K. Allison Lenkeit Meezan

Geography & Geospatial Technology
Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA

Office:3020 (I will next be teaching on campus in Winter 2022) — Phone: (650) 949-7166 — Email: meezankaren@foothill.edu

Drop in office hours Fall 2022: Mondays 5-6PM, Tuesdays 12-1PM, Wednesday 5-6PM, Thursdays 12-1PM Enrolled students can find a link to my Zoom office in our Canvas classroom home page. If you are not an enrolled student and would like to meet with me, please contact me to make an appointment.

About me

picture of Allison

Welcome! Geography provides a way to unravel the mysteries of the earth with the simple questions: Where is it? Why is it there? How did it get there? How does it interact with other things? I grew up in the Central Valley of California, and majored in Geological and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University. While at Stanford, I had the opportunity to study abroad at the University of Oxford, in England. After Stanford I went to the University of Cambridge, England for graduate study in Geography.

I have headed the Geography department at Foothill College since the Fall of 2000. I love sharing the wonders of the world around us with my students. I believe that I am very fortunate to have the best job in the world! My most recent project is working with the Online Education Initiative (OEI). OEI is a collaborative effort among California community colleges whose goal is to streamline access to online courses and increase Associates degree completion and transfer rates. OEI courses are selected through a rigorous vetting process and must adhere to a very high standard of pedagogy. My Physical Geography online class and my Introduction to Geospatial Technology Online class are both OEI quality certified.

When I'm not teaching I spend most of my time these days with my family: my husband and my teenage daughter and son. When we can get out of the house, we like to hike in the eastern Sierras near Mono Lake, backpack and camp in the Desolation wilderness and unwind at Point Lobos state park south of Monterey.


sunset in Owens valley
Sunset in the Eastern Sierras

Information for prospective students

My teaching philosophy

It is my goal to create a student-centered classroom where you can draw upon your life experiences to learn about the amazing world outside your front door. Whether you are taking a transfer Geography class, or you are a re-entry student upskilling with Geospatial Technology, I want to work with you to help you meet your learning goals.

Community college is for everyone. No matter what your experience with education has been prior to today, you are welcome here! I regularly have students transfer to UC, CSU and private four-year universities, and if that is your goal, we can work together to make that happen. If you already have a four year degree and are coming back to gain new skills, I want to build upon your existing knowledge-base to help you move your career ahead. If you are new to higher education, or have been away for a long time, this is a great place to start because we have a broad, understanding and kind support network to help you. If you are taking this class to expand your horizons, I hope that you will leave here with a greater appreciation of our planet. And if you are taking a class to only to satisfy a transfer requirement, I hope that you will be inspired along the way by the amazing natural world around us.

Pre enrollment information for Spring 2022 students

Think outdoors....

Finally, wouldn't you rather be in the high country than wherever you are now? The Sierra offers many opportunities to explore the ins and outs of Geography....

The Half Dome webcam in Yosemite