News
Department of Geography well represented in the current issue of The Professional Geographer
Dr. Julie Winkler and PhD candidate Peter Richards, each have an article published in the August issue of The Professional Geographer. In addition, Marcellus Caldas (MSU, PhD 2008) contributed a book review.
- Read Winkler's article: Geographical Sciences Versus Geography: How and Why? »
- Read Richards' article: Soy, Cotton, and the Final Atlantic Forest Frontier »
- Read Caldas' review of "Political Ecologies of Cattle Ranching in Northern Mexico: Private Revolutions" »
Geography faculty and student publish papers on climate scenario development for local and regional impact assessments
Drs. Julie Winkler and Sharon Zhong, along with PhD candiate Perdinan and other colleagues published two papers in the latest issue of Geography Compass. The articles are meant as overviews for non-climate scientist to use for climate scenario development and applications for local and regional climate change impact assessments.
Read part I: Scenario Development Using Downscaling Methods »
Read part II: Considerations When Using Climate Change Scenarios »
Geography Club raised $530 for American Cancer Society
The Geography Club raised $530 with their participation in the Relay for Life. Donations went directly to the American Cancer Society. Thanks to all of you who joined the Geography Club students and their families and friends to donate to this worthy cause!
First annual graduate student paper competition results
Winners were announced at the Geography/GTU Honors Reception.
 First place Mark DeVisser |
 Second place Brad Miller |
 Third place Glenn O'Neil |
Latest edition of Spartan Geographer now available
Keep up with the faculty, students, and alumni of the Department of Geography. This issue features two of our many research projects: Joe Messina's work in Kenya on tsetse flies and the environmental conditions they respond to; and Bob Walker's daring survey of the western Transamazon highway. Learn more about Spartan Geographers »
Goldsberry's research on food deserts featured in American Scientist
"It's something that kind of snuck up on us as a scientific community," says Kirk Goldsberry, a professor in the Department of Geography at Michigan State University. Goldsberry and his colleagues Chris Duvall and Phil Howard, also of MSU, have made a new series of maps showing access to fresh produce in the Lansing, Michigan, area. Read the entire story »
Meet up with MSU Geography alumni, faculty, and students at the AAG Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA
The MSU Geography alumni reception, will be held Friday, April 15 from 6:30-9:00 pm at Fado Irish Pub and Restaurant, 801 1st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104 (206-264-2700). We hope to see you there!
Peter Richards wins prestigious graduate fellowship award
Peter Richards, a Ph.D. student in Geography at Michigan State University, was selected as the winner of the Twelfth Annual Benjamin H. Stevens Graduate Fellowship in Regional Science. The Fellowship will provide one-year stipend of $30,000 to support Richards in his research entitled, "Food, Fuel, and the Amazonian Forest: Gauging Indirect Land Use Change from the Farm Level." Richards's research examines spatial linkages that tie together the locations and extents of rural land uses in a critical world region. Learn more about Peter Richards' research and about the fellowship »
Harman and de Blij to be recognized at AAG Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA
The Climate Specialty Group will honor Harman with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" during the specialty group business meetings Wednesday, April 13.
de Blij will also receive special recognition for 50 years of continuous AAG membership at the Annual Awards Luncheon held on Saturday, April 16.
Geography Career Day
Friday, March 18, 2011
2:30 - 4:00 pm, Geography Building
The Geography Club is sponsoring this event, which brings in professionals from various companies and agencies around Michigan, who are available to talk about their work with students and faculty. They will be at tables stationed around the first floor and in both conference rooms and the lounge.
Goldsberry's research on Lansing area food deserts featured on WILX
An MSU study identified large parts of the Lansing area where those without cars have little or no access to fresh produce or healthy food options. Read the entire story »
Goldsberry's research with RS&GIS also featured in ESRI's ArcUser.
Walker's research on the Amazon featured in MSU Alumni Magazine
To assess the extent of potentially damaging logging activities, an MSUresearch team braved a trek down the entire western Transamazon Highway, a hitherto unexplored route that cuts across a gauntlet of dangerous hazards, both natural and man made... Read the entire story »
Walker's research also featured on MSUToday.
Learn more about the Geography Department's research in the Amazon.
Grady receives NIH BIRCWH award from MSU College of Human Medicine
The Building Interdisciplinary Research in Women's Health program, with $2.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, was created last summer to increase the number and diversity of researchers in women's health.
Darden featured in The Engaged Scholar Magazine
For their 2010 issue, The Engaged Scholar Magazine asked Dr. Joe T. Darden and two other prominent scholars for their "Perspectives" on academic engagement with urban communities.
Andresen featured on MSU Spartan Sagas - The Big Questions
How do Spartans help solve the world's most urgent problems? We're glad you asked. During the past few months, we asked which facet of various global challenges you most wanted to hear about. Based on the most popular answers, some of MSU's top experts explain how we are working to address these areas. Dr. Andresen explains how climate change affects agriculture.
Chen and Howell awarded 2009-2010 ISS Teaching Awards
The Faculty Advisory Committee for the Center for Integrative Studies in Social Science has announced the recipients of the 2009-2010 ISS teaching awards. Department affiliates were awarded two of the four awards given.
Faculty Award: Guo Chen, Geography
In her ISS 315 class, Dr. Chen used an array of innovative methods to engage the students in their learning including role play games and carefully designed activities both in and out of classrooms. She also involved students in efforts to find ways to solve some of the problems under discussion in class. Students commented on the lasting impression of her class activities like tracing the global journey of a breakfast item and learning to use the web more efficiently as a result of her class.
Teaching Assistant Award:Jordan Howell, Geography
Mr. Howell demonstrated very impressive academic competence and ability to transfer his competence and passion to the ISS classes for which he was a TA. Both students and faculty commented on his tremendous care and excitement about his teaching as well as his initiatives developing helpful course materials (e.g., on line quizzes and useful maps) that aided student learning.
Luo awarded KC Wong Fellowship from Chinese Academy of Sciences
Luo was one of the KC Wong Fellowship recipients from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) for 2010. This fellowship was established by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the KC Wong Education Foundation of Hong Kong, and is awarded to outstanding scientists and researchers outside of China to facilitate their collaborations with scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. With this support, Luo will collaborate with Prof. Lin Zhaohui of Institute of Atmospheric Physics at CAS to develop and improve hydrologic prediction system for drought and flood forecast in China.
Luo receives funding from NOAA Climate Program Office
The project entitled "Collaborative Research: Enhancing operational drought monitoring and prediction products through synthesis of N-LDAS and CPPA research results" will include Luo and collaborators from Princeton University and the University of Washington.
Geography Potluck - Friday, October 8
The Graduate Students, with Paul McCord in the lead, are planning a Geography Potluck on Friday, October 8, at noon in the Geo lounge. Please bring a dish to share (main dish, salad, vegetables, fruit, buffalo wings, or dessert). Paul is taking care of the drinks. These things are always crowded and fun, so please plan to come and join in. Newest grads: We can't wait to see if you can cook!
Simmons awarded grant to develop an education and research exchange between the US and Brazil
Cynthia Simmons (Department of Geography, Michigan State University) and Marcellus Caldas (Department of Geography, Kansas State University), along with their Brazilian Collaborators, Horacio Schneider (Universidade Federal do Pará) and Gilberto Almeida (Universidade Federal da Bahia), were recently awarded $493,000 through the US-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program, which is jointly administered by the Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and the Brazilian Ministry of Education. Their project, entitled Globalization: Socio-economic, Political, and Environmental Interdependence, supports the development of a research and education program that will help faculty and students from the member institutions rise to the challenge of understanding our globalizing world, with its many impacts on environment and society. Building on a strong foundation of collaborative faculty research and international exchange across the partner institutions, they will create a 21rst century education program combining integrated and interactive classrooms and social networking with student research opportunities, language training, cultural exchange, as well as a multidisciplinary undergraduate curriculum that will be co-created and co-taught by all project participants. For more information, contact fipsebrz@msu.edu.
Walker quoted in New York Times story on illegal logging
Bob Walker, a professor of geography at Michigan State University and an expert on deforestation in the Amazon, witnessed the crackdown on illegal logging during a recent trip into an area of once-rampant deforestation – Brazil's so-called soy highway, where large swaths of forest have been transformed into soybean fields in recent decades.
Walker's recent trip on the Western Transamazon Highway covered in Our Amazing Planet
Walker's research into land use and its effects requires several trips a year down to Brazil, where he tracks changes in the Amazonian rainforest. Specifically, he studies how roads, many of them built by loggers, are breaking up the forest.
Ramirez Wins KCP Fellowship
In May 2010 Iván J. Ramírez was awarded a King-Chávez-Parks (KCP) Future Faculty Fellowship in the amount of $35,000.00. The award is funded by the State of Michigan and The Graduate School at MSU for fully inclusive expansion of college or university faculty in the social sciences, humanities or education. Throughout his Geography PhD program at MSU, Ivan realized that humanities and ethics in particular are important to include in teaching and scholarship. According to Ivan, "Ethics is a way to bridge the natural and social sciences to policy and civil society concerns." As a KCP Future Faculty Fellow, Ivan will commit to 3 years of teaching at a postsecondary institution upon completing his PhD.
Walker's research on the Amazon featured at MSU News
Five years ago, Robert Walker stopped counting the miles he's traveled in the Brazilian Amazon when he reached 10,000. The Michigan State University geography professor estimates he’s spent a good two years of his life crisscrossing the world's largest rainforest to study the effects of agriculture, logging and development. But never has Walker traveled the infamous Transamazon Highway as it extends deep into the heart of the Amazon. Until now, that is. More at MSU News »
Walker's research also featured in the State News.
Learn more about the Geography Department's research in the Amazon.
Simmons to accompany MSU Provost Wilcox to Brazil
Cynthia Simmons will be accompanying Provost Wilcox on his trip to Brazil in June, and will facilitate a series of meetings between the Provost and Rector Maneschy of the Federal University of Para (UFPA) in Belem, Brazil, which is intended to lay the foundation for formal institutional collaborations between the two universities.
Online GIS course wins award
Geography 221V: Introduction to Geographic Information was recently awarded Honorable Mention for the 2010 MSU- AT&T Instructional Technology Awards. Geography 221 is a fully-online course that offers an introduction to geographic technologies including GIS and remote sensing. The award recognizes and encourages best practices in the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. The course was developed by a team of faculty and staff including: Adrienne Domas, Kirk Goldsberry, Beth Weisenborn, Juleigh Bookout, and Richard Groop. Learn more about the AT&T Instructional Technology Awards »
Geography Spring Reception
Come and celebrate the end of the semester.
Friday, April 30, 2010 | 3-4:30pm | MSU Radiology Building Atrium
Sign-up by 9am Friday, April 23 (sheet is on Room 116 Geo door), or contact Judy Reginek at 517-355-4653, or email Judy Olson at olsonj@msu.edu.
Ivan J Ramirez attends COP 15 UN Climate Change Conference
Ivan J Ramirez was part of a group of delegates of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) that attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference, December 7-18, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He also participated in an Informal Planned Meeting (IPM) organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in conjunction with the Consortium for Capacity Building (CCB).
Images from Copenhagen. Left to right: Ivan J Ramirez with a representative of the World Health Organization. Entrance to the KlimaForm (a.k.a. the People's Conference), an alternative conference. Student protestors from Norway.
Walker travels to China to help steer new college of Global Change
Robert Walker traveled to Beijing in late January as a member of the Scientific Steering committee for a new college at Beijing Normal University (BNU). BNU's college of Global Change and Earth System Science was established on the recommendation of Mr. Xu Guanhua, former Minister of Science and Technology of China. The college, the first of its kind in China, seeks to build a world class research center in the fields of global change studies and earth system science. Four interdisciplinary fields have been initially identified: interactions of human activities and global change, earth systems modeling, earth observation, and global change economics. BNU plans to recruit 50 faculty members to the college, chosen from around the world. Responsibilities of the Scientific Steering Committee are to (1) guide and advise research activities; (2) help recruit College faculty; and (3) annually evaluate research achievements.
Walker gives seminar at MIT
Robert Walker gave a seminar on February 26 at MIT's Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. The seminar, entitled, "The Green Energy of Amazonia," presented new results regarding the impact of biofuel expansion on Amazonian forests. Walker traveled to MIT to discuss a proposal pursuant to MSU's Brazil Initiative. The proposal will bring scholars together from Brazil, China, and the US.
Winkler receives American Meteorological Society Brooks Award
Julie Winkler is the recipient of the 2010 American Meteorological Society Charles Franklin Brooks Award for Outstanding Services to the Society for "extraordinary leadership of the Education and Human Resources Commission, outstanding service as editor of the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, and distinguished mentoring of colleagues, students, and Society volunteers". Julie received her award at the AMS Annual Awards Banquet on January 20, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Winkler receives alumni award
On October 2, Dr. Julie Winkler received the inaugural “Alumni of the Year” award from the Department of Geography at the University of North Dakota. Winkler presented a colloquium as part of the university’s homecoming activities and was the speaker for the Gamma Theta Upsilon awards banquet.
Yansa's Research on Ancient, Giant Beavers Featured on Discovery News
The extinct giant beaver, Castoroides ohioensis, was just one species of large animals, or megafauna, stalking the North American landscape near the end of the last ice age. Fossils indicate that the creature was about twice the size of its modern-day cousin and therefore weighed between 60 and 100 kilograms, says Catherine Yansa, a paleoecologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Geography Welcomes Visiting Researcher from Czech Republic
Dr. Pavel Samonil, a forest ecologist and soil scientist from the Czech Republic, spent two weeks in residence this fall, working with Randy Schaetzl on research, participating in class field trips, and discussing future collaborations. Pavel also presented two talks in the Department. We hope to see him back at a future date!
Shortridge to Present at the MSU Public Health Student Society
The MSU Public Health Student Society will be welcoming Dr. Ashton Shortridge to speak on Thursday, October 8 at 7 pm in 209 Berkey Hall. Dr. Shortridge will be speaking about the Medical Geography lab's work with the Michigan Department of Community Health, as well as on disease cluster mapping. All students are welcome.
Darden is the Co-editor of a New Book on the African Diaspora
Most African Immigrants are recent arrivals in the United States and Canada. In the new book, The African Diaspora in the United States and Canada at the Dawn of the 21st Century, Frazier, Darden and Henry are the editors of a volume which compares the socioeconomic, spatial mobility and incorporation of African Immigrants in the two countries. The book is published by Global Academic Publishing, Binghamton University, 2009
Lusch and Colleagues Funded to Study Common Buckthorn as a Keystone Invader in Agricultural Landscapes
Dr. David Lusch (Distinguished Senior Research Specialist, Dept. of Geography, MSU), along with Dr. Mary Gardiner (Principal Investigator - OSU), Dr. Andrew Michel (OSU), Dr. Doug Landis (MSU) and Dr. Matthew O'Neal (ISU), recently received a three-year grant for more than $400,000 from US Dept. of Agriculture to study the role of common buckthorn, an exotic invasive shrub, as a keystone invader in the agricultural landscapes of the north-central region of the U.S. Common buckthorn invades natural areas where it serves as the primary overwintering host of the exotic soybean aphid, Aphis glycines, allowing the aphid to successfully overwinter. This soybean aphid negatively impacts the production of soybean and vegetable crops by direct feeding and by vectoring key plant viruses. Common buckthorn holds it leaves later into the fall compared with native co-occurring understory shrubs and overstory trees providing the possibility of remote sensing detection of buckthorn during the late fall. Dr. Lusch will map the probability distribution of buckthorn throughout the study areas using multitemporal, 30 m resolution Landsat imagery.
Image caption: Common buckthorn holds its leaves later into the fall compared with associated overstory trees and native shrubs. This trait may allow researchers to use satellite imagery to estimate the distribution of buckthorn across the north-central U.S.
Arbogast and Colleagues Uncover Dune on Campus
About 16 millennia ago, when the ice sheets melted on what would become Michigan State University's campus, tons of sand and other sediment were left behind on a barren, wind-swept landscape. Fast forward 16,000 years, and a team of MSU researchers and archaeology students has confirmed the existence of an undisturbed, prehistoric sand dune beneath a grove of pine trees between Demonstration Hall and Munn Ice Arena.
Watch the video | Learn more »
Goldsberry Selected as a 2009-10 Lilly Teaching Fellow
Twenty Michigan State University faculty members have been selected as Lilly and Adams Fellows for the 2009-10 academic year. The fellowships support excellence in and recognize commitment to the teaching profession. Goldsberry is one of eight MSU faculty members that has been named Lilly Teaching fellows for 2009-10.
Corey Receives Gill-Chin Lim Global Award
Early this year, Dr. Kenneth E. Corey, Professor of Geography and Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Michigan State University was selected as the first recipient of the Gill-Chin Lim Global Award presented by the Consortium on Development Studies.