Department of Geography the George Washington University F a L L 2 0 1 3

Department of Geography The George Washington University F A L L 2 0 1 3

Notes from the Chair This fall marks the 70th year of the University of Singapore where she is teaching, Department of Geography at GWU. Our conducting research and enjoying her much deserved In this Issue... department continues to thrive with over 150 year-long sabbatical. She will be back in July 2014. Visiting Scholar from Iran P.3 majors in Geography and Environmental Studies, Nikolay Shiklomanov was awarded tenure this spring 25 graduate students, and the creation of a new and promoted to Associate Professor. We also have New Graduate Award P.4 GIS Certificate Program to begin in 2014. We just added two new faculty members to our department; completed a major Academic Program Review that Dr. Dmitry Streletskiy, a climatologist and Arctic Funded Research P.12- 13 demonstrated the growth of the department and specialist, changed his status from Research Student & Alumni News P.18 the need for new faculty lines in human, physical Associate to Assistant Professor and Dr. Nuala and technical aspects of the discipline. Last year Cowan (MA in Geography in 2004) rejoined our we taught over 2,000 students in our courses! department as a fulltime faculty member and Geography is alive and well at GW—a Director of the GIS Certificate Program. Dr. Qin Yu, a point underscored by the recent senior seminar post-doc from the University of Virginia, is Professor camping trip at Mason Neck, Virginia, October 11- contributing to our research on environmental 13, 2013 where 32 geography majors and change in the Arctic as a Research Associate. We are Mona Atia’s professors David Rain and Marie Price bonded in now 12 fulltime faculty. New Book the rain, gathering data on topics ranging from If you have not visited the department invasive species, birdlife, trail access, and landuse recently, there are several events detailed in the Page 5 changes. We are one of the few departments at newsletter to entice you to return to Foggy Bottom The Department is pleased the university that has such a program, and it this fall. On the back of this newsletter are three would not be possible without financial scheduled talks held on Friday afternoons in the to announce the release of contributions from our alumni for which we are department seminar room, all are welcome. We also exceedingly grateful. In fact, many of our recent have a book signing party on November 14th for Dr. “Building a House in Heaven: alumni participated in the senior field trip. Mona Atia’s new book, Building a House in Heaven, Pious Neoliberalism and As the following pages attest, there is based on years of fieldwork in Cairo, Egypt. That much happening as our faculty, graduate students same evening Professor Joe Dymond with the Islamic Charity in Egypt” by and undergraduates are busy conducting research International Development Studies program has an from Siberia to Ghana; receiving grants from the event on the relevance of Open Source software to Assistant Professor Mona NSF and NASA; interning with organizations such development. For more information about these as the National Geographic Society and the events, see our webpage. Finally, our thanks to Atia. Environmental Protection Agency; and sharing our Socorro Lopez, a Geography junior, for her invaluable

findings at conferences and in academic assistance in preparing the newsletter. Studying the publications. This fall our chair, Elizabeth Chacko, Urban Transition is a visiting Fulbright Scholar at the National — Marie Price, Acting Chair in Ghana Page 13 Dr. Engstrom is part of a team that was recently awarded a $1 million dollar NASA grant to study the urban transition and its relationship to land use and land cover change in Ghana.

The growing Department of Geography — (Top row from left) David Rain, Michael Mann, Richard Hinton, Joe Dymond, Ryan Eng- strom & Lisa Benton-Short. (Bottom row from left) Qin Yu, Mona Atia, Mojtahed-Zadeh (Visiting Scholar), Marie Price, Nuala Cowan & Melissa Keeley. Not pictured: Elizabeth Chacko, Nikolay Shiklomanov & Dimitry Streletskiy P A G E 2

New Faculty: Dr. Dmitry (Dima) Streletskiy

Born in Moscow, Russia, Dr. Streletskiy completed his degrees in geography (Moscow State University, MS 2005), and climatology (University of Delaware, PhD 2010). His research is focused on understanding the diverse impacts of climate change on ecosystems, population and overall sustainability of the Arctic regions. After completing his PhD, Dr. Streletskiy worked on various NSF-founded projects and taught several courses for the GWU Deparment of Geography.

Dr. Streletskiy’s research combines field observations, GIS and modeling techniques to link cross-disciplinary approaches in evaluation of diverse impacts of climate change in the Arctic. Two NSF-founded projects reflect this work. One five- year project, established in collaboration with the Elliott School of International Affairs, is focused on supporting a research network on urban sustainability in Arc- tic Russia. The other is a three year project in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire that studies the impacts of climate change on hydrology in North- ern Eurasia.

In July, Dr. Streletskiy went to Siberia where he conducted field research for the projects. He also led an International Field Class on Permafrost. The field class, co- organized with Moscow State University for the third time, brought together nine students interested in various aspects of Arctic systems ranging from climate change to human impacts. Upon returning from Siberia, he went to Alaska to join the CALM team to collect field data on the permafrost active-layer. Dr. Streletskiy is excited to continue working at the Department in his new position.

New Post-Doctoral Research Assistant: Dr. Qin Yu Dr. Qin Yu is a post-doctoral research scientist, currently working with Dr. Ryan Engstrom, Dr. Nikolay Shiklomanov and Dr. Dmitry Streletskiy on various Arctic and Africa projects at the George Washington University. Her primary research interests focus on modeling and monitoring vegetation dynamics in various regions. She expects to establish and expand her research based on her previous work in the Arctic and other vulnerable ecosystems. She hopes her research can be part of the growing Arctic research group here at the Department of Geogra- phy.

Dr. Yu received her B.S. (2001) in Earth Sciences from Zhejiang University and M.S. (2004) in Cartography and GIS from the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Yu obtained her Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia in 2012. Her dissertation research examines the individual and interaction effects of environmental controls (climate and climate change, soil, herbivore and land use change) on tundra plant communities using ecological modeling and remote sensing methods at local, regional and circumpolar scales. After graduating, she collaborated with Dr. Amato Evan as a Research Associate on Sahara dust impact on four major regions based on CMIP5 data analyses. Dr. Yu is author of several peer- reviewed and edited publications. P A G E 3

New Director of the GIS Certificate Program: Dr. Nuala Cowan

Nuala Cowan has been teaching a range of geospatial techniques courses with the Department of Geography since 2006. During this time Ms. Cowan has also conducted research for the Center for Urban & Environmental Research, the geospatial research arm of the Geography Department. Nuala recently returned to the department as the Director of the GIS Certificate Program, due to launch in Fall 2014.

Ms. Cowan completed her doctorate at the GWU Institute of Crisis Disaster & Risk Management (ICDRM) in 2013. Her thesis research focused on developing a geospatial analysis framework to reconcile humanitarian needs with resource provision, and the application of GIS to this issue. To learn more about the GIS Certificate Program, contact Dr. Cowan at [email protected].

The Department Welcomes Visiting Scholar: Dr. Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh from Iran

Pirouz Mojtahed -Zadeh is an Iranian political geographer and historian. Professor Mo- jtahed-Zadeh obtained his Ph.D. in Political Geography from the University of Oxford.

Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh is a well-known auk-scholar of cations in Persian include; The Philosophy of Geopoli- Iran with expertise on territorial and boundary dis- tics and Geopolitics of the Virtual Space, and his publi- putes, especially those in the region of the Persian cations in English include Small Players of the Great Gulf. He contributed to the adjudication process of the Game and Boundary Politics and international bound- Bahrain-Qatar disputes at the International Court of aries of Iran, while Maritime Political Geography: The Justice (judgment delivered in March 2001). Persian Gulf Islands of Tunb and Abu Musa is in the process of publication in the USA. He currently teaches geopolitics and political geography at the University of Tehran. He has been an advi- Dr. Mojtahed-Zadeh is a member of the Academy of sor of the United Nations University (Tokyo) and has Persian Language and Literature and a number of aca- published more than 30 books, many book-chapters demic societies. He retired from Chairmanship of the and a large number of research papers and encyclope- Urosevic Research Foundation of London in 2011, af- dic entries in English and Persian, some of which have ter reaching the age of 65. been translated into other languages. His latest publi- P A G E 4

New Dorn C. McGrath, Jr. Award Created to Recognize Graduate Student Achievement In May 2013 the Department of Geography created the Dorn C. McGrath, Jr Award to recognize outstanding scholarship by a graduate student in the Department of Geography. The Award is named for the former Department Chair, Dorn McGrath, who led the Department of Geography from 1996 to 2003.

Emeritus Professor McGrath taught at the university for 35 years, first in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and later in the Department of Geography. He also founded the Center for Urban and Environmental Research (CUER), an active research center housed in the Department. Throughout his tenure at the university, he worked with area neighborhoods as well as district, state and federal governments to monitor land use changes and address planning concerns.

Dorn McGrath also worked closely with graduate students, su- pervising 65 Masters theses at GWU, many of them analyzing local problems and recommending plans for action. Although he retired in 2003, he is still active in local planning issues. On September 13, 2013 he was recognized for his work in Anacostia by the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum with the John R. Kinard Leadership in Community Service Award at a luncheon held at the Nation- al Press Club. The first McGrath Award was given last May to Jason Burgdorfer (MA 2013) who studied neighborhood effects on obesity in the District of Columbia. We were delighted to have Professor McGrath attend the award ceremony.

Recipient of the first Dorn C. McGrath, Jr. Award: Jason Burgdorfer

Jason Burgdorfer became enthralled by maps at a very young age, which established a foundation for his academic interest in geography. Jason discovered the discipline of Geography as an undergraduate student where he studied Geography and Geology at College of the Canyons and the University of California Santa Barbara where he earned his B.A. degree.

In the first year of the geography master's program at GWU, Jason served as a research assistant for Professor Ryan Engstrom. Jason used remote sensing and spatial analysis techniques to assist Professor Engstrom with his research on slum settlements in Accra, Ghana. In the second year of the program, as part of his master's thesis, Jason researched the spatial distribution of childhood obesity in the District of Columbia and its relationship to characteristics of neighborhood food and physical activity environments. In the future Jason would like to earn a doctorate degree, teach geography and geology at a community college while doing GIS work for research institutes and public agencies. P A G E 5

Building a House in Heaven: Pious Neoliberalism and Islamic Charity in Egypt By Mona Atia The Department is pleased to announce the release of Building a House in Heav- en: Pious Neoliberalism and Islamic Charity in Egypt by Mona Atia. Mona Atia is an Assistant Professor of Geography and International Affairs. She teaches courses about the intersection of civil society, geopolitics and financial networks in the contemporary Middle East. She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Washington. Mapping the landscape of charity and development in Egypt, the book reveals the factors that changed the nature of Egyptian charitable practices— the state’s intervention in social care and religion, an Islamic revival, intensified economic pressures on the poor, and the subsequent emergence of the private sector as a critical actor in development. She shows how, when individuals from Egypt’s private sector felt it necessary to address poverty, they sought to make Islamic charities work as engines of development, a practice that changed the function of charity from distributing goods to empowering the poor.

Drawing on interviews with key players, Atia explores the geography of Islamic charities through multiple neighborhoods, ideologies, sources of funding, projects, and wide social networks. Her work shifts between absorbing ethnographic stories of specific organizations and reflections on the patterns that ap- pear across the sector. The Institute for Middle East Studies at GWU will host a book launch for Dr. Atia on Thursday, Novem- ber 14 at 5:30 p.m., in Room 505 of the Elliott School (1957 E Street NW). Mona Atia will discuss her new book in a conversation with Diane Singerman, Associate Professor from the Department of Govern- ment, American University and Nathan Brown, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GWU. Books will be available for sale and all are welcome.

Geography Master’s Thesis Completed in 2012-2013

Amanda Osborne, “Seeds of Threat: Insecure Tenure and Governance in the Community Gardens of Washington D.C.”, 2013.

Azher Salikuddin, “Evaluating Transportation and Built Density of LEED Gold Certified Municipal Buildings,” 2013

Eileen Miller, "Creative Places: Post-Industrial Cultural Districts in the Urban Northeast," 2013.

Eric Ashcroft, “Using Remotely Sensed Data and Decision Tree Classifiers to Determine if the Changes in Accra, Ghana are Concentrated in the Most Vulnerable Areas,” 2012.

Jason Burgdorfer, “A Spatial and Statistical Analysis of Childhood Obesity in the District of Columbia,” 2013

Jessica Dell, “A GIS-Based Process Model for Transitional Settlement Site Selection,” 2013.

Leslie Jones, “An Examination of Coordinated Recovery Efforts for the Oswego River Area of Concern,” 2013

Lisa Colson, “Using High Resolution Remotely Sensed Data to Assess the Relationship between Population Den- sity and Impervious Surfaces in Accra, Ghana,” 2012.

Timothy Swales, “Quantitative Assessment of Climate Change on Infrastructure Stability in Russian Permafrost Regions,” 2013. P A G E 6 New Geography

Graduate Students

Lauren Cater

A Vermont native, Lauren earned her BA from American University in 2010 majoring in history and minoring in Arabic language. She spent two years studying abroad on an Erasmus Mundus graduate fellowship and received degrees in global studies and global history from the University of Leipzig and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her academic interests lie in understanding the relationship between economic and environmental change and she hopes to pursue a career working in sustainable or international development. In her free time, Lauren enjoys traveling and exploring new places and ideas.

Emmalee Dolfi

Emmalee Dolfi graduated from Colgate University in 2013 with a double major in Geography and Mathematics. She was a member of the varsity softball team at Colgate. Her research interests lie within physical geography, specifically applied GIS, Arctic environments, and weather. She enjoys taking walks with her dog and watching movies.

Evan Watson

Evan grew up in the mountains of Northern California and completed his undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz. He is interested in both physical and human aspects of geography. While in DC Evan hopes to develop a skill set he takes back to California and puts to good use. He enjoys riding bikes, fly-fishing, and other shenanigans.

Avery Sandborn

Avery graduated in 2013 from the University of Maryland-College Park with a BS in Geographic Information Sciences. She has worked on various environmental research projects at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, as well as participated in extensive archaeological research in Hawaii through an NSF funded program. Her interests within Geography and GIS include cartography, urban planning, transportation analysis, and emergency management. Avery also earned a BA in Flute Performance at Maryland where she performed with the university orchestras, chamber ensembles, and opera studio, and is looking forward to joining a local orchestra in DC. P A G E 7

Chris Dively

Chris Dively is originally from Western Pennsylvania and attended George Washington University, graduating in 2009 from the Elliott School. He currently lives in Arlington, VA and works for a DOD Contractor. His interests include sustainability and GIS. In his spare time he plays too many computer games and enjoys cooking and bike riding.

Madeline Hale

After graduating with a BS in geography and environmental planning from Towson University, Madeline (Maddy) spent a year working as a nursing assistant at the GW hospital where she decided that geography really is her one, true love. She looks forward to returning to her interests in human-environment interactions, feminist theory, cultural geography, hydrology, and environmental hazards. When not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling, being outdoors and practicing martial arts.

Zand Bakhtiari

Zand, originally form Chesapeake, Virginia, graduated from Old Dominion University with a B.S. in Geography. Although he spent a lot of time studying GIS, he is also interested in the more social side of Geography. These interests include the Middle East, Islam, political geography, historical mapping, and the learning other languages. In his spare time, Zand likes growing fruits and vegetables and meeting new people.

Kelsey Nyland

Kelsey was born and raised to “live free or die” in New Hampshire, but she is also a Washingtonian having received her B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies from GW this past May. Continuing her involvement in GW Arctic research, she hopes to focus on remote sensing applications, and modeling the effects of climate change in high latitude regions. Kelsey also enjoys long hikes through the tundra, swimming in the Arctic Ocean, and killing mosquitoes.

Yussef Esmail

Yussef is from Pacoima, California. He double majored in Geography and Liberal Arts at California State University, Northridge. His interests are in global political ecology, the politics of climate change, and geographies of inequality. In his spare time Yussef enjoys playing soccer, boxing and reading. P A G E 8

Alumni Dinner with Geography Seniors, November 2012 career opportunities available to geography students, and the choices each of them made from the time when they were geography seniors at GW, to their current employ- ment positions. After each member of the alumni group speaks, then alumni, faculty, and students mingle during dinner to further explore career guidance.

Alumni attending the 2012 event represented a range of positions from those in the federal government to private industry and included organizations such as; Booz Allen- Hamilton, The Department of Defense, The U.S. Depart- Alumni speak to graduating seniors during the Alumni Dinner ment of Agriculture, The National Geographic Society, and The George Washington University Department of Geog- the U.S. Census. Geography seniors prepared and contrib- raphy Senior Class, joined Geography Professors Joe Dy- uted the various courses of the meal in exchange for the mond and David Rain, and the Geography Department valuable advise provided to them by the alumni. Alumni Chair, Elizabeth Chacko, in hosting 15 Geography Alumni participating in the Fall 2012 event included: Derek Azar, for a student-made feast on Friday, November 30, 2012 in Crystal Bae, Kyle Cole, Lisa Colson, Victor Ecarma, Grace the Geography Department. The purpose of the annual Hearty, Matthew Kamisher-Koch, Daniel Kirkwood, Sam event is to give graduating seniors exposure to the ca- Salkin, Charlotte Schou, Emily Sciarillo, Alex Stegmaier, reer paths taken by their GW geography predecessors. Peter Tchoukaleff, and Kaitlin Yarnall. Many thanks to our The Alumni group gathers prior to the meal, and each alumni for offering their time, support, and advice to our alumnus briefly speaks to the students about the various graduating seniors! Mason Neck Senior Field Trips, October 2012 & 2013 Located about 40 minutes south of DC, Virginia’s Mason peers and confident they have created a network of col- Neck Peninsula serves as the field setting for a weekend- leagues and friends that will take them into the years be- long research and camping trip taken each year by the yond their undergraduate careers. GW Geography senior class. Geography seniors participate in Geography 4195W, the Geography major’s cap- stone course, which is also a writing-intensive course. The seniors form into research groups based on their interests, which have been as varied as measuring the growth of invasive plants, assessing the redevelopment of the former DC prison at Lorton, or preserving Bald Eagle habitat on Mason Neck.

The groups in the weeks prior formulate a research hy- pothesis, consult experts, and make a plan for data collection in and around the Mason Neck peninsula. They Mason Neck Field Trip Fall 2012: Anne Lausier, Caitlin Boucher, Joe also meet in committee to plan the field trip including Duffey, Curtis Davis & Emily Trautwein, a few of the geography seniors arranging the meals and transportation. During the weekend itself, the group arrives on Friday evening, gets a campfire going and prepares the first dinner. Saturday of the field trip is focused the data collection, with students dropped off at various points on Mason Neck to inter- view park users, for instance, or assess the quality of hiking trails. On Saturday evening students sometimes hike to the bluff above Belmont Bay or play a game of capture the flag. The trip serves multiple purposes from providing valuable field experience to serving as a bonding opportunity for the seniors. Each year the students come back from the trip feeling more connected to their geography Mason Neck Field Trip 2013: GW Geography senior class P A G E 9

the GW Department & of Geography Juan José Valdez, a Geographer at National Geographic and Mr. Pommer added that “National Geographic Maps takes a Director of Editorial and Research of National Geographic great deal of pride in the integrity and quality of the work Maps, was the honored guest speaker during the GW Geog- they produce, which I was able to see and take part in during raphy Department’s celebration of Geography Awareness my internship. This experience gave me an insight into the Week in the fall 2012 semester. The Valdez presentation, internal operations of one of the world's leading geographic entitled “Being a National Geographic Cartographer – or - So and environmental organizations. I was able to take on a you take pictures for the magazine?” was delivered to a great deal of responsibility and coordinate a new and exciting standing room only crowd of GW faculty, students, and Nat Geo Maps project, which allowed me to understand how alumni. Several of the students and alumni present at the a map is produced from the ground up. I don't think I could talk interned with Valdez at National Geographic during have gained a greater geographic experience at any other their undergraduate and graduate careers at GW. organization, especially as I can now look at any National Ge- ographic map and smile because I know the people and per- Mr. Valdez’s presentation is part of an ongoing relationship severance that goes into each and every piece of cartograph- the GW Department of Geography has with the National ic mastery. Today, as a professional geographer, I am proud Geographic Society (Nat Geo). A significant part of the GW- to say that I was a part of our profession's leading society.” Nat Geo relationship is an internship program where GWU Geography and Environmental Studies students intern each Juan Valdez provided the Nat Geo perspective of the intern- semester in several departments at Nat Geo. Geography ship program with the student interns participate in semester-long internship pro- following comments: grams while earning Geography internship credits under “National Geographic the guidance of Geography faculty advisor, Joe Dymond. Maps' internship pro- Student interns work for the National Geographic Maps gram just celebrated its Group on various map and atlas projects, the National Geo- fifth anniversary. Dur- graphic Bee – a nationwide competition where 4th-8th grade ing this time, the major- students from thousands of schools across the United ity of students accept- States compete in an entertaining and challenging test of ed into our program geographic knowledge, National Geographic Traveler maga- have come from the zine, and the National Geographic Education Department, National Geographic Staff at the Fall barbe- Department of Geogra- among other Nat Geo departments. cue hosted by Joe and Maureen Dy- phy at The George mond. (Left to right) Kaitlin Yarnall (MA Washington University. Geography Seniors, Kyle Mackie and Alex Pommer, class of 08), Juan Valdez and his wife, Kathy Valdez. This is no coincidence, 2013, both interned in the Nat Geo Maps Group under the for all have come well guidance of Juan Valdez during the 2012-2013 academic prepared with a sound geographic education. Our internship year. Mackie contributed to the National Geographic Global exposes students to real world mapmaking processes. They Atlas, the forthcoming 10th Edition of the National Geo- are well mentored in the fine art of cartographic research and graphic Atlas of the World, and various destination and ref- editing, and by the end of their tenure I often hear these part- erence maps ranging from a Poconos destination map to an ing words: "Thank you so much for the experience. I'll never Asia-Pacific regional map commissioned by the U.S. State look at a map the same way as I did before I started my in- Department. She described her experience at Nat Geo as an ternship." “excellent, rewarding, once in a lifetime opportunity.” Mackie said that working under the guidance of Juan Val- The Geography Department at GW looks forward to continu- dez and his dedicated team of researchers and editors ena- ing the internship programs, and other collaborative rela- bled her to get a behind- the-scenes look at how Nat Geo tions, with the National Geographic Society in the coming maps are made, and to experience the hard work and at- years and is thankful for the learning opportunities and “real tention to detail that goes into each map product. Among the glowing statement Kyle provided about her experience world” experience interning at Nat Geo provides to at Nat Geo was her summation that the most rewarding our majors . part of her internship was working with the people of the Maps Group whom she described as very “welcoming and willing to teach.” P A G E 10 Senior Awards Geography & Environmental Studies Senior Awards 2013

Muriel H. Parry Award Presented to a Geography Senior in Recognition of Scholarly Excellence Jeff Kline Jeff Kline was born and raised in Pennsylvania, studied abroad in Berlin, Germany, and traveled to more than 14 countries during the duration of his undergraduate studies. He discovered Geography in Professor Chacko’s Geography of South Asia course, where he realized that his interest in international affairs and security could be complemented and enhanced through a spatial lens. Jeff took advantage of GW’s vast professional networks and prime location to secure three internships during his undergraduate career. The first was with The Center for a Free Cuba, analyzing and tracking Cuban espionage cases in the United States (especially within the Cuban diaspora). His second internship was with Arc Aspicio, where he researched and supported a variety of projects across the Department of Homeland Security. Additionally, Jeff applied his geographic knowledge during his time at the State Department, where he served as an intern in the European and Eurasian Affairs Bureau working on Counterterrorism and United Nations issues. Jeff asserts that his additional major in Geography was an invaluable experience. Jeff is currently working as a government consultant on homeland security and intelligence issues in the D.C. area. In the near future, he hopes to pursue graduate studies in Geography, focusing on the spatial implications of violent extrem- ism and terrorism.

Robert D. Campbell Prize Presented to a Geography Senior for Outstanding Leadership & Scholarship Kelsey Nyland Kelsey Nyland graduated with a double major in Geography and Environmental Studies, and minors in Biolo- gy and Geographic Information Systems. Throughout her undergraduate career, Kelsey was actively in- volved in Arctic research, spending her summers conducting fieldwork in Russia and Alaska. Since her freshman year, Kelsey worked with Professors Nikolay Shiklomanov and Dmitry Streletskiy in their ongoing NSF- funded permafrost monitoring research efforts. With their mentorship, she published her first peer- reviewed paper titled, “Effect of Vegetation on Soil-Surface Temperatures in Northern Alaska” in the Pro- ceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Permafrost. Kelsey was also awarded numerous university fellowships to conduct her own independent research projects. In 2011, Kelsey received the GW Luther Rice Fellowship, which helped her to study paleo-permafrost conditions in the mid-Atlantic region using cutting edge mineralogical analysis developed in Russia. And in 2012, Kelsey was awarded the GW Under- graduate Fellowship. For this project she collaborated with the local government of Barrow, Alaska and the indigenous Inupiat people to map the village’s ice cellars (Siġ-uaq), a traditional food storage practice currently endangered by the warming climate. Kelsey’s passion for Arctic environments and peoples inspired her to continue her research and education in the Department of Geography Masters Program.

Thomas Foggin Award Presented to an Environmental Studies Senior for Scholarly Excellence

James Hark Jamie has always had a strong passion for nature and the environment, and after speaking with Professor David Rain during his freshman year, he found the Environmental Studies program to be a perfect fit. After declaring his major, he went on to study Geography and GIS as well. Over the course of his undergraduate career at GWU, Jamie applied his coursework to various internships with the National Geographic Socie- ty, Casey Trees, and Senator John Kerry’s office. In the summer of 2012 Jamie studied abroad at the Center for Sustainable Development Studies in Costa Rica, where he gained hands-on exposure to ecology and sustainability in action. Post-graduation, Jamie is currently using the skills he acquired in the Environmental Studies program to pursue a career in cartography and climate change adaptation. He started a job at Ap- pgeo, a GIS consulting company in Boston, right after graduation. Research Awards P A G E 11 2013 Campbell Graduate Summer Research Awards Four MA students were awarded the highly competitive Campbell Graduate Summer Research Grants in 2013.

The grants assist with travel and other support for graduate thesis research.

Amber Boykin received the award to conduct her research project “Painted Spaces: Place-identity, street art, and urban (re) development in Baltimore City.” Kristin Pyne trekked to Alaska this summer for research on “Detecting Snow-pack Development Using Tempera- ture Observations in Arctic Alaska.” Jennifer Rowland was also awarded a summer research award for “Conceptualizing Urban Green Space within Municipal Sustainability Plans.” Jillian Sherman received a grant for her project “GMO Resistance Movements and the “Ethical” Geographies of Food.” GW Undergraduate Research Award Recipient: Geography Senior, Mitch Langley Geography Senior Mitch Langley received a GW Undergraduate Research Award in 2013 to study limited-stop bus service provision and quality in socially vulnerable areas in Guayaquil, Ecuador; Santiago, Chile; and Lima, Peru. The comparative analysis approach Mitch is taking with his research adds significant depth to existing research on bus rapid transit systems (BRT) and other limited- stop services. Langley’s examination of Guayaquil and Lima is the first of its type for those two South American cities. Working with his Geography faculty advisor, Professor Joseph Dymond, Mitch developed a methodology which uti- lizes a comparison of arithmetic and principal components analyses to identify socially vulnerable urban districts within the cities under investigation. After identifying vulnerable districts, he selected limited-stop bus lines to investigate within each district from the Metrovía system in Guayaquil, Transantiago in San- tiago, and the Metropolitano system in Lima. He used OpenStreetMap, a free Web-based geospatial open source database, to run spatial analysis in Quantum GIS, creating map products to back up his selections.

Three weeks of field study in August took Mitch to Ecuador, Chile, and Peru, Writing a field summary at lunch in where he spent five to six days each week riding trunk and feeder bus lines. He Guayaquil compared service provision (i.e. whether an area had service or not) and quality (i.e. a relative level of service) against amalgamated standards of BRT using a “yes-no,” ten-point evaluation system. While many cities display their new limited-stop bus systems as BRT, the reality is that few socially vulnerable areas are serviced by BRT systems – instead, lower quality feeder routes funnel large amounts of people from vulnerable areas into terminal stations.

Mitch is now writing a paper summarizing the results of the data he collected in South America. In the spring, he will present his research at the Student Associ- ation’s Research Day and at the Association of American Geographers’ Annual Documenting bus stop quality in Puente Meeting. He also intends to submit his research for publication in a refereed Alto, Santiago, Chile journal. P A G E 12 Funded

Field Research in Arctic Alaska

GW Geography graduate student Kelsey Nyland and Geography/ Environmental Study undergraduate student Stephen Ross.

The Arctic field investigations continued this summer as part of the Students cross the Arctic circle along the Dalton High- Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) project funded by the way. Arctic Observing Networks program of the NSF. The CALM project is designed to monitor the long-term response of the active layer and near-surface permafrost parameters in various climatic and edaphic conditions characteristic of the circumpolar Arctic. Geography Mas- ters students Kristen Pyne and Kelsey Nyland, and undergraduate student Stephen Ross, traveled to the North Slope of Alaska to assist in field research and to study the Arctic climate and landscapes with professors the Geoge Washington University (Shiklomanov, Streletskiy), University of Montana (Klene) and University of Dela- ware (Nelsion).

GW Professor Shiklomanov explains to his colleagues The students participated in the North Slope field and safety training from University of Colorado and Stanford about the in Fairbanks before they embarked on their journey up the Dalton procedure utilized by CALM to measure annual heave Highway, one of the most isolated roads in the United States that and subsidence of the ground surfaces. was built to support the Alaska pipeline in the 1970s. Along the way they crossed the Arctic Circle and mighty Yukon River, and stopped at the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center in Coldfoot. The team visited both the Prudhoe Bay oil fields and Toolik Field Station, where they had a chance to communicate with and learn from Arctic scien- tists from very diverse disciplines and institutions. Part of the group also visited Barrow, the northernmost community in the United States. A few others got to travel to Nome on the Seward Peninsula.

The trip was a once in a lifetime experience and included helicopter rides to field sites, wildlife observation, and hiking in the Brooks Range. Aside from having fun, students participated in active research and learned advanced field techniques, instrumentation and data processing. GW Geography students who participated in Alaska University of Montana Professor Anna Klene and GW field research are currently processing the data. They intend to pre- Geography graduate student Kristen Pyne study one of the CALM air and soil temperature sites in Arctic sent their research at the annual meeting of the Association of Alaska. American Geographers. P A G E 13 Research

Field Research in Eurasia

Dr. Streletskiy received a three year NSF grant titled “Interactions between air temperature, permafrost and hydrology in the high latitudes of Eura- sia.” In collaboration with the Universi- ty of New Hampshire, this three year research project focuses on the impacts of climate change on Arctic hydrology since numerous studies indi- cate that the signal of climate change in Northern Eurasia has already ex- ceeded the level of natural climate variability.

The research is aimed specifically at Yenisey, the largest river flowing to the Arctic Ocean, shows an increasing trend in discharge during summer periods. Increasing summer temperatures and understanding how increases in air thawing of permafrost may explain the observed trends in stream flow. temperature can promote changes in magnitude and timing of river fluctua- tion and describes the physical processes driving these changes. The project has extensive field component in the regions of Igraka and Kolyma. Both of these areas are part of the GWU- hosted CALM network.

In these locations, data on climatic, hydrologic and permafrost characteristics is collected at a series of repre- sentative watersheds in order to assess the role of river ice formation, permafrost degradation and increasing air temperatures on river stream flow. The field data collected during this three year period will be used to feed the models scaling local observa- Collecting permafrost samples for isotope analyses. tions to larger areas. P A G E 14 Summer 2013 Activities

Arctic Urban Sustainability Field Research and the Annual International Permafrost Field Course

This July, a diverse group of GW students traveled to the central Si- berian city of Noril’sk in order to conduct field research for two new complementary research projects; a NSF-funded project called, “Building a Research Network for Promoting Arctic Urban Sustaina- bility in Russia,” and a National Research Council of Norway-funded project called, “Arctic Urban Sustainability in Russia.” The team included GW Geography Professors Nikolay Shiklomanov and Dmitry Streletskiy, University of Delaware Geography professor Frederick Nelson, Research Professor Marlene Laurelle from the GW Elliott School’s Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, re- Professor Streletskiy shows students ground ice and lectures on ice wedge formation. cent GW Master’s graduates Colin Reisser and Genevieve Parente, incoming GW Master’s student Kelsey Nyland, and GW undergraduate students Trevor Ceneviva and Lauren Daupin all participated.

The group met in Krasnoyarsk where they boarded a ship and sailed north on the Yenisei River, one of the largest rivers in the world. The Yenisey slices Russia roughly in half and has a distinct longitudinal direction. Traveling from Karsnoyasrk to Dudinka, the group wit- nessed the bioclimatic conditions transition from the southern taiga near Krasnoyarsk to the forest-tundra in Dudinka first hand. After traveling almost 2,000 km and crossing the Arctic Circle to reach Dudinka, the group arrived in the city of Noril’sk, the largest city on permafrost and one of the largest mining industry centers in the Measuring active layer at a CALM permafrost Arctic. The following week was spent conducting interviews and monitoring site outside of Noril’sk. From left to right; Lauren Dauphin, Kelsey Nyland, and investigating various aspects of current or potential sustainable as- Trevor Ceneviva. pects of the city. The group investigated a wide range of topics including migration patterns, public policies, and engineering practices.

In addition to the field work, Professor Streletskiy, Kelsey Nyland, Trevor Ceneviva and Lauren Dauphin participated in the annual In- ternational Permafrost Field Course organized jointly by the GW Ge- ography Department and Moscow State University’s Department of Cryolithology and Glaciology. The class visited local museums and went on several excursions including attending meetings with rep- resentatives of the city’s administration and visiting mining head- quarters, factories, extraction facilities, and construction companies Professor Streletskiy gives a lecture from the in order to learn about the diverse effects of permafrost on urban top of the world’s largest technogenic rock glacier. Arctic lifestyles. NASA Grant/GTU 2013 Induction P A G E 15

Studying the Urban Transition in Ghana Dr. Engstrom is part of a team ed the position and is now working towards her Mas- that was recently awarded a $1 ter’s degree here in the Geography Department. million NASA grant to study the urban transition and its rela- The overall goal of the project is to determine if rural tionship to land use and land to urban migration is driving changes in the built envi- cover change in Ghana by the ronment using a combination of high and medium NASA Interdisciplinary Sciences program. This three resolution satellite data from 2000-2010. Additionally, year project focuses on mapping land cover change the project is seeking to determine if the quality of in the rural areas and within four major cities in life for urban inhabitants can be inferred from infor- southern Ghana including Accra, Kumasi, Obuasi, mation obtained using remotely sensed data. and Cape Coast. The role for the GW research group is to acquire and This project is a follow on and expansion of the work process the high resolution satellite data from NASA that was previously funded by the National Institute to provide inputs for the medium resolution land cov- of Health (NIH) that focused on Accra. The project is er change mapping and to determine the amount of a collaboration between Geography researchers within city change that has occurred during the 10 from The George Washington University, San Diego year study period. To date, GW has received over 2 State University (SDSU) and the University of Califor- Terabytes of high resolution satellite data from the nia Santa Barbara (UCSB). As part of the project Dr. Quickbird, IKONOS, and Geoeye sensors that covers Engstrom will fund one graduate assistant every nearly the entire country of Ghana. Currently we are year. Starting this fall, Avery Sanborn, who was re- developing efficient, automated ways to process and cently awarded her Bachelor’s degree from the Uni- derive information from this extremely large data set. versity of Maryland in Geographical Sciences, accept-

2013 Gamma Theta Upsilon Congratulations to the GWU Geographers for their recent induction into Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU), the In- ternational Geographical Honor Society. This group of exceptional GWU Geographers were inducted into GTU at the end of the Spring 2013 semester by faculty sponsor Joe Dymond, based on the number of geography credits they earned, and their overall Geography major GPAs.

The society, founded in 1928, furthers professional interest in geography, encourages geography student research, awards funds for graduate study in geography, and advances the status of the discipline for study and investigation. Geography Seniors and 2012-2013 GTU Initiates pose with their GTU Certificates on the stairs of Old Main. We are very proud of our GTU inductees and wish them Front Row: Alex Pommer, Kyle Mackiem Anne Lausier, and James well as ambassadors for the Geography Department at Hark, Back Row: Joe Reynolds, Aaron Eubank, Phil Tilly, and Peter Joyce. Not present for the photo: Jeff Kline, and Gillian Weeks. GWU and for the discipline of Geography. GTU members showing off their spatial skills! P A G E 16

Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, April 2013, Los

STUDENT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS Angeles, California.

Undergraduate students Timothy Swales and Ellen Hatleberg, “Changing Permafrost and Arctic Lauren Benne. Urban Sustainability in Bangkok, Thailand, Population: a quantitative assessment for the Russian Arctic” Undergraduate honors thesis project. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Permafrost, 2012, Vol. 4, 579-582, The Northern Publisher, Salekhard, Russia, K.M. Hinkel Anne Lausier. Poster presentation at the OVPR "Research Days 2013". Editor.

Kelsey Nyland, Shiklomanov N.I., Streletskiy, D.A., Klene, A.E., Nelson FACULTY PUBLICATIONS F.E., Effect of Vegetation on Soil-Surface Temperatures in Northern Alaska, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Books Permafrost, 2012, Vol. 1, 295-302, The Northern Publisher, Salekhard, Lisa Benton-Short and John Rennie Short, Cities and Nature, Second Russia, K.M. Hinkel Editor. Edition, London and New York: Routledge, ISBN : 978-0-415-62556-2.

Kelsey Nyland and Anna Klene. Inipiaq ice cellars, thermal regime Michael Bradshaw, George White, Joseph Dymond and Elizabeth monitoring in Barrow, Alaska. Inupiat Studies Conference (October Chacko, Contemporary World Regional Geography, Dubuque: McGraw- 2012, Smithsonian, Washington DC), Hill, 4th Ed, 2012.

Kelsey Nyland. Presented a poster at the Annual Meeting of the Marie Price and Elizabeth Chacko. Migrants’ Inclusion in Cities: American Geophysical Union (December 2012, San Francisco, CA), Innovative Urban Policies and Practices. United Nations through UN- HABITAT and UNESCO. Published in English and Spanish. Kelsey Nyland. Mapping the distribution of traditional Inupiaq ice cellars in Barrow, Alaska. Annual Meeting of the Association of Les Rowntree, Martin Lewis, Marie Price and William Wyckoff, American Geographers (April 2013, Los Angeles, California). Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 4th edition. Gloriana Sojo. Regional and Local Impacts of Infrastructure Projects in the Costa-Rica - Nicaraguan Border Area presented at the PGS- Chapters in Books MADAAG annual meeting Salisbury, MD, November 2, 2012. Lisa Benton-Short and Nathaniel Lewis, Cities of the United States and Canada, In Cities of the World, ISBN : null,2012, Stan Brunn, Maureen Gloriana Sojo. “The motivations and impacts behind infrastructure Hays-Mitchell and Don Ziegler (editors) Cities of the World, 5th Edition. development projects in the Costa Rica – Nicaraguan Border Region.” Rowman and Littlefield. pp 51-100. Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. April 2013, Los Angeles, California. Marie Price, Hispanic Entrepreneurship in a Global City: The Bolivian Diaspora in Washington DC, In The Hispanic Presence in Washington, DC, Graduate students 2012, edited by Enrique Pumar. Bingley, UK: Emerald Press. Pp. 133-153. Bartlett Bickell. “Mapping the evolution of the cultural landscape of the Great Dismal Swamp – 18th century to present”. Annual Meeting of Shiklomanov N.I., and Nelson F.E., Active Layer and Thaw Processes, the Association of American Geographers, April 2013, Los Angeles, Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science, In: Elias S.A. (ed.) The California Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science, vol. 3, pp. 421-429. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Jason Burgdorfer and Ryan R. Engstrom. “Childhood Obesity in the District of Columbia: Effects of Neighborhood Food and Physical Activity Shiklomanov N.I., and Nelson F.E., Thawing Processes and Environments.” Race, Ethnicity, and Place Conference, October 2012, Thermokarst, A Treatise on Geomorphology, In: Treatise on San Juan, Puerto Rico. Geomorphology, In: John F. Shroder (ed.) Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 8, pp. 354-373. San Diego: Academic Press. Amanda Osborne. “Insecure tenure and access: “Community” gardens in the District of Columbia”. Annual Meeting of the Association of Anisimov O.A., Anohin Y.A., Lavrov S.A., Malkova G.V., Pavlov A.V., American Geographers, April 2013, Los Angeles, California. Streletskiy D.A., Shiklomanov N.I. (in alphabetical order), Continental Permafrost., Modern Methods of climate change assessments in Russia, Kristen Pyne. “Detecting snow-pack development using temperature ISBN : null,2012, C.M. Semenov Editor, Roshydromet, Moscow, Russia, observations in Arctic Alaska”. Annual Meeting of the Association of 301-359 (In Russian), Semenov S.M. (ed.),Chapter 8. American Geographers, April 2013, Los Angeles, California Shiklomanov N.I., and Streletskiy D.A., Effect of Cryosphere Changes Boykin A, Gaskins M, Jackson S, McDonell C, Mann ML. (Accepted on Siberian Infrastructure, Environmental Changes in Siberia: Regional 2013) “The Impacts of School District Spending: Exploring the Changes and their Global Consequences, ISBN : null,2012, Springer Connection Between School District Expenditures and Graduation Environmental Science and Engineering Series, Springer, New York, Rates in Virginia,” Papers of the Applied Geography Conferences London, 155-170P.Y Groisman and G.Gutman (eds.)

Arevalo C, Peto B, Suaya A, Mann ML. (Accepted 2013) “Demographic Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles & Conference

changes and Gentrification in Washington D.C. Between 2000 and Proceedings 2010,” Papers of the Applied Geography Conferences Mona Atia, A Way to Paradise: Pious Neoliberalism, Islam, and Faith-

based Development, Annals of the Association of American Timothy Swales, “Quantitative Assessment of Climate Change on Geographers. Vol 102 (4); 808-827. Infrastructure Stability in Russian Permafrost Regions” Annual

Gilbert, E., Mona Atia., P A G E 17

Slater, M., and Goede, M., Reading Marieke de Goedes, Speculative Sustainability Journal, Vol 5, No.3, 104-119. Security, Political Geography, Review Article, 1-9. Streletskiy, D.A., Shiklomanov, N.I., Nelson F.E., Spatial variability of Elizabeth Chacko and R. Menon, Longings and belongings: Indian permafrost active-layer thickness under contemporary and projected American youth identity, folk dance competitions, and the climate in Northern Alaska,, Polar Geography, 2012, Vol 35 (2), pp 95- construction of ‘tradition’, Ethnic & Racial Studies, 36(1): 97-116. 2013 116 DOI: 10.1080/1088937X.2012.680204

Elizabeth Chacko and P. Gebre, Leveraging the diaspora: lessons Shiklomanov, N.I., Streletskiy, D.A., Nelson, F.E., Northern from Ethiopia., GeoJournal, 78(3): 495-505. 2013 Hemisphere Component of the Global Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) Program, Proceedings of the 10th International Elizabeth Chacko and Marie Price, “The Role of the Diaspora in Conference on Permafrost, 2012, Vol. 1, 377-384, The Northern Development: The Case of Ethiopian and Bolivian Immigrants in the Publisher, Salekhard, Russia, K.M.Hinkel Editor USA,” Migration, 5:5-19 (Tbilisi, Georgia). 2012 Nyland K.E., Shiklomanov N.I., Streletskiy, D.A., Klene, A.E., Nelson David J. Mathison, James M. Chamberlain, Nuala Cowan, Ryan F.E., Effect of Vegetation on Soil-Surface Temperatures in Northern Engstrom, Anthony Shoo, Linda Fu, Stephen J. Teach,, Primary Care Alaska, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Spatial Density and Non-urgent Emergency Department Utilization: A Permafrost, 2012, Vol. 1, 295-302, The Northern Publisher, Salekhard, New Methodology for Evaluating Access to Care, Academic Pediatrics, Russia, K.M. Hinkel Editor. 13:279-285 doi:10.1016/j.acap.2013.02.006. Streletskiy, D.A., Shiklomanov, N.I., Hatleberg E., Infrastructure and a Azar,D., Ryan Engstrom, Graesser, J. and Comenetz, J., Generation of Changing Climate in the Russian Arctic: A geographic Impact fine-scale population layers using multi-resolution satellite imagery Assessment, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on and geospatial data, Remote Sensing of Environment, 2013, 130 219-232. Permafrost, 2012, K.M. Hinkel Editor, The Northern Publisher, DOI:10.1016/j.rse.2012.11.022 Salekhard, Russia, Vol. 1, 407-414.

Ryan Engstrom, Ofiesh, C., David Rain, Jewell, H., and Weeks, J., Streletskiy, D.A., Shiklomanov N.I., Grebenets V.I. 2012. Changes of Defining Neighborhood Boundaries for Urban Health Research in foundation bearing capacity due to climate warming in Northwest Developing Countries: A Case Study of Accra, Ghana, Journal of Maps, Siberia. Earth Cryosphere XVI, 1, 22-32. (in Russian) DOI:10.1080/17445647.2013.765366. Streletskiy, D.A., Shiklomanov N.I., Nelson F.E. 2012. Permafrost, Melissa Keeley. et al., Practitioner perspectives on the integration of infrastructure and climate change: A GIS-based landscape approach green infrastructure into stormwater management in Cleveland and to geotechnical modeling. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 44 Milwaukee, Environmental Management, (April 2013), 51(6 ), 1093-1108. (3), 368-380. DOI: 10.1657/1938-4246-44.3.368.

Nickel, D.; Schoenfelder, W.; Medearis, D.; Dolowitz, D.; Melissa Keeley; Shuster, W., German experience in managing stormwater Student and Faculty Notes with green infrastructure, Journal of Environmental Planning and Two GW geography majors participated in the World Geogra- Management, (February 2013) Advance online publication, phy Bowl in Los Angeles, California at the Association of doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2012.748652 American Geographers Meeting in April 2013. Raynell Cooper and Chris Hart (BA 2015 expected) were on the Mid-Atlantic Dolowitz, D., Melissa Keeley and Medearis, D., Stormwater Management: can we learn from others?, Policy Studies, (August Division Team which was undefeated in preliminary rounds 2012), 33(6), 1-21. (Invited article). 10.1080/01442872.2012.722289 and finished second place in the finals. Congratulations Raynell and Chris! Hunter C, Baldwin JG, Michael Mann, The Financial Viability of Solar Geography students and Photovoltaic Canopies as Urban Climate Change Mitigation: An friends participated in Analysis of the Potential Utilization of Public Space in Boston the Clarendon 5K Fun Massachusetts, Energy and Environment Research, 3(1) Run on Sept. 28, 2013. From left to right: Ivan Michael Mann, Kaufmann RK, Bauer DM, Gopal S, Baldwin JG, Vera- Cheung, Sara Wiley, Rich- Diaz MDC, Ecosystem service value and agricultural conversion in the Amazon: Implications for policy intervention, Environmental and ard Hinton, Nuala Cowan Resource Economics. and Joe Dymond.

Romanovsky V.E., Smith S. L., Christiansen H. H., Shiklomanov N.I., Alumni Notes Streletskiy, D.A., Drozdov D. S., Oberman N. G., Kholodov A. L., Camille Fisher Galdes (MA 2011) accepted a position in May Marchenko S. S., Permafrost, NOAA Arctic Report Card 2011, Permafrost [in Arctic Report Card 2012],http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/ with the Pew Research Center in Washington DC as a Re- reportcard search Associate. In October 2012 she married Andrew Galdes in Boston Massachusetts. The couple now lives in Alexandria. Parente, G., Shiklomanov N.I., Streletskiy, D.A., Living in the New North: Migration to and from Russian Arctic Cities, Focus on Adam Eckstein (BA 2009) is working as a Policy Analyst for Geography, 2012, 55(3):77-89. the Manhattan Borough President's Office writing policy reports, op-eds, and press releases. Prior to this job, he worked Grebenets, V., Streletskiy, D.A., Shiklomanov, N.I. 2012. Geotechnical for the New York City research center called Center for an safety issues in the cities of Polar Regions. Geography, Environment, Urban Future. P A G E 18

Tim Swales (MA 2013) just landed a job working in Cu- Ben Hyman (BA 2010) was hired as Executive Director of pertino, CA for ProUnlimited, a company that Apple con- Pigtown Main Street in Baltimore, a non-profit dedicated tracts with. He is a GIS Technician for Apple maps. to the commercial revitalization of Pigtown, a historic neighborhood near the Inner Harbor. He writes “the job Nicole Svajlenka (MA 2010) co-authored a Brookings is a blast and I'm applying much of what I learned in the Institution Report on Child Immigrants that was featured Geography Department to the job.” The Main Streets in the Washington Post and the New York program has internship opportunities for Geography stu- Times on August 14, 2013. dents interested in economic geography or urban plan- Cary Fukui (BA 2012) is beginning a Masters degree in ning. There are over 700 programs nationwide, from Urban Planning at NYU this fall. Prior to returning to large cities to small towns. The program is housed out of school he worked for the Department of City Planning in the National Trust for Historic Preservation in DC. Learn NYC on transportation issues. more about Pigtown Mainstreet at Facebook.com/PigtownMainSt Benjamin Nathan (BA 2012) works in Washington DC for the EPA, in the Drinking Water and Protection Division of John Tuminaro (MA 1994) is now the Senior Food Securi- the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water. He ty Advisor in the Office of Human Security at the U.S. De- writes “I work a lot with GIS and am constantly using the partment of State where he has worked for 20 skills and knowledge I received from my geography stud- years. John lives in Northern Virginia and has two chil- ies in our monitoring and management of nationwide dren, ages 6 and 10. drinking water data.” Courtney Whitworth (MA 2001) and Travis Whitworth Jenny Brown (MA 2004) recently accepted a position as (BA 2000) live in Beijing with their two children and work an Associate Planner for Washington County, which is at the U.S. Embassy. In November 2012 they hosted Pro- just outside of Portland, Oregon. She has retired from fessors Chacko and Price in their home for several days her former job as ferry boat captain in Marion County, when they were visiting China for a conference on the Oregon. Chinese Diaspora.

Evan Feeney (BA 2012) reports that last year he worked Crystal Bae (Geography Minor, 2012) is at the University for the international advocacy group Avaaz as an Opera- of Santa Barbara pursuing a Master’s degree/Ph.D. in tions Associate. While at Avaaz he traveled to Italy to geography. She distinguished herself among the other protest the murder of Syrian children at the U.N., fight graduate students by biking to California from Washing- for an end to global oil subsidies, reproductive rights, ton, DC. The trip took 88 days and she cycled 4,651 LGBT rights, Maui Dolphins and so much more. In April, miles. he moved back to Washington DC as a Government Affairs Program Assistant for the Natural Resources De- Lisa Colson (MA 2012) is working for the US Department fense Council. There he works to defend critical environ- of Agriculture for the Foreign Agricultural Service and mental regulation such as the National Environmental lives in the District of Columbia. Policy Act and advancing the President's climate agenda. He has been putting his geographic skills to work on In Memoriam NRDC's new GIS institute. And finally, he continues his Richard W. Stephenson (BA 1962) of political activism with the DC Divest program, a volun- Winchester, Virginia passed away this teer group that has been working since April to get the September at the age of 82. For District Council to divest all it's public funds from the top much of his career he worked at the 200 fossil fuel companies. Library of Congress where he was

head of the Geography and Map Ewa Wieslaw (BA 2010) is living in Chicago and just start- Reading Room from 1987 until 1992, ed her first year of law school at DePaul University. She when he retired. He was a specialist plans to graduate in 2016. in American Cartographic History,

active in the Washington Map Society and curated a Li- Zach Schulman (BA 2007, MA 2009) is currently working brary of Congress exhibit called “City of Magnificent Dis- for United States Coast Guard as a th tances: The Nation’s Capital” commemorating the 200 Knauss Marine Policy Fellow. This anniversary of L’Enfant’s plan of Washington DC. year he made his first trip to the

Arctic, a region of the world Zach Mr. Stephenson received a BA in Geography from GWU in studied for his MA in Geography. 1962 and a M.S. in Library Science from Catholic Universi- The mission he was on was featu ty. He received numerous awards such as the Library of red on the National Geographic Congress Superior Service award (1992); the Special Society web page : Achievement Award (1990); and the Meritorious Service http:// Award (1969); the Geography and Map Division Special news.nationalgeographic.com/ Library Association’s Honors Award (1977); and the Amer- news/energy/2013/09/130913- ican Congress on Surveying and Mapping’s award for arctic-oil-spill-cleanup-technology/ Outstanding Service to Surveying and Mapping (1988). P A G E 19

Congratulations to the Class of 2013!

M.A. in Geography Jason Burgdorfer Julianna Kuhn Kathryn Schindler Jessica Dell Eileen Miller Timothy Swales Anna Findley Amanda Osborne Geoffrey Swanson Leslie Jones Azher Salikuddin B.A. in Geography Cole Ashcraft Jack Greenhouse Alex Pisciarino Caitlin Boucher James Hark Alexander Pommer Grace Campbell Alexander Kemp Joseph Reynolds Anita Davidson Samuel Johnson David Smentek Curtis Davis Jeffrey Kline Phillip Tilly Amanda Destefano Anne Lausier Christina Valentiner Joseph Duffey Hae Youn Lee Jerry Wauford Kristen Dunphey Lokyee Lui Gillian Weeks Alyssa Edwards Kyle Mackie Maura Welch Aaron Eubank Kelsey Nyland Justyna Felusiak Kendall Pauley B.A. in Environmental Studies Alexander Alvendia James Hark Kelsey Nyland Arjun Awasthi Corinne Haynes Ellen Park Sarah Cahlan Rosemary Holt Kirstie Polentz Grace Campbell Jeremy Iloulian Alexander Pommer Samuel Catherman Samuel Johnson Joseph Reynolds Curtis Davis Alexander Kemp Isabelle Riu Amanda Destefano Jeffrey Kline Analise Rivero Kristen Dunphey Mitchell Langley David Smentek Alyssa Edwards Anne Lausier Christina Valentiner Aaron Eubank Hae Youn Lee Gillian Weeks Regina Fong Lokyee Lori Lui Maura Welch Jack Greenhouse Kyle Mackie Samuel Wong P A G E 20

Loyal Donors Ms. Kirsten Anne Berg Dr. Benjamin H. Hyman Mr. Byron K. Callan, III Mr. Stanley S. Kidwell, Jr. Ms. Alyssa Christelle Edwards Mr. Dorn Charles McGrath, Jr. Mr. Aaron David Eubank Mr. Mark M. Newland Ms. Regina Rose Fong Mr. Matthew A. Plevelich Ms. Sarah P. Fuller Dr. Marie Daly Price Ms. Vera D. Harvell Mr. Michael E. Riccio Ms. Gretchen D. Hasse Mr. Ronald G. Waggoner Mr. Steven Barry Herzberg Dr. John E. and Mrs. Elizabeth W. Mr. Frederick R. Hoeschler Westfall Mr. Larry S. Howard Donations received between November 2012—October 2013

geography Semester Events environmental studies Geography Fall 2013 Speaker Series Friday, September 25, Pirouz Mojtahed– Zadeh, Visiting Scholar from the University of Teh- ran will present “Political Geography and Geopolitics: The Middle East Way.”

Friday, October 25, Roger-Mark DeSouza, Director of Population, Environmental Change and Security at the Woodrow Wilson Center will give a talk entitled "On Sustainable Devel- opment and Building Resilience."

Thursday, November 21, Qin Yu, Post-doctoral fellow in the GWU Deparmtent of Geography will give a talk entitled "Arctic Tundra Vegetation Dynamics under Changing Environmental Conditions."

Friday, December 6, Oleg A. Anisimov, Professor of Physical Geography, Hydrological Insti- tute (Russia) will discuss the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

All events are schedule for 4pm in the Department, Room 219 of Old Main and are followed by a reception. All are welcome.

Department of Geography The George Washington If you are interested in making a gift to the Department, please visit our University website (www.gwu.edu/~geog) and click on the 1922 F Street, NW Washington, Dc 2005 “Support the Department” link for instructions.