On May 4 & 5, 2012, the Department of Geography, Geology, and Planning hosted its first-ever reunion for graduates of all our programs. The event was organized by a sub-committee of our departmental Advisory Board consisting of Dottie Lofstrom (Chair), Tim Bixler, Jenni Jones, and Scott Smith. The festivities began on Friday afternoon with an Open House in the department and a seminar presentation by current departmental majors. From there, the group adjourned to a Happy Hour at Springfield Brewing Company (right).

above: Ben Francka, John Fossard, Dan Richmond, and Don Meier. right: Robin (Buckner) Price, Lora (Moomaw) Krizanich, Dottie Lofstrom, Suzanne (Smith) Paschke.

On Friday evening, the group enjoyed a baseball game from the “Redbird Roost” at Springfield’s new Hammons Field (left), where the (minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals) took on the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the AA Texas League.

above: front row—Jerry Higgins, Art Banet, Stan Fagerlin, Louise Miller; 2nd row—Gary Krizanich, Lora Krizanich, Margaret Ash, Tom Plymate, Lynda Plymate. right: Dan Price, Robin Price, Cathy (Suntrup) VanMatre, Stan Fagerlin, Kurt VanMatre.

Fall 2012 State University GeoNews page 1 Optional daytime activities for Saturday included a golf outing hosted by Stan Fagerlin and Danja Feeback, a geography/planning tour of downtown Springfield redevelopment projects, and a geology field trip that included a picnic at Sequiota Park (left) and a tour of Smallin Cave (below).

The weekend culminated with a cookout at Fassnight Park (below). In total, nearly 200 alumni, family, and friends attended one or more of the weekend’s festivities.

left: Advisory Board President Joe Gillman addressing the crowd.

below: Erwin Mantei, Greg Easson, and Don Meier.

left: Jason Rudolph and Kevin Koch. We have compiled a CD containing over 200 photos from the reunion, as well as a “Memory Lane” slide show depicting memorable moments from the department’s history. If you would like a copy, just send your contact information to us at [email protected].

Fall 2012 Missouri State University GeoNews page 2 The standard image of Jamaica includes palm trees, beautiful beaches, and warm weather, but also miles of hotels and thousands of tourists. All of that is true. However, there is an undeveloped part of Jamaica that has all of the positive aspects but retains an “old Jamaica” feeling. If you ask a native Jamaican about Bluefields Bay they will usually say, “Oh, that is the real Jamaica!” It is the place Jamaicans, and Missouri State GGP students and faculty, find most interesting. GGP’s involvement with Jamaica started when Bob Pavlowsky was asked to conduct a survey of Bluefields Bay as part of an evaluation for the new fishing sanctuary proposed by area residents. Bob and a group of his graduate students mapped the sanctuary area, locating many interesting features such as anchorages used by the celebrated buccaneer Sir Henry Morgan (later Deputy Governor of Jamaica). Bob noticed how the area seemed to retain a lot of the original Jamaican culture. right: MSU student Brock James at one of the typical south shore businesses.

Spring Break of 2011 saw Linnea Iantria and a group of her geotourism students join Bob to study the potential of tourism development in the area. The students collected data, and that information was analyzed by Linnea’s Geotourism Practicum class the following semester to develop a full tourism plan. The goal was to keep the culture and heritage of Bluefields Bay intact, while providing sustainable ideas for future tourism development. As a result of the 2011 surveys, one of our Geotourism students spent the summer in the Treasure Beach area creating a guide to the tourism sites. The student interacted with local community members, government officials, and tourism stakeholders to obtain stories, legends, and ideas for the publication. In the spring of 2012, Linnea and Bob took another group of students to the area, expanding the range of their study to include the region of Treasure Beach. Again, surveys were conducted and ideas exchanged for potential tourism development. This time there was more input as to the varying types of potential accommodations and the impact of tourism on the fishing sanctuaries.

above: Bob Pavlowsky photographing above: Students Carrie Pavlowsky and students climbing through the mangroves. Bethany James clean up the shoreline. The fully developed 70-page plan, with an accompanying 152-slide PowerPoint presentation, was sent to Bluefields Bay for evaluation. Linnea and Bob will return to Jamaica again in January of 2013 to present the plan to members of the Jamaican government and Bluefields Bay community.

Fall 2012 Missouri State University GeoNews page 3 This past summer two of MSU’s geology majors had the “opportunity of a lifetime” for a geologist— a chance to study geology where many of the basic principles of our science were first developed. Becka Giboney and Sarah Morris, along with their MSU geology professor Tom Plymate, joined a group of geology students and faculty from Northwest Missouri State University for an 18-day study tour of the geology of the British Isles. Their tour began in Edinburgh, Scotland and ended in Dublin, Ireland. In between they visited some classic geologic exposures, including the Salisbury Crags, Siccar Point, the Barovian metamorphic sequence of the Scottish Highlands, Giant’s Causeway, and the Bridges of Ross. right: NWMSU geology professors Renee Rohs (front row, second from left) and Aaron Johnson (front row, far right) with NWMSU and MSU students on the columnar jointed basalt at Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland.

left: Tom Plymate at Siccar Point, Scotland, where James Hutton laid one of the most fundamental cornerstones for the science of geology by first understanding the significance of unconformities.

above: MSU geology students Sarah Morris and Becka Giboney hike along the east coast of Scotland in Forvie Natural Reserve. left: Becka Giboney modeling the limbs of an asymmetric anticline at the Bridges of Ross exposure along the west coast of Ireland. Shortly after their return to MSU, Becka and Sarah gave a seminar presentation to a very envious audience of our departmental students, faculty, and alumni. A number of our current geology majors are already making plans to take advantage of this opportunity the next time it becomes available, in the summer of 2014.

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The Environmental Assessment class (GRY 731) from the Department of Geography, Geology & Planning at Missouri State University recently completed a class project for the Spring 2013 semester. The purpose of this class project was to assess the natural resources of the Lovett Pinetum located on sixty acres in the Pearson Creek watershed.

The Latin word PINETUM means pine grove. A pinetum is a grove or plantation where pine trees are cultivated, particularly for scientific, educational or esthetic purposes. It is a specialized type of arboretum — a place where many kinds of trees are grown for the same purposes.

Established in 1970 by Dr. Robert Lovett, this pinetum has expanded to include over thirty different species of coniferous trees. The vision of the Lovett Pinetum has also increased its through the creation of a center for education and learning directed toward the general public and community. In order to complement the education center, the Environmental Assessment class has assessed various conditions specific to this site that can be used for educational purposes and future research projects.

The issues and factors assessed included the diverse hydrogeology, land use and soil units found in this area. Other factors such as spring flora/fauna, water quality conditions and dendrological data were also assessed and documented.

Since Pearson Creek flows through this site, a riparian corridor management plan was also developed to protect the stream from further erosion. Funded through the James River Basin Partnership with assistance provided by Missouri Department of Conservation and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Environmental Assessment class assisted in planting different species of shrubs along the creek and its tributaries in order to protect water quality and create wildlife habitat.

Danforth Spring is the primary source of water for Pearson Creek, and is located on the grounds of the Lovett Pinetum. A portion of this project was to identify the fauna and flora of this spring as well as the hydrogeologic regime of this recharge area.

Fall 2012 Missouri State University GeoNews page 5 • James Berglund, geospatial sciences graduate student, received the Clayton H. Johnson Award from the Association of Missouri Geologists in recognition for the best oral presentation by a graduate student in the Geology/Geophysics Section at the 2012 meeting of the Missouri Academy of Sciences. • Matthew Cauthon, undergraduate geology major, and Ryan Theissen, undergraduate geography major, each received a Dr. John H. Keiser Scholarship in Public Affairs and Environmental Studies from the MSU College of Natural and Applied Sciences. • Ashley Dameron (right), undergraduate geology major, won First Place in the Geography/Geology/Planning category for her poster presentation at the 2012 CNAS Undergraduate Research Day. David Brannan and Sara Cheek, undergraduate geology majors, placed Second in that same competition. • Andrew DeWitt, geospatial sciences graduate student, was honored for Best Presentation by a Master’s Student by the Geomorphology Specialty Group at the 2012 meeting of the Association of American Geographers in New York City. Andrew also won Best Student Presentation at the 2012 meeting of the Missouri Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, and he placed Second in the Oral Presentation competition at this year’s Graduate Interdisciplinary Forum, a competition involving nearly 100 Missouri State graduate students. • Joshua Elson, undergraduate geography and geology double major, received a Martin-Stevenson Science Scholarship from the MSU College of Natural and Applied Sciences. • Laura Gerson, geospatial sciences graduate student, received a Student Research Grant from the Geological Society of America. • Amber Morefield, undergraduate geology major, received an L. Austin Weeks Grant from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation. Amber was one of only 68 undergraduate geology majors nationwide to receive this prestigious award. • Lindsay Olson, geospatial sciences graduate student, placed Second in the Best Poster Presentation category at the Upper Midwest Stream Restoration Symposium in Minneapolis in March, 2012. • Stephen Shields (far right), geospatial sciences graduate student, Stephanie Stratton (near right), geospatial sciences graduate student, and Mark Larson, undergraduate geology and anthropology major, placed First, Second, and Third, respectively, in the Student Research Poster Competition sponsored by the Missouri Chapter of the American Institute of Professional Geologists, held in conjunction with the fall 2012 meeting of the Association of Missouri Geologists. • Successful Thesis Defenses: o Fall 2011 ▪ Sturgis, Joe: “Predictive Distribution Modeling of Joshua Tree Habitat Using Logistic Regression.” Miao (Chair), Luo, Qiu. o Spring 2012 ▪ Berglund, James: “An Applied Karst Study of the Ward Branch Watershed Near the James River Freeway/South Campbell Interchange in Springfield, Missouri.” Gouzie (Chair), Mickus, Pierson. ▪ DeWitt, Andrew: “Channel Morphology, Substrate Variability, and Bedrock Influence in the James River, Southwest Missouri.” Pavlowsky (Chair), Gouzie, Luo. ▪ McAdam, Shannon: “A Gravity and Magnetic Analysis of the Chiwaukum Basin, Central Washington, USA.” Mickus (Chair), Plymate, Evans. ▪ Robison, Elijah: “Developing Automation Tools for Hydrologic Assessment in a GIS Environment.” Luo (Chair), Pavlowsky, Miao.

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Thanks to the continuing generosity of our alumni and friends, we were able to support 5 different GGP undergraduate majors totaling $5,700 in scholarships for the 2013-14 academic year.

SCHOLARSHIP NAME RECIPIENT MAJOR Warren C. and Vivian M Rauch Matthew Cauthon Geology (comprehensive) Memorial Scholarship D. Kent Smith Memorial Scholarship Amber Morefield Geology (comprehensive) Vincent Kurtz Scholarship Alyssa Flotron Geology (non-comprehensive) Kenneth C. Thomson Memorial Matthew Butler Geology (comprehensive) Scholarship Milton D. Rafferty Scholarship Asher Allman Geography/Cultural & Regional Bill and Maret Cheek Scholarship Kelsi Burton Geography/Environmental & Natural Resources Fagerlin-Johnson-Moeglin Field Alica Alexander Geology (comprehensive) Studies Scholarship Rebecca Giboney Geology (comprehensive) Jacob Stockglausner Geospatial Science Emma Walcott-Wilson Geography/Cultural & Regional Missouri Waste Control Coalition Jennifer Witt Geology (non-comprehensive) Scholarship

You will see listed above, the new Missouri Waste Control Coalition Scholarship. The GGP department is very grateful for their support of our students, and pleased to announce Ms. Jennifer Witt as the first recipient of this award. Jennifer is a student in our B.S. program majoring in Geology with a minor in Geospatial Science. She is on track to graduate in May, 2014. Below, Dr. Tom Plymate presents Jennifer with her check during the spring 2013 semester.

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Damon Bassett has continued his research on the carbon isotope stratigraphy of early Mississippian strata in southwest Missouri. He also finished his fourth field season teaching at the University of Missouri Geology Field Camp. He continues to serve as the co-Chair for the Geology and Geophysics Section of the Missouri Academy of Science. Damon was nominated by his students and selected as one of only six recipients of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences Faculty Excellence Award for 2012. Jill Black is Principal Investigator on a $168,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Higher Education which focuses on improving environmental science teaching by K-4 teachers in the West Plains area. In summer 2012, she also taught GRY 301—Geography of the Ozarks in which the travel portion has been expanded to meet geography and geospatial majors’ field studies requirements. They visited 27 sites in the Ozarks, including descending 1200 ft. into the Doe Run Fletcher lead mine. As part of a Citizenship and Service Learning Faculty Research Grant project, her GRY 301 class collected water quality data at Valley Water Mill and Lost Hill Park for Community Partners, the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks and the Springfield-Greene County Park Board. Debbie Corcoran continues to teach massive numbers of students in World Regional Geography. Her Geography of Global Health and Disease class is continually changing as new viruses make their way into the world. She recently completed a digital resource project that involved designing a test bank with links to textbook references, student learning objectives, and levels of learning (Bloom’s taxonomy). Mario Daoust received a CNAS Excellence in Teaching Award in spring 2012. He is currently involved in the write-up of a paper on the impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation on extreme seasonal temperature variations over eastern USA. As a climatologist, he became affiliated with a viticulture and enology research team from several academic institutions in Missouri. Kevin Evans continues to work on the Weaubleau impact structure. Along with Damon Bassett and Kevin Mickus, he put together a U.S. Geological Survey EDMAP proposal that was funded to help about a dozen undergraduate geology majors map the geology of the Jane 7.5-minute quadrangle, Missouri. They are trying to sort out the complex history of sedimentation and tectonism on the southern margin of Laurentia. In his spare time, Kevin and wife Nancy continue to raise grapes and make wine, and together with Jun Luo, Xin Miao, and Laszlo Kovacs (Biology), they are attempting to solicit funding from the National Science Foundation for a mapping project on grape varietals and wild grapevines in Missouri. Also, he was selected as the Missouri State University Provost’s Fellow for Public Affairs for 2013-2014. Doug Gouzie has managed to trim his carbon sequestration research back to only one DOE-funded project (with funding for three graduate students this year), and he is continuing to build MSU’s karst research program by collaborating with Kevin Mickus on thesis projects for two MS students who are improving our ability to use shallow geophysics to detect karst features. With help from Kevin Evans, Doug organized a second annual “Mentor Lunch” in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to provide an opportunity for our MSU geology majors to interact with geologic professionals working in the petroleum industry in that area. On campus, Doug continues to represent GGP, and all of the College, on the University Budget Committee. Melida Gutierrez is getting ready to celebrate 20 years at MSU this spring. She is still working on her sediment geochemistry project and will present her progress results at the GSA meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. Together with some of her Mexican colleagues, she is investigating the occurrence of arsenic and fluorine as water pollutants in northern Mexico. Linnea Iantria continues to develop and promote our geotourism program. (Wikipedia now refers to MSU’s geotourism program as “the first degree of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.”) In 2012 Linnea and Bob Pavlowsky took a second group of students to Jamaica to evaluate the geotourism approach to development for the south coast of that country. Linnea’s senior Geotourism Practicum class developed a tourism plan for Fair Grove, Missouri. Dimitri Ioannides has published two book chapters, one on the equity dimension of tourism sustainability and the other on the economic geography of tourism. Additionally, he attended the Association of American Geographers Conference in New York where he co-presented a paper on the labor dimensions of

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Four GGP faculty were recognized at the CNAS Faculty Awards (from left to right): CNAS Dean Tamera Jahnke; Mario Daoust – Student Nominated Award; Bob Pavlowsky – Undergraduate Research Mentor Award & Excellence in Research Award; Jill Black – Excellence in Service Award; and Debbie Corcoran – Excellence in Teaching Award.

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