Dr. Sigismond Wilson

Education

Ph.D., Geography
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

M.A., Geography
University of Georgia, Athens, GA

B.A., Hons. Geography
Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone

Professional Experience

2023-Present, Professor
2016-2023, Associate Professor
2011-2016, Assistant Professor
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK

2010-2011, Assistant Professor
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

2004-2010, Online Teaching Instructor/Teaching Assistant
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

Courses Taught:

Human Geography, World Regional Geography, Military Geography, World Ecological Problems, World Geography, People & the Environment, Introduction to Physical Geography, Economic Geography, Environmental Geography, Political Geography

Professional Affiliations

• Association of American Geographers (AAG)
• Africa Specialty Group- AAG
• African Studies Association (ASA)
• Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU)

Publications

Book:

The Spatial and Social Impacts of Sierra Leone’s Civil War 1991 to 2001 (Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbrücken, 2011).

Peer-reviewed Articles:

2023 Moise, I.K., Ivanova, N., Wilson, C., Wilson, S., Halwindi, H., and Spika, V.M.

Lessons from digital technology-enabled health interventions implemented during the coronavirus pandemic to improve maternal and birth outcomes: a global scoping review.  BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 23:195 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-023-05454-3

Livelihood impacts of iron ore mining-induced land change in Sierra Leone: A time series analysis. Applied Geography 144 – 102713, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2022.102713

Measuring the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility initiatives in diamond mining areas of Sierra Leone. Resources Policy 77 – 102651, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.102651

2019 Wilson, S.A. Mining-induced displacement and resettlement: The case of rutile mining communities in Sierra Leone. Journal of Sustainable Mining  18(2): 67-76, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsm.2019.03.001

2018 Wilson, C., Liang, B., Wilson, S., and Akiwumi, F.: Land Use, Microclimate, and Surface Runoff Linkages: Space-Time Modeling from Rokel-Seli River Basin, Sierra Leone. Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLII-4/W8, 225-230, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-4-W8-225-2018, 2018

Land use/land cover planning nexus: A space-time multi-scalar assessment of urban growth in the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area Human Ecology 44 (6), 2016, 731-750.

Corporate social responsibility and power relations: Impediments to community development in post-war Sierra Leone diamond and rutile mining areas. The Extractive Industries and Society 2 (4), 2015, 704-713

Diamonds Exploitation in Sierra Leone 1930 to 2010: A Resource Curse? GeoJournal, 78 (2013), 997-1012.

Company-Community Conflicts over Diamond Resources in Kono District Sierra Leone, Society and Natural Resources: An International Journal 26(3), 2013, 254-269.

Whose Minerals, Whose Development? Rhetoric and Reality in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone, Development and Change 43(5), 2012, 1103-1131.

Modeling the impacts of civil war on land use and land cover change within Kono District, Sierra Leone: A socio-geospatial approach, Geocarto International 28(6), 2013, 476-501.

Sierra Leone’s Illicit Diamonds: The Challenges and the Way Forward, GeoJournal 76(3), 2011, 191-212.

Sociospatial Geographies of Civil War in Sierra Leone and the New Global Diamond Order: Is the Kimberley Process the Panacea? Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 27(6), 2009, 1107-1130.

On the Causes of Sierra Leone’s Civil War: A Comparative Analysis.” Journal of Development Alternatives and Area Studies 26(4), 2007, 50-69.

Civil War and Displacement: The Case of Sierra Leone.” Journal of Development Alternatives and Area Studies25(3), 2006, 103-128.

Book Reviews:

Unruh, J., Williams, C. (eds). 2013. Land and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding in Progress in Physical Geography 38(3), 2014, 378-380.

Solem, M., Foote. K. & Monk, J. (eds). (2009). Aspiring Academic: A Resource Book for Graduate Students and Early Career Faculty. Research In Geographic Education 13(1), 2011, 50-52

Conference Papers:

2023 “Mining industry security nexus in Sierra Leone: implications for human rights.” A presentation at the Extractive Industry & Foreign Security Network Securitization of Natural Resources Workshop 1 at Bristol Law School, Bristol, England The United Kingdom. [19th January 2023]

2022 “A longitudinal analysis of diamond mining, environmental change and local livelihood dynamics in Kono District, Sierra Leone.” A virtual paper presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) that was scheduled for New York City, New York.

2019 “The environmental and human health implications of iron ore mining in Sierra Leone.” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in Washington D.C. 

2018 “Socio-economic and environmental responses to mining-induced land change in iron ore mining areas of Sierra Leone.” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in New Orleans, Louisiana.

2017 Time Series Analysis of Iron Ore Mining-Induced Land Cover Change on Local Livelihoods & the Environment.” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Boston, Massachusetts.

2016 “Mining-Induced Displacement and Resettlement in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Political Ecology Approach” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in San Francisco, California.

2015 “Exploitation of non-precious minerals in post-war Sierra Leone: a national or community resource curse?” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Chicago, Illinois.

2014 “An Investigation into the Role of Anthropogenic Drivers on Changes in Land Cover and Land Use in Tulsa Metropolitan Area. A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Tampa, Florida.

2013 “Corporate Mining and Land Cover Change: a Geospatial Analysis of Rutile Mining in Sierra Leone.” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Los Angeles, California.

2012 “Corporate Mining in Post-Civil War Sierra Leone: A Panacea for Economic Growth and Community Development?” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

2012 “Modeling the Interface between Mining, Agriculture, Forest Extraction and Land Cover Change in Post Conflict Sierra Leone.” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in New York City, New York.

2011 “Challenges for food security in post-conflict Sierra Leone.” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association in Washington D.C.

2011 “Industrial Mining and Community Development in Sierra Leone: The Law, Community Expectations and Reality.” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Seattle, Washington.

2010 “Land Use/Land Cover Change in Kono District, Eastern Sierra Leone, was the Civil Conflict a Driving Force?” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Washington D.C.

2009 “Diamonds in Sierra Leone, a Resource Curse?”  A poster presented at the New Faces for African Development session, European Report on Development Conference, Accra, Ghana.

2009 “Diamond Conflicts in Kono District Sierra Leone: An Actor-Oriented Political Ecology” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2008   “Conflicts over Diamond Exploitation: The Case of Kono District, Sierra Leone”    A paper presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association in Chicago, Illinois.

2007 “The New Global Diamond Order and Post-Civil War Sierra Leone: Is the   Kimberly Process the panacea?” A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in San Francisco, California.

2005 “The New Global Diamond Order and Post Civil-War Sierra Leone: Is the Kimberly Process A Naked Emperor?” A paper presented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Washington D.C.

2005 “The Impact of Conflict on Land Use and Livelihood system in Northern Kenya and North-Eastern Uganda.” A paper presented at the East Lakes Division of the Association of American Geographers, Bowling Green University, Ohio.

Grants/Fellowships

• 2022-23 RSU Faculty Excellence Award winner in Scholarship
• National Geographic grant NGS-53897R-18   2018
• RSU Travel Grant 2016
• MSU Graduate School Dissertation Completion Fellowship 2009
• Compton’s Africa Peace Fellowship 2007
• MSU Pre-dissertation Fellowship 2006
• MSU Bio-complexity Fellowship 2005
• Mildred B. Erickson Fellowship 2005

Service

• Member, History Search Committee 2012-2013 & 2013 -2014
• Member, RSU School of Liberal Arts Curriculum Committee 2011 – 2016
• University Marshall 2015 –16
• Member, Rogers State University Curriculum Committee 2011 – Present
• Member, Rogers State University Distance Education Committee/Academic Technology Committee 2017- Present
• Advance Placement Reader (Human Geography) 2013 –Present