Areas sectors. As the project continues, she hopes to get involved in curriculum development and administrative duties. During the fall 2002, she organized the publicity for Middle East events at Calvin College. This coming fall, she will continue project-related research for Bert de Vries, the co-director. Her career interests include international relations, community development, management and foreign languages and translation. | ||
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Sebastian Naslund, Calvin College | |
| Sebastian Naslund graduated from Calvin College in Spring 2002 with a B. Sc. in Geology and a minor in Environmental Studies. He grew up in Abbotsford , British Columbia, and has held various positions during his educational career with experiences ranging from construction work, farm management and food service supervision. At Calvin he has been an active environmental advocate as a member of the Environmental Stewardship Coalition, a student club. He has introductory training in GIS offered by ESRI Co., and a course in ArcView GIS 3.2. His goal in life is to teach people to live in harmony with nature. | ||
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Raida Qarabsah, Birzeit University | |
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Raida Qarabsah has just completed a Masters in Environmental Geogrpahy at Birzeit University and received a BA in Geography from Birzeit University in 1999 with specializaton in Geology and English Translation. Since graduation she has worked for the Palestinian Environmental Authority and the Ministry of Environment, and is currently teaching Geography and English at the secondary school level. She has done field work and reesearch on the water flow and water pollution of the springs at Ain Arik and the Wadi el-Far'a. |
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Ahmed Rjoob, Palestine Ministry of Culture | |
| Ahmed A. M. Rjoob is administrator in the Directorate of Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture in Ramallah, Palestine. He received his BA with majors in Archaeology and History from Birzeit University in 1996. He has participated in several archaeological excavatons and surveys in the West Bank, and has become a specialist in Cultural Heritage Management through several training courses in cultural resource management, site presentation and tourism management. He is currently a participant in the P. I. S. A. Porject (Integrated Planniing in the Archaeological Sites Labratories, for which he has been involved in projects at Oristano, Sardinia; Caesarea Maritima, Israel, and Thressiloniki, Greece. | ||
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Benjamin Ruddell, Calvin College | |
| Benjamin Ruddell graduated in Spring 2002 with a B.S.E. in Civil Engineering, with a focus on hydraulic and environmental studies. He is the President of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) at Calvin College. Benjamin has contributed to the project his experience in cartography, surveying, sustainable development issues, and engineering analysis software. He plans to pursue a masters degree in environmental and agricultural engineering, towards a career in third-world development and professional engineering. He is entering a graduate program in Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Fall 2002. | ||
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Othman Sharkas, Birzeit University | |
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Dr. Othman Sharkas is head of the department of Geography at Birzeit University. He has a Ph.D in Biogeography from University of Bayreuth, Germany and a Masters of Science in Geomorphology, Soil, and Meteorology from the University of London, England. His specialty is Environmental Studies with an emphasis on Biogeography, Geomorphology, and Soils. Dr. Sharkas has varioius publications, including a chapter called "Vegetation degradation in Northeastern Jordan- Chapter III in Sustainable Land-use in Deserts. He is currently teaching a variety of courses at Birzeit University in Physical Geography, such as Geomorphology, Geography of Soil, Climatology, Environmental Geography, Biogeography, the Geography of Weather Forecasting, and Methods of Geographical Research. His involvement in the Wadi el-Far'a project is in the Natural and Physical Environment Sector. |
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| Lynne (Abi) Tan, Calvin College | ||
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Abi Tan's interests lie in medicine and public health, particularly in the Middle East. She is currently enrolled in the Pre-professional Medicine program at Calvin College, and plans to enter a joint degree program in medicine and public health in Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Fall 2003. Her undergraduate coursework has led to studies of issues such as the depleted uranium situation in Iraq, and public health in Jordan and the West Bank. She is currently working on two research projects, one involving water pollution and its effects on health in relation to the joint Calvin-Birzeit Wadi el-Far'a Water Project, and the other on gender perceptions and its impact on medieval gynecological practices. During her stay in Jordan she has also had the opportunity to spend some time at the Palestine Hospital in Amman, where she was able to observe a neurological surgical procedure, as well as visit and assist in various departments in the hospital including physiotherapy, intensive care, laboratory, and the emergency room. Her goal is to return to the Middle East, possibly Jordan or Palestine, to work in internal medicine and/or public health. | |
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Salem Thawaba, University of Arkansas | |
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Salem Thawaba is a first year ENDY student from Anabta, West Bank, Palestine. He has an undergraduate degree in Architectural Engineering from Birzeit University and a Masters in Regional Planning and Urbanism from the Oslo School of Architecture. Past experience includes GIS coordinator for the Computer and Communication System Company of Jordan, worked with an engineering consultant firm in Ramallah, and served the Palestinian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation in developing a plan for Landscape Assessment for the West Bank. He also served as a member of the team developing the Emergency National Resources Protection Plan for Palestine and also the regional plan for the West Bank. |
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Abdel-Halim Tumeizeh, Birzeit University | |
| Abdel Halim Tumeizeh received his BA in Geography from Birzeit University in 1996, and his MA in Geography from the University of Bergen, based on the thesis, "Water rights and water uses and their development in Central Palestine." In addition to teaching geography in the Ramallah Secondary School system, he has served as assistant researcher for the "Lower Jordan River Basin Project" of Birzeit and Bergen Universities from 1998-2000. He has done extensive field work on water rights in the Wadi el-Far'a, the Jericho Oasis, and in the mountain spring villages of Battir and Dura al-Qarea' and he has done comparative studies on water rights in 'Ajloun and Wadi Shu'ayb in Jordan. He presented papers at two work shops in the Birzeit-Bergen program in 1999, and participated as a group member and site expert in the Birzeit-Calvin course, "Environmental Geography of Palestine and Jordan" in 1998 and 1999. | ||
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Beth Vanden Berg, Clemson University | |
| Beth Vanden Berg received a BA in History, Calvin College, 2000, and a BSc in Geology, Calvin College, May 2001; she also completed a Minor in Archaeology, for which she excavated at Umm el-Jimal, Jordan in the summer of 1998. She is doing graduate study in hydrogeology at Clemson Univeristy. Her work experience includes: facilities intern to an Environmental Engineer (Jan.-Aug 1999, Jan. & May-Dec. 2000) where she assisted with overall environmental compliance issues and concerns related to the facility; prepared numerous technical reports for wastewater treatment and disposal, responsible for surface water and wastewater sampling, and air testing for facility air quality compliance. She did fieldwork through Grand Valley State University in 1999 in the Installation of various monitoring wells and gauging stations throughout the nature preserve. In the summer of 2001 she participated in the Albion College Geological field tour of the American West befroe joiningthe Wadi el-Far'a Project staff. Career goals include work in the hydrogeology field with concentrations in soil/water contamination, finding new clean water sources and water reclamation. | ||
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