"Great things are done when men and mountains meet"

10 mile creek road south of Boise, Idaho.  Photo by Charles Knowles.

Great things are done when men and mountains meet;

This is not done by jostling in the street

~William Blake, 1808-1811

August 5, 2011 was my first day at Florida International University.  It was sweltering hot, and I was sweating hard in my ill-fitting second-hand blazer.  I was a project manager for USAID international development programs at the time, helping field operations focus on water management and sustainable development initiatives in countries like Tanzania, Burkina Faso, and the Republic of Georgia.  I started teaching at the FIU College of Law that year, and met some great students along the way.  Eventually I transitioned to a fuller-time faculty position, developing courses in Water Resources Law, Ocean and Coastal Law, and Natural Resources Law.  Over the past five years I've traveled all over the world representing FIU, from Paris to Port-au-Prince.  Suffice it to say, it's been a great ride.  But all good things must come to an end.

At the end of this month I'll be in a new position as an Associate Professor of Law at Concordia University's School of Law in Boise, Idaho.  It's a new job and a new challenge.  The American West is home to some of the most contentious and dynamic natural resource conflicts, in part because the region is one of the country's most beautiful.  I have mixed emotions leaving Miami, but, as John Muir said, the mountains are calling and I must go.