The First Law of Geography:
"Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things."
- Waldo Tobler, 1970
As a Geographer, Dr. Metzel studies socio-spatial relationships between people with disabilities and access and receipt of services.
Her latest project looks at care-giving by siblings of their adult siblings who have intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
Selected publications:
Metzel, D. S. (2010). 563 Miles: A Matter of Distance in Long-distance Caring by Siblings of Siblings with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Towards enabling geographies: 'Disabled' bodies and minds in society and space, eds. E. Hall, R. Wilton, & V. Chouinard. London: Ashgate Ltd.
Metzel, D. S. & Giordano, A. (2007). The locations of employment services and people with disabilities: A geographical analysis of accessibility. Journal of Disability Policy Studies 18:2, 88-97.