Nathaniel Ray Pickett, PhD Department of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences,
University of Kansas
biographical information
I am originally from Southern California, though I have spent considerable time living in the Kansas
City area, the Minneapolis-St Paul area, Utah, and in various cities in Ukraine. I recieved my
bachelor's degree in history from Brigham Young University in 2009, after which I spent a year
as a psychiatric technician at Utah State Hospital. I recieved my M.A. degree in Russian,
East European, and Eurasian Studies from the University of Kansas in 2012, with a focus on Ukrainian
Studies. After my master's program I moved into the geography PhD program at KU, where completed
a dissertation involving the application of Science and Technology Studies in a political geography
study of the political and social effects of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster on Ukraine. In 2015-16
I was in Ukraine on a research Fulbright to gather data. I received a graduate certificate in GIS in 2019
and my doctorate in geography in 2022.
My academic interests generally fall within political geography, including popular geopolitics,
border issues, labor organizations, and anti-capitalist systems. I am also interested in STS, using
new media in research, critical GIS, urban networks and planning, and geographies of violence.
I currently work for the American Federation of Teachers - Kansas as the Communications Specialist
where I facilitate internal and external comms needs, including writing press releases, preparing
congressional testimony and media statements, creating content, designing graphics, managing website
and social media content—basically anything that helps our members grow their union, develop strong
leaders, and are represented in the best possible light.
With Shannon O'Lear, "Chornobyl Body Politics: Making Environmental Violence Visible," in
Exploring Environmental Violence, ed. Richard A Marcantonio, John Paul Lederach, and Augistin Fuentes
Translation of Boris Moronov, book review: Cамоорганизация российской общественности в последней
трети XVIII—начале XX в. by A.C. Tumanova, ed., The Russian Review, 2012, 71 (4): 694-696
courses taught
Physical Geography Lab (GEOG 104) hybrid, spring 2020
Introduction to Cultural Geography (GEOG 370), fall 2019
People, Place, Society (GEOG 102), 11 semesters between fall 2012 and summer 2019
People, Place, Society (GEOG 102) online, fall 2013 and summer 2016
Physical Geography Lab (GEOG 104), spring and summer 2013
Beginning Russian (RUSS 102, 104), fall 2011 and spring 2012
awards and honors
Doctoral Student Fund research award, 2018
Graduate Scholarly Presentation award, 2018
Hall Center Summer Writing Fellowship, 2017
Palij Book Award for Ukrainian Studies, 2011
conference and other presentations
Academic conferences:
Geography dissertation defense, 2022: "Social Fallout: Ukrainian Biopolitics and Geopolitics in the Shadow of Chornobyl"
Fulbright orientation, 2019: "Regional Expert Sessions: Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine" and "Social Science Research Methods"
ASEEES roundtable, 2018: organized session, "Doing research in post-soviet spaces:
reports on recent fieldwork"
AAG, New Orleans, 2018: "Crises of confidence: Biopolitical effects of
the Chornobyl disaster on Ukraine"
PGSG, University of New Orleans, 2018: "Opening spaces
of dissent: The politics of information control in the aftermath of the Chornobyl disaster on Ukraine"