So how do we happen to be in Australia?

In the Fall of 2003, Mark traveled to Australia with five other scientists from Wheaton College (Norton, MA) to tour and evaluate four universities. Wheaton students often attend these four Australian schools during their Junior Year Abroad (JYA) experience. The four schools are all on the east coast: (1) The University of Wollongong in Wollongong (southeast, see map above), University of Sydney in Sydney (just north of Wollongong), and two James Cook University campuses, one in Cairns (northeast, tropics) and the other in Townsville (south of Cairns, subtropics). Because a significant number of our students choose to study in Australia and New Zealand, Wheaton's Center for Global Education is placing "faculty in residence" for six-months to one-year in various locations across the globe. The short story is that Mark applied for the 2004-2005 faculty slot and got the job. He is still  "working for Wheaton", officially as their "Resident Director for Global Education in Australia and New Zealand. In addition to his JYA duties in Australia, he is responsible for students at two New Zealand schools, the University of Auckland in Auckland (north island) and the University of Canterbury at Christchurch (south island). The family will be located in Wollongong about 70km south of Syndey. Mark will teach one course at the University of Wollongong.