Christopher Meindl
Associate Professor & Director, Florida Studies Program
Contact
Office: SNL 100
Phone: 727.873.4961
Email
Bio
Christopher Meindl is a geographer who cares deeply about Florida’s environment. As a native Floridian, geography professor and Director of the USF’s graduate level Florida Studies Program, he gets to live his dream every day: reading, exploring and helping students learn about connections between people and the environment in the Sunshine State.
Born and raised in Florida, I watched Melbourne Beach and the barrier island I grew up on change from a sparsely settled playground to a landscape completely covered with development in 20 years. I am an environmental geographer, interested in environmental politics and the influence of neoliberalism on water and environmental management, especially in Florida. I direct the Florida Studies Program at USF St. Petersburg.
Education
- PhD (Geography) 1996, University of Florida
- MA (Geography) 1993, University of North Dakota
- MA (History) 1991, San Diego State University
- BS (Social Science) 1983, Florida Southern College
Teaching
Meindl teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in water resources management; Florida springs; water quality policy and management; and wetlands, people and public policy. Some of these courses are taught in a hybrid format, in which students read, view recorded lectures on-line, engage in some research and meet just four times a semester for day-long discussions and field trips to a range of sites around the state.
Specialty Area
Water Resources, Wetlands, Springs, Water and Environmental Management, Natural Hazards, Environmental Historical Geography, Neoliberalism, Florida