What Geographers Do By Amanda Inniss Beck Geography is an expansive discipline that covers the study of the physical Today, more than 100 geography students environment and the world’s cultures, economies, and societies. It helps us have received their doctorates. Since 2014, understand and appreciate our changing world. However, the field is often students select one of three areas of focus: geographic education, geographic informa- misunderstood and its impact underestimated. This article, which originally tion science, or geography. These areas re- appeared in the Texas State University publication Hillviews, highlights the placed environmental geography and offer work of graduates from the largest geography department in the nation. a greater breadth of study. Geographic stud- ies span multiple disciplines but are usually organized into two categories: physical ge- Most people know little about geography “Geography as a discipline is not a memori- ography and human geography. The former beyond what they learned in high school. zation of facts,” he said. “It’s about under- focuses on landscapes, mapping, and the en- Dr. David Butler, who is a Texas State standing the distribution of things on the vironment, while the latter includes urban University System Regents’ Professor, landscape.” and historical studies and public policy. admits it can be frustrating when fellow In 1996, Texas State University estab- Throughout its 20-year history, the pro- field researchers ask if he studies capitals. lished its first doctoral program: geography. gram has become well-known for its experts 64 au Spring 2017 esri.com Education Texas State University graduate Giordano was just seven years old when Jon Kedrowski owns a business that he decided to become a geographer. After develops products and training for mountain enthusiasts. He is also finishing a primary school project on the a speaker, author, and geography rivers of Russia, he fell in love with maps. He professor. Kedrowski is shown on Everest would spend hours looking at the shapes in 2012. Photo courtesy of Sandra Leduc—Photosubmissions,CC BY-SA 3.0 and names of places around the world—he wanted to explore. Giordano’s three favorite Dr. Alberto Giordano is the chair of the Texas State University geography interests as a child in Italy were soccer, read- department. ing, and looking at maps. He determined the last would be his career. “What all geographers have in common,” Giordano said, “is that they study place.” But not just what a place looks like. Geographers ask questions. Why are things there? How did they get there, and why? If you stop to think about it, there are San Marcos down to the Rio Grande Valley, myriad topics in the news that relate to ge- Votteler does quite a bit of traveling. ography. Environmental geographers might Jon Kedrowski takes traveling for work to study how landforms affect weather and the extreme. He is an accomplished moun- natural disasters such as hurricanes and taineer who has scaled (and camped out on) wildfires. City zoning, gentrification, and mountains around the world, from Colorado migrant travel are issues that would interest to Nepal. In 2011, he camped out on every human geographers. During election years, 14,000-foot-high peak in Colorado and wrote politicians use geographic data to commu- Sleeping on the Summits (Westcliffe, 2012) nicate with voters. Experts in geographic about his experience. Kedrowski’s adven- information science work with software en- tures don’t come without danger. The year gineers to improve the GPS in smartphones. he climbed Mount Everest in 2012 was one “Geography runs in the background,” said of the deadliest, and he witnessed firsthand Dawna Cerney, an associate professor and the devastation of the earthquake in 2014. chair at Youngstown (Ohio) State University Kedrowski, who received a doctorate in who received her doctorate in environmen- 2010, based his business on his experience tal geography from Texas State University, in geography. He applies his knowledge of San Marcos, in 2006. “We work in so many mountain environments to developing new different fields with different monikers: ana- products, training other mountain enthusi- lysts, planners, division leaders. You don’t asts, delivering inspiring speeches, writing know who geographers are until you ask books, and teaching the next generation of about their jobs.” geographers. About three-quarters of graduates from If the study of place is the common the doctoral program become college profes- thread that runs through all geographic sors or join college faculties. Cerney notes that research, passion is what drives all geogra- some of her students’ families have a hard phers. From Giordano’s childhood research in environmental geography, attracting fac- time understanding exactly what kind of project to Kedrowski’s desire to explore the ulty from renowned research institutions career can result from a degree in geography. world, geographers study the discipline be- such as the University of California, Berkeley. For Todd Votteler, the doctorate he re- cause they love it. As the university moves toward national re- ceived in 2000 set him on a career path that search university status, programs such as led him to research and gave him an oppor- About the Author its PhD program in geography will attract tunity to effect local change. As executive Amanda Inniss Beck is the principal and new faculty and additional students. manager of science, intergovernmental rela- owner of Amanda Beck Creative, an inte- Dr. Alberto Giordano is the chair of the tions, and policy at the Guadalupe-Blanco grated marketing communications com- Texas State University geography depart- River Authority, he handles scientific pany based in Austin, Texas. Her company ment. Housed in the College of Liberal Arts, research projects and works with local works with nonprofit organizations, higher- the department is home to 760 students, 52 governments to establish public policy. The education institutions, and companies that of whom are enrolled at the doctoral level. geography of Central Texas makes water a want to do cause marketing or corporate The department’s 36 full-time faculty mem- major issue for environmentalists, politi- philanthropy. Beck has a bachelor’s degree bers represent a wide range of disciplines cians, and business owners. Because the in English writing and rhetoric from St. within the field. authority’s reach spans 10 counties, from Edward’s University. esri.com Spring 2017 au 65.