Department Spotlights
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Department of Geography Fall 2016 A Message from the Chair Dear Friends of the Department of Geography, This is an exciting time to be a geographer! Graduates in geography and those with geospatial skills are in high demand to help solve real- world problems and enhance organizations' efficiency and effectiveness. A 2015 report by the U.S. Department of Labor noted that cartography was among the eight fastest-growing careers in the United States and that the need for people who gather and interpret geographic information to make maps will grow by 30 percent by 2024. A story by Time magazine said jobs in geography were among the five most creative jobs that pay well. The GW Geography Department continues to teach these important skills to a growing number of students. Last year we taught almost than Department Chair 2,100 students. We boast 75 geography undergraduate majors, 80 environmental studies majors, 27 master’s students and more than 45 Lisa Benton-Short GIS graduate certificate students. Our students excel in research, and many undergraduates and graduates presented their research at professional conferences or published their work in refereed journals. Our newsletter profiles several of our outstanding students. Our big news is that starting with the class of 2017, the Department of Geography offers a Master of Science in geography. By changing from an MA to an MS, we are realigning our master’s degree to better reflect our faculty expertise, changes in the discipline and to provide our students with better career outcomes outside of academia. As a result of recent hires, the department expertise and breadth looks very different than it did only five years ago. The department is now better balanced in the three critical subfields of geography (physical, human, techniques) and the move to the MS degree reflects our faculty expertise and the emerging demand for quantitative geographic and geo-spatial analysis and research. The commitment to service remains a defining feature of the Geography Department. Over the last year, hundreds of GW students volunteered their time to assist in humanitarian mapping. The GW Humanitarian Mapping Society, a student led organization, organizes monthly “Mapathons” using open-source mapping software to contribute towards international aid efforts. The society works with many partners including the Red Cross and USAID to map areas which are identified as at-risk for or have recently experienced disasters. The GW Department of Geography flourishes because of our engaged students, our dedicated faculty and our generous alumni who support student research and faculty development. We invite you to join us here at 1922 F Street to attend a speaker series talk, visit a class or have lunch with your favorite professors. You are always welcome! Don’t forget: Please update us on your life, your accomplishments and your travels. Drop us a postcard, send us an email, follow us on Facebook or keep in touch by reading our newly launched department blog, “As the World Turns.” Department Spotlights Pictured here are the studentsplaying a geographic version of the classic game Simon Says. Instead ofshouting left/right or back/front, the students were challenged to figure outtheir cardinal directions, and turn north, south, east and west when Simon saidso. They were so good, we added NW, SW, SE and NE as an extra challenge. Geography Students in Service: Teaching Others to Map Congratulations to Marietta Gelfort, BA ’15, MA ’17, Ellie Davis, BA ’16, and Arzo Malhotra, BA ’15. They received a 2015-2016 GW Eco-Equity Award for their project to bring mapping technology to underserved areas of D.C. Together, they created GIS for Youth Empowerment (GISFYE), a project to expose middle school students in Ward 8 of Washington, D.C., to geography and GIS. By training the students to collect and analyze geographic data, read maps and learn about key environmental and social issues, the GISFYE team hopes to help these young scholars (and future geographers?) identify assets and issues in their communities and to provide them the tools to be positive change agents, locally, regionally and globally. One of the program goals is to cultivate the students' basic spatial skills and thinking through fun games and projects that involve physical activity, Legos, maps and other less conventional teaching strategies. The GIS for Youth Empowerment project also produced some stop-motion films about geography that you can view here. Learn more about this project on their blog. Dr. Marie D. Price: New President of AGS “I’ve always enjoyed being a geographer and believe we have much to contribute. My hope is to share the joy of exploration and discovery with the next generation as President of the American Geographical Society.” Dr. Marie Price became the president of the American Geographical Society (AGS) on June 24, 2016. She is the first woman to hold this position. The society, which is based in New York City, has existed for 165 years. It is the oldest national geographical organization in the country. As such it has been dedicated to advancing geographic knowledge and bringing together people from business, government, NGOs and academia. The society will hold its annual meeting, the Geography 2050 conference, at Columbia University on November 17 and 18. The themed event will focus on “Envisioning a Sustainable Earth.” Various members of the GW community will be participating in Presidents Jerome Dobson and Marie the Geography 2050 conference. Dr. Nuala Cowan and Price at the American Geographical Mr. Richard Hinton will lead a Mapathon on the morning of Society Council Meeting on June 24, November 17 with 50 AP high school human geography 2016 where Marie became the society’s teachers who received a grant to attend the conference. first female president. Professors Michael Mann, Lisa Benton-Short and Wesley Reisser will be presenting at the conference. And a GW Alumnus, Kristen Walker Painemilla, BA ’97, the vice president for social policy and practice at Conservation International will be participating in a panel on Conservation and Indigenous People. Marie became involved in AGS as a graduate student, publishing her first paper based on her MA research in Belize in the society’s magazine, Focus on Geography. She has served on the council since 1995. As president, she believes there is a public that is passionate about geography, in part due to advances in technology that have radically changed the way businesses, scholars, institutions and even the public at large experience maps and engage in spatial thinking. Yet, there is also serious geographic ignorance that can have dangerous implications for public policy and human understanding of a globalized world. Through social media, the AGS is exploring new ways to reach people and tell geographical stories. The society has an active Facebook following, especially for its map of the week. Focus on Geography became a fully digital and interactive publication this year with open access. Its GeoQuiz is especially popular. Check it out here. One of Marie’s goals as president is to build its membership, attracting people from government, business and academia who have a passion for geography and want to participate in the society’s activities. She would also like to see greater diversity and more young people involved in the society. One of the new initiatives is the creation of the Junior Service Fellow, open to students who get a 3, 4 of 5 on the AP Human Geography exam, earn a GeoBadge and complete 10 hours of geographically oriented service annual. She observes, “I’ve always enjoyed being a geographer and believe we have much to contribute. My hope is to share the joy of exploration and discovery with the next generation of geographers as president of AGS.” Grace Doherty, research assistant for poverty mapping & development, Professor Nuala Cowan and the many student volunteers with GW Humanitarian Mapping Society begina long but productive night of mapping. Geography Students in Service: Tracing the Missing Maps The GW Humanitarian Mapping Society (HMS), a student led organization, is an opportunity for GW students to use open-source mapping software to contribute towards international aid efforts. The society works with many partners including the Red Cross and USAID to map areas which are identified as at-risk for or have recently experienced disasters. Over the past year, they hosted speakers from USAID, the American Red Cross, Peace Corps, NASA and other organizations. HMS also participated in St. Lucia's first-ever mapathon, held several other solo mapathons and even helped with the Geography Awareness Week map off! Finally, HMS became a founding member of Youth Mappers, an international mapping organization. To finish the spring semester, representatives attended the 2nd Annual White House Mapathon in July. With the help of 40 young mappers, HMS started off fall 2016 by putting remote villages in Morocco on the map—literally. Tracing buildings and road in the online software OpenStreetMap, HMS established the foundations for Dr. Mona Atia and research assistant Grace Doherty's participatory mapping project in the rural province of Tinghir, Morocco. The efforts of HMS contribute to the researchers' new findings on data- driven development and participatory methodologies in places labeled as the poorest of the poor. In one evening, volunteers mapped 2,144 buildings, 1,135 km of roads and 3,722 total edits in nine villages in Morocco. Kudos for such extraordinary effort! Visit their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter: @HMS_GW A Cold Summer in the Arctic During August of 2016 GW geography graduate student Forrest Melvin, GW alumni Kelsey Nyland, BA ’13, MA ’15, and GW visiting Fulbright scholar Anna Abramova trekked to Alaska to conduct field research in Barrow, Nome, Prudhoe Bay and several other locations throughout the Arctic Alaska.