Geography Department News

Department of Geography College of Liberal Arts 1250 Bellflower Boulevard California State University Long Beach, CA 90840-1101 USA

as of 26 June 2009

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Geography Hosts Workshop on Women and Public Leadership

Dr. Deborah Thien is the US Node Director of the Spaces of Democracy and the Democracy of Space Network. Together with Drs. Unna Lassiter and Bipasha Baruah, she organized the second SDDSN workshop to be hosted by CSULB Geography. This is the Making It Happen: Women and Public Leadership, held in the Multicultural Center, 25-27 June. The conference flyer is available at https://home.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/geography/spaces/womenandpublicleadership.pdf

Ms. Ngo Wins a Pruitt Fellowship!

The Department is proud to announce that graduate student, Ms. Mary Ngo, has been awarded a Pruitt National Minority Fellowship from the Society of Woman Geographers. The purpose of the $1,500 fellowship is to support Ms. Ngo's master's thesis research project. Thanks to Dr. Deborah Thien for this news item and for sponsoring Ms. Ngo's application. Congratulations!

Drs. Del Casino and Brooks Have a New Baby!

Geography Department chair, Dr. Vincent Del Casino, and Communication Studies Assistant Professor, Dr. Catherine Brooks, have a new baby, Ms. Catherine Frances Del Casino (aka "Baby Cate")! Cate was born on June 11th, clearly a morning person (7:52 a.m.), weighing 7 lb., 15 oz., and 20.5" tall. Her older brother, Salvatore, is thrilled, asking to hold her and help out! Here is a picture of the two sibs:

Congratulations to the whole family!

Mr. Weber Wins the Beaton Award!

The Department is delighted to report that graduate student, Mr. Patrick Weber, won first place (and a $125 prize) in the Joe Beaton Professional Poster Competition at the California Geographical Society annual meeting this May in Solvang. The title of his winning poster is "Community gardening in South-Central Los Angeles." Good show!

GDEP 2009 Launches!

The Geosciences Diversity Enhancement Project Track 2 launches its second summer of intense research immersion for students from local community colleges and high schools, along with faculty from CSULB and the partnering institutions. This summer, there are four projects: one on the biogeography of Palos Verdes Peninsula led by Drs. Chrys Rodrigue and Paul Laris, one on the geology of the Peninsula led by Drs. Greg Holk and Tom Kelty (Geological Sciences), one on the palæoenvironments of the Eastern Sierra Nevada led by Dr. Lora Stevens (Geological Sciences), and, going much farther afield, one on Rapa Nui or Easter Island, led by Drs. Carl Lipo (Archæology), Chris Lee, and Suzanne Wechsler. GDEP will run from 29 June through 7 August, when all the projects present posters of their research at an on-campus symposium.

Commencement

A fabulous time was had by all on Thursday, 28 May 2009, as the Department of Geography bid farewell to its many graduates. Go on and do great things, and make sure to let us know what you're doing, as we really want to know how your Geography education is holding up in the "real world"! Thanks to Mr. James Woods, we caught a bunch of you at our party and at graduation. Check out http://www.csulb.edu/~jwoods/dept/Grad_09/!

Geography Spring Banquet

The Department of Geography held its (in)famous Spring Banquet on the 15th of May! Some of the special events included the "Star Trek" showcase and Dr. Del Casino's wonderful roast of Dr. Frank Gossette on the occasion of his retirement. Most importantly, the Department called attention to all the students winning awards this year. Receiving special note:

• Ms. Susan E. Timm, recipient of the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Thesis Award
• Ms. Annette Quintero, winner of the CSULB University Service Award
• Ms. Dalia Hernandez, winner of the Department's Eileen Johansen Award
• Mr. Briton Voorhees, winner of the Department's Burton Anderson Award
• Ms. Doris Dialogu, winner of the Department's Rodney Steiner Award

• Winners of the Exceptional Student Awards for earning cumulative GPAs of at least 3.75 throughout their careers here:
  • Mr. John Fawcett
  • Ms. Janice Kentala
  • Ms. Katie Sims
  • Ms. Jennifer Tamura
  • Mr. Kentaro Iwamoto

• The Geography Department Finalists for the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Baccalaureate were:
  • Ms. Janice Kentala
  • Ms. Jennifer Tamura

• The Geography Department Distinguished Undergraduates were:
  • Mr. Scott Suzawa
  • Ms. Samantha Roth

Ms. Quintero Earns a University Achievement Award!

Ms. Annette Quintero is a post-baccalaureate GIScience Certificate student, who has just learned that she is receiving a University Achievement Award for her community service work. She will be fêted on Tuesday, 19 May, from 4-6 p.m., in the Pointe at the Pyramid! Congratulations for earning this distinction!

Geography @ The Beach Pwns the LAGS Next Year!

CSULB Geography is a recurrent theme at the LAGS next year. On the program in October is Dr. Bipasha Baruah, speaking about "Slumdogs and millionaires: Making sense of contemporary India." In December, it's Mr. James Woods, who will be the annual banquet keynote speaker, with "A photographic safari to Tanzania and Kenya." Also on the program, in March, is Mr. Matt Ebiner of El Camino College, who sometimes teaches here. He'll discuss "Arabian opposites: Yemen and Dubai." In April, Dr. Ray Sumner, from Long Beach City College, who also sometimes teaches here and is a faculty partner in the Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program, will present the summer 2009 GDEP project as "Easter Island: Mysteries and adventures of Rapa Nui." For the full program, you can visit http://www.lageographic.org/newsletters/LAGS- Newsletter(April09).pdf.

CLA Outstanding Thesis Award: Lightning Strikes Twice Twice!

The Department of Geography is very proud to announce that Ms. Susan E. Timm has earned the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Master's Thesis Award for her thesis, Using Remote Sensing, GIS, and Landscape Ecology Techniques in Wildland Management. This is the fourth year in a row that Geography theses have won this honor (after Dr. Mike McDaniel, Mr. Scott Eckardt, and Ms. Deborah Hann). Congratulations to you and to the members of your committee, Drs. Chris Lee (chair), Suzanne Wechsler, and Rick Behl (from the Department of Geological Sciences).

GDEP Field Trip to Palos Verdes

The departments of Geography and Geological Sciences have teamed up to design and carry out a major NSF-funded project called the Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program (https://home.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/geography/gdep/), which brings community college and high school students to The Beach in the summer to work with their own faculty and CSULB faculty on various geoscience-related projects in the region, hopefully convincing them they really want to become geographers, geologists, geoarchæologists, or environmental scientists. Part of GDEP is a set of field trips open to students and their families. One of these was held on April 25th, this time to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where students learned about the Portuguese Bend landslide, the stratigraphy responsible for it, California sage scrub and invasive exotic species, and plate tectonic history and how to use GPS units. Check out these pictures!

• Valmonte diatomite demonstration
• Figuring out GPS
• GPS crowd scene

Mike Davis Talk

The Department of Geography was delighted to host Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz, Ecology of Fear, Late Victorian Holocausts, and Planet of Slums. He spoke on Monday the 16th of March to a packed LH-150 about "Obama at Manassas," the title of his recent article in New Left Review, which you can read at http://www.newleftreview.org/?page=article&view=2769. His talk took on the issues of the mortgage meltdown, the financial bailout, and the constraints on President Obama in dealing with them. He then discussed the basis of the president's victory in November in the changing geographies of economic distress and migration, and compared the emerging geography with those of other tilt point elections defining political generations, notably FDR's and Ronald Reagan's. Many thanks to Mr. James Woods for organizing this special event.

The Association of American Geographers

Things will be kind of lonesome around here the week of March 22nd through 27th: The Association of American Geographers is meeting that week in Las Vegas, and a pack of Beach geographers will be off giving papers and panels. Among the delegation will be our chair, Dr. Vin Del Casino, and Drs. Chrys Rodrigue, Suzanne Dallman, Christy Jocoy, and Deborah Thien and Mr. Norm Carter, as well as incoming faculty Ms. Hyowon Ban and graduate students Ms. Mary Ngo, Mr. Gregory Ziolkowski, Ms. Cynthia Schantz, and Mr. Kevin Flaherty. Sometime part-time faculty, Dr. Ray Sumner, is also presenting, as is Dr. Richard Marcus, one of the faculty in the CSULB International Studies Program, where a couple of the Geography faculty teach. One of our recent alums is also on the program, Ms. Nazanin Naraghi (who is working on her Ph.D. at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada).

The British Association of Slavonic and East European Studies

Dr. Dmitrii Sidorov is giving a paper at the BASEES in March, "Post-Soviet Russian Orthodox geopolitics of the Cold War." He is spending this semester in London managing the CSULB Study Abroad program there!

The Western Social Science Association

With Dr. Eugenie Rovai of Chico State, Dr. Chrys Rodrigue is giving a paper at the WSSA in Albuquerque this April on "Marijuana cultivation in National Forests and Parks, environmental impacts, and policy failure: Disaster by management."

Dr. Rodrigue Wins a Sabbatical

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue won a sabbatical. She will be off in Fall 2009, pursuing her interest in the geography of Mars!

Mr. Woods Wins Best in Show!

Mr. James Woods has long had an interest in photography, and his work has just won him (another) prize: He won "Best in Show" in the juried digital photography contest "Say Cheese Long Beach" organized by Justin Rudd's non-profit Community Action Team (CAT). You can see his winning image here. As you can see there, Woody won $250. Maybe he'll spring for a round at the Nugget? <G>

Ms. Hyowon Ban Hits the Ground Running

Ms. Hyowon Ban, one of our new faculty joining us in August, has just had a lead-authored paper, "Representing and negotiating uncertain geospatial concepts," come out in the journal Computers, Environment, and Urban Systems. The print edition is still forthcoming, but it came out online in December, and you can get to it through our library's electronic collection. The digital object identifier (doi) is 10.1016/j.comenvurbsys.2008.10.001. Congratulations to you and to Dr. Ola Ahlqvist!

Dr. Jacqueline Mills Also Keeps the Presses Running

Dr. Jacqueline Mills, our other new assistant professor joining us in August, has just had a book review come out in GIS Transactions in late 2008 (issue 5). The book she reviewed was Geospatial Analysis: A Comprehensive Guide to Principles, Techniques, and Software Tools, 2nd Ed., by Michael J. de Smith, Michael F. Goodchild, and Paul A. Longley. Sounds like a nice addition to the libraries of GIScience students? Congratulations!

Dr. Laris Has Four More Articles!

Dr. Paul Laris has had a banner year in terms of publications. He just published "An anthropogenic escape route from the "Gulliver Syndrome" in the West African savanna" in the December 2008 issue of Human Ecology. With Paul Klepeis (Colgate University), he published "Estancias, hobby ranching, and Chile's land reform legacy in The Geographical Review in the July "Land Reform" special issue. In May, he and graduate student, Aziz Bakkoury, published "Nouvelles leçons d'une vieille pratique: mosaïque du feu dans la savane du Mali" in Bois et Forêts des Tropiques. In January, William Mosely (Macalester College) and he published "West African environmental narratives and development-volunteer praxis," also in The Geographical Review, back in January. Congratulations on a fabulous year!

Dr. James Curtis' Work Published and Republished This Year

With Daniel Arreola (Arizona State University) and Dr. James R. Curtis publisheed "Border towns" in The Borderlands: An Encylopedia of Culture and Politics on the U.S.-Mexico Divide, an anthology edited by Andrew G. Wood and published by Greenwood Press. One of his classic and often-cited pieces, "Yard shrines in Miami's Little Havana" (originally in the first issue of the Journal of Cultural Geography in 1980), was re-published in Southern Crossroads: Perspectives on Southern Religion and Culture, an anthology edited by Walter H. Conser and Rodger M. Payne, and published by the University of Kentucky Press. Bravo!

Dr. Baruah Also Has Publications out!

Dr. Bipasha Baruah published "Gender and globalization: Opportunities and constraints faced by women in the construction industry in India." This paper came out in Labor Studies Journal in November. In addition, she published two book reviews. One was of The Making of Neoliberal India: Nationalism, Gender, and the Paradoxes of Globalization by R. Oza, and it came out in the journal, Gender, Place, and Culture. The other was of Public Problems -- Private Solutions? Globalizing Cities in the South, ed. K. Segbers, S. Raiser, and K. Volkmann. This review was published in Progress in Development Studies.

Dr. Dallman Has a 2008 Publication, Too!

Dr. Suzanne Dallman has a paper entitled, "GIS modeling for stormwater and groundwater management," out in a yearbook: Proceedings, American Water Resources Association Spring Specialty Conference, GIS and Water Resources.

And So Does Dr. Rodrigue

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue wrote an article on "Animal domestications" for the 2nd edition of Encyclopædia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, which was edited by Helaine Selin and published by Springer in 2008. Additionally, her article "Geography from the back of the AAG program: Is geography what we say or what we do?" just came out in 2009 in The California Geographer.

And Dr. Sidorov Is Published, Too!

Dr. Dmitrii Sidorov published "Corporatisation of urban space and the emergence of civil society in Post-Soviet Moscow" in Alfa Spectra: Central European Journal of Architecture and Planning earlier this year. He also published a book review of The Landscape of Stalinism: The Art and Ideology of Soviet Space, ed. E. Dobrenko and E. Naiman. His review was published in Historical Geography.

Dr. Thien Has a Book Review

Dr. Deborah Thien published "Disenchanting democracy," a review of the book, On the Political by Chantal Mouffe. This review came out in Area.

Joining the Mob of 2008 Authors Are Drs. Del Casino and Jocoy

Drs. Vincent Del Casino and Christine Jocoy published a joint project, "Neoliberal subjectivities, the 'new' homelessness, and struggles over spaces of/in the city," in Antipode this spring. Dr. Del Casino also published the 3rd edition of his popular Study Guide and Mapping Workbook: World Regions in Global Context.

Mr. Woods Has a Map Publication as Well

Mr. James Woods' map, "Death penalty executions in the United States" was used as a figure in Michael Kimmel's and Amy Aronson's textbook, Sociology Now.

The American Geophysical Union

Ms. Carlye Peterson and Dr. Richard J. Behl (Geological Sciences), Dr. Chrys Rodrigue (Geography), Ms. C.M. Zeleski (Geological Sciences), and Dr. Tessa M. Hill (U.C. Davis) co-authored "Statistical relationships among proxies of climate, productivity, and the carbon cycle across climatic regimes, Santa Barbara Basin, California." It was delivered by graduate student, Ms. Peterson.

Dr. Sidorov Speaks at the Los Angeles Geographical Society

Dr. Dmitrii Sidorov was invited to give the keynote address at the annual banquet of the Los Angeles Geographical Society, entitled, "Moscow: A Globalizing City?" on 12 December.

Dr. Baruah's Uncle Earns the Order of the British Empire!

Dr. Baruah just learned that her uncle, Prakash Kakoty, received the Order of the British Empire from Prince Charles, for his service in the UK as a pediatrician. Here is a picture from the ceremony: .

While very proud of her uncle for his work saving children's lives and delighted that he has been recognized at such a high level for it, Dr. Baruah reports a certain bemusement at learning that reports of the death of the Empire are greatly exaggerated (apologies to Mark Twain)! Congratulations to Sir Prakash Dr. Kakoty (and to Dr. Baruah)!

Dr. Dallman Appointed to Water Commission!

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster has appointed our own Dr. Suzanne Dallman to a five year term on the Long Beach Water Commission. This is a charter commission, to which the Long Beach Water Department reports. Congratulations!

Dr. Baruah Goes to Two International Conferences

Dr. Bipasha Baruah racked up the frequent-flyer miles in December. She gave a paper, "Landed property ownership for women in the urban informal sector in India: Negotiating closed doors and windows of opportunity," to the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Project Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand. Earlier that month, she presented "Energy services for the urban poor: Public-private-NGO partnerships for slum electrification in India" at the International Development Research Centre of Canada Conference in Kampala, Uganda.

New Aunt in the Department

Dr. Deborah Thien flew to British Columbia on the 5th of November to greet her brand-new nephew and be with her sister at this wonderful moment! The little fellow came in hale and hearty at 7 lb., 12 oz.!

Geography Awareness Week and GIS Day 2008

The Department of Geography and the Geography Student Association had another smath in their long series of National Geography Awareness Week and GIS Day programs. This year, the Week/Day fell from 17 November through 21 November.

The program included the Sixth Annual Geography Photo Contest, spearheaded by Dr. Dmitrii Sidorov and Mr. James Woods. There were over 160 entries this year! The winners can be viewed at http://www.csulb.edu/~dsidorov/PhotoContest/F08_Winners.html

There was also an anonymous guest speaker from the CIA, Ms. Sharon C! Mr. Greg McIntosh from the California Map Society gave a special presentation.

For GIS Day, we hosted an Alumni and Donors Open House, showing them our new labs in LA5-352 and LA4-207 and the new equipment that Alumni Association donations have enabled, including our cool new remote sensing blimp. The Week also featured a special Jobs in Geography colloquium on Careers in the UN.

The program looked like this:

Monday, 17 November:

• 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Geography Photo Contest, organized by Dr. Sidorov, Mr. Woods, and the Geography Student Association
• 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Intelligence Community Posters
• 5-6 p.m., LA4-100, Sharon C., CIA multidisciplinary recruiter, spoke on "Careers in Intelligence"

Tuesday, 18 November:

• 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Geography Photo Contest
• 9:30-10:30 a.m., LA4-104, Greg McIntosh, Vice-President for Southern California of the California Map Society, discussed "Cartography." This was a Geography Student Association and Department of Geography sponsored Geography Awareness Week event, organized by Mr. Woods

Wednesday, 19 November (GIS Day):

• 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Geography Photo Contest
• 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Alumni Reception in LA4-207, tour of our new labs, and lab demonstrations. The Department wishes to thank the CSULB Alumni Association and our many alumni supporters, who have helped us acquire some awesome new equipment:
  • a "smart panel" in LA4-100, making it easier for faculty to share computer and media information with students
  • wide screen TV for instruction and presentations in LA4-207
  • a blimp for ærial photography/remote sensing (!)
  • a canoe for collecting water samples (!)

Thursday, 20 November:

• 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Geography Photo Contest
• 3:30-5 p.m. Geography Awareness Week and International Education Week joint event, organized by Dr. Baruah: Ms. Nelly Keita, Office of Human Resource Management, United Nations Secretariat, spoke about "Careers in the United Nations," USU Beach Auditorium (first floor of the University Student Union Building)

Friday, 21 November:

• 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Graduate student proposal presentations and announcement of Photo Contest winners!

Guest Speaker

Dr. Jacqueline Mills was our invited guest speaker on Wednesday, 19 November, speaking on the topic of GIS applications in urban disasters.

Guest Speaker

Ms. Hyowon Ban was invited to discuss "Network analysis and its application to intraurban migration" on Friday, 14 November.

Guest Speaker

Mr. Shipeng Sun was our guest, invited to discuss "Network analysis and its application to intraurban migration" on Friday, 14 November.

The Spaces of Democracy and the Democracy of Space Research Network

CSULB hosted a high-level international conference and workshop in August. The Spaces of Democracy and the Democracy of Space Research Network held one of its intensive working conferences here at The Beach on the 4th and 5th of August. The conference focussed on Ontology, Space, and Radical Politics, bringing attention to how the "spatial" is receiving increasing attention in the social sciences and humanities, well beyond the discipline of geography. The workshop explored what is driving this spatial turn and the tensions it foregrounds, including ethical responsibility, identity, representation, (post)territoriality, militarism, neoliberalism, and belief. What is being left out and/or excluded as so many scholars in so many fields make the spatial turn? How is the spatial turn related to and shaping politics and democracy? How is "radical" politics being understood?

The conference had two parts. There was a community forum part, held on the evening of the 4th, at the Downtown Public Library. Panelists included Goetz Wolff (Harry Bridges Institute, San Pedro, and UCLA), Gilda Haas (Strategic Action for a Just Economy, Los Angeles), and Laura Pulido (Department of American Studies and Ethnicity and Department of Geography, USC). This part was open to the public.

The second part went on all day on the 5th. This was an intensive workshop, in which a couple dozen participants shared their work. Speakers included Nigel Thrift (Vice-Chancellor, Warwick University), Edward Soja (Urban Planning, UCLA), John Paul Jones, III (Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona), Sallie Marston (Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona), Keith Woodward (Geography, University of Exeter), Laurence Berg (Geography, University of British Columbia), Mary Thomas (Women's Studies and Geography, Ohio State University), and Liz Philipose (Women's Studies, CSULB).

For more information, please contact the conference's head of local arrangements, Dr. Deborah Thien at dthien@csulb.edu. The workshop flyer is available at https://home.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/geography/spaces/spacesofdemocracy.pdf. An article based on the Network's workshop is coming out in 2009 in Progress in Human Geography.

Geography and Geology Field Trip for LSAMP

The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) is a statewide program for the enhancement of math and science skills for minority students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). It provides a summer pre-calculus program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and sponsored by the California State University system. The program gives students a glimpse of how math is used in several sciences, mixing field experiences with lab and class work. The departments of Geography and Geological Sciences have collaborated for a few years now in offering a geosciences-themed field experience for LSAMP students as an outgrowth of their Geosciences Diversity Enhancement Project (also funded by NSF). This year, the LSAMP trip was led by Drs. Paul Laris and Rick Behl (both of whom are the undergraduate advisors for their departments). They went to Palos Verdes Peninsula on the 19th of July to show students the massive landslides on the peninsula, explain how the combination of the rapid tectonic uplift and the alteration of volcanic rock into very slippery bentonite creates the unusually intense landslide hazard there, introduce students to coastal sage scrub vegetation, learn how to identify several key species, and explore the impact of wildfire and exotic invasive species on the peninsula. Two exhausted professors later, and an armada of geoscience-informed LSAMP students came away with a deeper understanding of how geography and geology work.

GDEP 2 Launched in Summer 2008!

The Department of Geography partnered with the Geological Sciences Department, the Archæology Program, and the Environmental Science and Policy Program to secure $1.1 million to launch the second track of the highly successful Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program. GDEP originally ran from 2002 through 2004. GDEP 2 will run from (today) through summer 2011. Dr. Chris Lee is the Principal Investigator. Other faculty involved are Drs. Paul Laris, Suzanne Wechsler, Chrys Rodrigue, Lora Stevens, Rick Behl, Greg Holk, Tom Kelty, Dan Francis, Dan Larson, Carl Lipo, and Hector Neff. The GDEP team, along with partner faculty from several local community colleges and high schools, and students from these institutions will be involved in field and lab work in two field sites this summer: the South Coast Wilderness in Orange County and Palos Verdes. A symposium presented the results of all these investigations in August! For more information about this program, please visit https://home.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/geography/gdep/.

Mr. James Woods' Photograph Selected for Press-Telegram

Our own "Woody" had a photograph of his selected for publication in the Long Beach Press-Telegram "Reader Page" section. The photograph is quite amazing: It shows the exact moment that a cannon went off during a Civil War re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg held in El Dorado Park in late May. You can read the article and view this photograph at http://www.presstelegram.com/readerpage/ci_9739208. Congratulations!

Ms. Deborah Hann Wins Outstanding CLA Thesis!

The Department of Geography is very proud to report that one of our graduate students, Ms. Deborah Hann, won the "Outstanding Thesis Award" from the College of Liberal Arts. Her thesis is entitled Maps in Children's Literature: Their Uses, Forms, and Functions, and her graduate advisory committee was Drs. Chrys Rodrigue, Suzanne Wechsler, and Judith Tyner. What makes this even more remarkable is this is the third graduate student to win this award in the last three years, and Geography had run a graduate program for 50 years before the first such distinction.

Dr. Laris Earns a Sabbatical!

The Department of Geography is very pleased to report that Dr. Paul Laris wrote a winning proposal for a sabbatical for 2008-09. We wish to congratulate him on this achievement, particularly since relatively few sabbaticals were granted. He will take his leave during Spring 2009.

Mr. Scott Eckhardt Is the CSULB Nominee for Best Thesis in the West!

Mr. Scott W. Eckhardt is the campus nominee for the annual Western Association of Graduate Schools Outstanding Thesis Award!!!

Student Scholarships

The Department of Geography is delighted to publicize the recipients of our student scholarships:

• Eileen Johansen Scholarship: Mr. Kentaro Iwamoto
• Burton Anderson Scholarship: Mr. Brian Nagy
• Rodney Steiner Award:
  • Mr. Ernesto Sanchez
  • Mr. Brian Nagy

Student Honors

The Department of Geography is very pleased to announce the following student awards:

• Outstanding Graduating Senior: Ms. Sharon Michelle Lynch
• Distinguished Undergraduates:
  • Ms. Sharon Michelle Lynch
  • Ms. Aregnaz Mooradian
• Distinguished Graduate Students:
  • Mr. Scott Eckardt
  • Ms. Janet Troeger

College of Liberal Arts Exceptional Achievement Awards

The Department of Geography is very proud to announce that three of its advanced undergraduates earned the CLA Exceptional Achievement Award: Ms. Jessica N. Jaynes, Ms. Devon T. Nelson, and Mr. Patrick R. Weber. This award recognizes outstanding scholastic achievement throughout a student's academic career at CSULB. Congratulations!

Mr. Scott Eckhardt Has Won Outstanding Thesis Honors!

Mr. Scott W. Eckhardt has been awarded the CLA Outstanding Thesis Award for his 2006 thesis, "Assessment of wildfire frequency and coastal sage scrub vegetation dynamics in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California," chaired by Dr. Paul Laris and read by Drs. Chris Lee and Chrys Rodrigue. This is only the second time that a Geography thesis has received this distinction in the 51 years that we have had graduate work (the last time was last year, when Dr. Mike McDaniel's 2005 thesis was given this award. Lightning DOES strike twice in the same place!)! Congratulations on this well-earned award!

Ms. Julienne Gard's Thesis Wins the National Jacques May Prize

Ms. Julienne Gard was named the 2007 winner of the Jacques May Prize, which honors the best thesis in medical geography. This is a national award given by the Medical Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers! Ms. Gard is presently working on her Ph.D. in geography at USC. Her thesis was chaired by Dr. Vin Del Casino and Drs. Christy Jocoy and Ray Sumner.

Dr. James A. Tyner Wins the Glenda Laws Memorial Award

Dr. James A. Tyner, son of our own Drs. Judith Tyner and Gerald Tyner, and alumnus of our program (B.A., 1989) was named the 2007 winner of the Glenda Laws Memorial Award. This award is administered by the Association of American Geographers and endorsed by members of the Institute of Australian Geographers, the Canadian Association of Geographers, and the Institute of British Geographers. The annual award and honorarium recognize outstanding contributions to geographic research on social issues. This award is named in memory of Glenda Laws, a geographer who brought energy and enthusiasm to her work on issues of social justice and social policy. Dr. Jim Tyner does work on the interconnections among gender, race, ethnicity, migration, and urbanism. This is the second time a Beach geographer has won the Glenda Laws Award: The very first recipient of this award was Dr. Vincent Del Casino! In the four years of this award, one Beach faculty member and one Beach alumnus have won it! This speaks volumes about the commitment that our program seems to instill in Beach geographers not just to understand the world but to change it and improve the lives of others.

Ph.D. Program Acceptances

Two of our graduate students, one of our undergraduate students, and one of our part-time faculty have been accepted into Ph.D. programs! Ms. Nazie Naraghi has been accepted into the doctoral program at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Mr. Ryan Goode has been accepted into the joint Ph.D. program of San Diego State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara (where Dr. Christopher Carter earned his Ph.D. and where Mr. Norm Carter is nearly done with his). Both graduate students start their studies in F/07. Mr. Christopher Slay, a double major in Geography and in Biological Sciences, has been accepted into the Ph.D. program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine, where he starts in Fall, 2008. And Ms. Angela Wranic has also been accepted into the Ph.D. program at Texas State University, San Marcos, where she starts in Summer 2007. This is an innovative program focussed on geographic education research and it was designed for working education professionals around the country. They are in residence in Texas during the summers and then they take courses through distance education during the regular academic year. Congratulations to each and all of you! This has to be a record for Geography @ The Beach!

Two Graduate Students Fêted at the CGS!

Messrs. Simon Wright and César Espinosa won first and second place, respectively, in the Cartography Digital Map Competition at the California Geographical Society meeting on March 16th-18th in Anza-Borrego. The awards conferred monetary prizes, too, which defrayed their travel. Both graduate students commented about how important Dr. Wechsler's support and help were. Geography @ The Beach Rocks!!!

Dr. Wechsler Wins Award!

The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing notified Dr. Suzanne Wechsler that she and Charles Kroll of SUNY, Syracuse, have won the 2007 ESRI Award for Best Scientific Paper in Geographical Information Systems for their paper, "Quantifying DEM uncertainty and its effect on topographic parameters," which appeared in Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing in late 2006. This recognition is accompanied by a $500 check! Outstanding!!!

[ Jobs ] [ Talks ] [ Changes ] [ Conferences ]

 

Jobs

Part-Time Lecturing at CSULB

The Department of Geography at CSULB may have part-time lectureships available for 2009-10, depending on the State budget and grant and contract activity. For more information on the positions and the application process, please contact the department chair, Dr. Vincent Del Casino at vdelcasi@csulb.edu or (562) 985-2357.

[ Jobs ] [ Talks ] [ Changes ] [ Conferences ]

 

Faculty Advising

Graduate Advisors

In Spring 2009, Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue will take on graduate advising. She can be reached at rodrigue@csulb.edu or (562) 985-4895, and her office is in LA4-106.

Undergraduate Advisors

Dr. Paul Laris is the undergraduate advisor in Fall 2008. In Spring 2009, he will be on sabbatical, and Dr. Deborah Thien will become the undergraduate advisor. She can be reached at dthien@csulb.edu or (562) 985-7072, and her office is in LA4-206B.

Internship and Extension GIS Certificate Program Director

Dr. Suzanne Wechsler is the Director of the Internship Program and the GIS/Cartography Certificate Program run through University College Extension Services. Her office is in LA4-206E, and she can also be reached at (562) 985-2356 and wechsler@csulb.edu. She will be on sabbatical this fall, and so we won't run GEOG 492 as such this fall. Students can do an internship and receive credit for it in the spring or, alternatively, work with a particular faculty member to do an internship in the fall and receive credit in the fall through that faculty member's GEOG 497 listing. The Extension GIS Certificate will continue under the leadership of its co-director, Mr. Woods.

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Upcoming Conferences and Calls for Papers (by month of conference)

March 2009

Association of American Geographers

The AAG will hold its annual meetings from the 22nd through the 29th of March in Las Vegas. Abstracts are due online by 16 October 2008. Information is available at http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/2009/index.htm.

April 2009

Western Social Science Association

The WSSA will hold its annual meetings from the 15th through the 19th of April in Albuquerque. Information is available at http://wssa.asu.edu/.

May 2009

The California Geographical Society

The California Geographical Society will be holding its annual conference from the 1st through the 3rd of May in Santa Ynez Valley. For more information, please visit http://www.csun.edu/~calgeosoc/meetings/SYV/syv.html.

The American Geophysical Union's 2009 Joint Assembly

The AGU will hold its 2009 Spring Joint Assembly from the 24th through the 27th of May in Toronto. To learn more and to submit an abstract before the 4 March deadline, please visit http://www.agu.org/meetings/ja09/.

The Southern California Academy of Sciences

The Southern California Academy of Sciences will be holding its annual conference at Marymount College, Palos Verdes, on May 29th and 30th, with the PV Land Conservancy co-hosting it. Preregistration for people presenting will be in March 2009. For more information, please visit http://scas.jsd.claremont.edu/annual/annual.html.

July 2009

The 2009 ESRI International User Conference

The next ESRI International User Conference will be held from 13-17 July in San Diego. The theme for this conference is "Geography in Action." For more information, please visit: http://www.esri.com/events/uc/.

October 2009

The Association of Pacific Coast Geographers

The Association of Pacific Coast Geographers will hold its next meeting from 30 September through 3 October in San Diego. Details will be posted at: http://geography.sdsu.edu/apcg/.

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Have Any News Items You Want to Share?

This news page is for everyone in the Department -- students, faculty, staff, and alumni. If you would like to tell folks about your accomplishments or notify us of something you think we'd like to know about, please contact Dr. Rodrigue (rodrigue@csulb.edu) or LA4 206D and she'll get your news up here.

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