Hi, I’m Dillon. I am currently Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and have lived in Baltimore city since 2017.
There’s just too much spam for a contact form, so the best way to get a hold of me is through email (dillon m umbc dot edu).
I’ve always been interested in the different ways people approach livelihoods, with particular interests in the urban fabric, technology, and the environment. I’ve lived in 9 cities across 3 continents and loving learning about the things that make each place similar and different.
My path toward academia was circuit-ous (ha!). During high school, I got an opportunity to work on the software side of the Microsoft Keyboards and Mice team in Redmond, Washington where I got my first formal training in software development and testing. After high school, I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia taking a brief break to work on Microsoft’s .NET Framework in Dublin, Ireland. I then moved to Austin, Texas and worked on the eCommerce Team at National Instruments. In 2009, I moved with my wife to Portland, Oregon to begin graduate school in Urban Studies & Planning at Portland State University while also taking classes in Geography and Sociology. I also worked as a Research Associate at City Observatory. I graduated in 2017 with a PhD in Urban Studies & Planning and a Graduate Certificate in GIS.
And it’s Mah-moo-dee. Think of how you start to say “map” (rather than mop / MAUP) when you say “Mah.” There’s no hard “k” sound in the name.