Shimabukuro, David

Last name:  Shimabukuro
Name:  David

David Shimabukuro recently completed his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, on the tectonic evolution of Calabria, the toe of the Italian Peninsula. This study also included fieldwork in nearby areas critical for understanding Calabria, especially Sardinia and the northern Apennine Mountains. Calabria is a key piece of the tectonic puzzle in the complicated tectonic pattern of small mountain ranges and ocean basins within the Mediterranean, and his thesis supplies critical evidence for choosing between a number of hypothetical reconstructions of the geological history of Calabria. While doing research on this specialized topic in Earth history, Dr. Shimabukuro has developed a complementary interest in Big History, the broadest possible view of the past. As the founding Graduate Student Instructor, he worked with Professor Walter Alvarez to develop the Big History course that has been given at UC, Berkeley, for the last five years. Acquiring an ever-broader knowledge of the geological and human history of places throughout the world, Dr. Shimabukuro has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and Oceania.