Research

[ Publications ] [ Presentations ] [ Grants ] [ Media ] [ Guest Lectures ]

Publications in Journals and Books

2002

Del Casino, Vincent. 2002. Comments on "Enabling self-help activities through Loan Services in Thailand: The Urban Community Development Office's strategies for low-income community improvement," by Misato Sakai. Regional Development Dialogue 23, 4: 152-156.

Del Casino, Vincent. 2002. Comments on "Urban poor housing development as a basis for healthy and sustainable city development in Ayutthaya, Thailand," by Panthip Petchmark. Regional Development Dialogue 23, 4: 171.

Del Casino, Vincent. 2002. Review of the book, Sex Tourism: Marginal People and Liminalities, by C. Ryan and C. Michael Hall. Cultural Geographies 9, 4.

Curtis, James R. 2002. Review of the book, La Gran Linea: Mapping the United States-Mexico Boundary, 1849-1857, by Paula Rebert (University of Texas Press), Information Bulletin, Western Association of Map Libraries 33, 3 (July): 169-170.

Woods, James A. 2002. Ten maps in Imre Sutton's "Cartographic Review of Indian Land Tenure and Territoriality: A Schematic Approach," American Indian Culture & Research Journal 26, 2.

Curtis, James R. 2002. Review of the book, The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth, by Blake Gumprecht. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 92, 3: 594-596.

Laris, Paul. 2002. Burning the seasonal mosaic: Preventative burning strategies in the wooded savanna of southern Mali. Human Ecology 30, 2: 155-186.

Del Casino, Vincent J. 2002. World Regions in Global Context: Study Guide. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Tyner, Judith A. 2002. Folk maps, cartoons, and map kitsch: The role of cartographic curiosities. Mercator's World (March/April): 24-29.

Rodrigue, Christine M. 2002. Patterns of media coverage of the terrorist attacks on the United States in September of 2001. Quick Response Report 146. Available at: http://www.colorado.EDU/hazards/qr/qr146/qr146.html.

2001

Sidorov, Dmitrii. 2001. Orthodoxy and Difference: Essays on the Geography of Russian Orthodox Church(es) in the 20th Century (Princeton Theological Monograph Series 46). San José, CA: Pickwick Publications.

Glenn, E.P.; Lee, C.T.; and Valdes-Casillas, C. 2001. Introduction: Colorado River Delta. Journal of Arid Environments 49 (special issue): 1-4. This is the lead article.

Tyner, Judith A. 2001. Whither cartography? Cartographic Perspectives 38 (winter): 3-6. This is the lead article.

Rodrigue, Christine M. 2001. The Internet and plutonium on board the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. Risk: Health, Safety, and Environment 12, 3/4 (Fall): 221-254. This paper analyzes the risk assessment and risk management controversy that erupted over the plutonium on board the Cassini- Huygens spacecraft.

Sidorov, Dmitrii. 2001. Review of D. Wiener A Little Corner of Freedom: Russian Nature Protection from Stalin to Gorbachev . Historical Geography 29: 182-185.

Del Casino, Vincent. 2001. Decision making in an ethnographic context. Geographical Review (special double-issue, Doing Fieldwork) 91, 1/2 (January/April): 454-462.

Young, Terence. 2001. Moral order, language, and the failure of the 1930 Recreation Plan for Los Angeles County. Planning Perspectives 16, 4 (October): 333-356.

Del Casino, Vincent J. 2001. Enabling geographies? Non-governmental organizations and the empowerment of people living with HIV and AIDS. Disability Studies Quarterly 21, 4 (Fall): 19-29. Available at: http://www.cds.hawaii.edu/dsq/issues/2001/fall/html/04_geographies.htm.

Young, Terence. 2001. Place matters. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 91, 4: 668-669.

Koletty, Stephen R. 2001. The Samoan Archipelago in urban America. In Geographical Identities of Ethnic North America: Race, Space, and Place, Kate Berry and Martha Henderson, eds. Reno: University of Nevada Press.

Del Casino, Vincent. 2001. Healthier geographies: Mediating the "gaps" between the needs of people living with HIV and AIDS and health care in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Professional Geographer 53, 3: 407-421.

Rodrigue, Christine M. 2001. Impact of Internet media in risk debates: The controversies over the Cassini-Huygens mission and the Anaheim Hills, California, landslide. The Australian Journal of Emergency Management 16, 1: 53-61. It is available online here. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of different Internet "channels" in conveying activists' messages about two different hazard assessment and management controversies.

Sidorov, Dmitrii. 2001. Review of Chris J. Chulos and Timo Piirainen (eds.) The Fall of an Empire, the Birth of a Nation: National Identities in Russia. Nations and Nationalism 7, 4: 536-537.

Young, Terence. 2001. Urban parks. In The Oxford Companion to United States History, p. 582. P. Boyer, ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Rodrigue, Christine M. 2001. Construction of hazard perception and activism on the Internet: Amplifying trivial risks and obfuscating serious ones. Natural Hazards Research Working Paper 106 (University of Colorado, Boulder, Natural Hazards Research and Applications Center). This online publication is available at http://www.colorado.EDU/hazards/wp/wp106/wp106.html. This article examines risk amplification and risk attenuation in Internet media. It contrasts the controversies over the Cassini mission and over the extent of chaparral fire hazard in Southern California.

Tyner, Judith A. 2001. Following the thread: The origins and diffusion of embroidered map samplers. Mercator's World (March-April): 36-41. This article reports on her research on the history of map samplers out.

Weir, Daniel and Azary, Irisita. 2001. Quitovac Oasis: A sense of home place and the development of water resources. The Professional Geographer 53, 1: 46-55. This article is a humanistic analysis of the cultural geography of a seemingly failed agricultural development in the Sonoran Desert. This "failure" actually strengthened the residents' Tohono O'odham ethnic identity within the modernizing Mexican cultural milieu and ensured the continuation of religious rites surrounding a sacred site. Daniel Weir, by the way, is a doctoral student at Louisiana State University, who was once one of Dr. Azary's master's students at San Diego State. He spoke here in 2000.

James Woods. 2001. Membership analysis of the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. ESRI's Map Book, Vol. 16. This is an atlas of maps he produced completely within Atlas GIS, which was selected by ESRI for inclusion in this year's Map Book. This is the second time that Jim Woods has been honored by having his work showcased in the ESRI Map Book series (the last time was in Vol. 14 in 1999).

2000

Sidorov, Dmitrii. 2000. National monumentalization and the politics of scale: The resurrections of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 90: 548-572.

Woods, James. 2000. His map, "Number of Times the Land Has Burned," has been reprinted in John O'Looney's Beyond Maps: GIS and Decision Making in Local Government (ESRI Press): 161.

Lassiter, Unna. 2000. Marine animal oriented organizations, cultural diversity, and attitudes toward marine animals. Sea Grant Working Paper (USCG-TR-09-00). Los Angeles: University of Southern California Sea Grant Program.

Sidorov, Dmitrii. 2000. Playing chess with churches: Russian Orthodoxy as re(li)gion. Historical Geography 28: 208-233.

Curtis, James R. 2000. Praças, place, and public life: Urban squares in Brazil. Geographical Review 90, 4:: 475-492. This article is based on his field work in Brazil, where he has extended his analysis of public spaces in Hispanic American cities. He interprets stages in the development and design of urban squares in Brazil, showing how they were shaped by several social and artistic movements, including European cultural dominance and spontaneous fusion with indigenous Brazilian elements. This article was the lead piece in this issue! (and it came out in August 2001, though it belongs to the 2000 volume)

Del Casino Jr., V. and S. Hanna. 2000. Representations and identities in tourism map spaces. Progress in Human Geography 24, 1: 23-46.

Sidorov, Dmitrii. 2000. Review of D. Harvey Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference. Ethics, Place and Environment 3: 105-109.

Curtis, James R. 2000. Review of the book, From Aztec to High Tech: Architecture and Landscape along the U.S.-Mexico Border, by Lawrence Herzog. Geographical Review 90, 1: 145-147. This review is based on his expertise in borderlands studies.

Ludwig, Noel A. 2000. Swords into timeshares: A marine park alternative for the Spratly Islands. Ocean Yearbook 15 (University of Chicago Press). This article is based on a paper he presented at the 17th Pacific Science and Technology Conference, Honolulu, HI, June 6-10, 2000.

Sidorov, Dmitrii. 2000. Review of D. Shaw Russia in the Modern World. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 90: 645-647.

Del Casino Jr., V.; A. Grimes; S. Hanna; and J.P. Jones III. 2000. Methodological frameworks for the geography of organizations. Geoforum 31: 523-538.

James R. Curtis. 2000. Review of the book, Urban Latino Culures: La vida latina en L.A., edited by Gustavo LeClerc, Raul Villa, and Michael Dear (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1999). Urban Geography 21, 3 (April-May): 278-279.

Splansky, Joel 2000. Field Methods in Landscape Analysis, 3rd ed. Long Beach: 49er Copy Center (630 page textbook for Geography 486).

Splansky, Joel 2000. Tanzania. Long Beach: 49er Copy Center (25 page original instructional manual for Geography 308i).

Splansky, Joel 2000. Cratons and the early structuring of the African continent. Long Beach: 49er Copy Center (3 page original instructional manual for Geography 308i).

Woods, James. 2000. Executions by state since 1976. Death Penalty Information Center, http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executionmap.html. James Woods' map is updated each month. This necrogeography represents a socially, politically, and culturally revealing use of GIS and cartography and is well worth visiting on a regular basis.

Ulack, R. and Del Casino, V., Jr. 2000. Tourism. Chapter in Southeast Asia: Diversity and Development. Ed. T. Leinbach and R. Ulack. New York: Prentice Hall.

1999

Azary, Irisita. 1999. Application of the Rosgen stream classification system to Southern California wildland streams. American Water Resource Association Conference Proceedings: Wildland Hydrology (June/July). This is a refereed conference proceedings.

Tyner, Judith. 1999. Millie the Mapper. Meridian (the journal of the Map and Geography Round Table of the American Library Association) 15 (February): 23-28. This article reports on Dr. Tyner's research on the women who made the military maps used by the United States throughout WWII. Dr. Tyner also served as the guest editor for this special theme issue on Women in Cartography.

Tyner, Judith. 1999. A world of their own, James Wilson and the first American globe. Mercator's World 4, 1 (January/February): 28-33. This article presents Dr. Tyner's work on historical cartography.

Tyner, Judith. 1999. A new map of Texas, Oregon, and California with the regions adjoining. California 49, California Map Society Occasional Paper: 30. This was an invited commentary.

Accepted and Forthcoming

Del Casino, Jr., V. and Hanna, S. (eds.). 2003. Mapping Tourism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (forthcoming).

Del Casino, V.J., Jr. and S. Hanna. 2003. Mapping identities, reading maps: the politics of representation in Bangkok's sex tourism industry. In Mapping Tourism, ed. Hanna, S.P. and V.J. Del Casino, Jr. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Hanna, S., and Del Casino, Jr., V. 2003. Tourism spaces, mapped representations, and the practices of identity. In Mapping Tourism, ed. Hanna, S.P. and V.J. Del Casino, Jr. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Lassiter, Unna. 2002. La mouche dans la soupe: L'endroit et l'authenticité des animaux Espaces et Sociétés (accepted in July -- forthcoming).

Lassiter, Unna. 2002. "This is none of that Jack Kerouac thing ...": an essay review on narratives of poverty. Gender, Place and Culture, (accepted in August -- forthcoming).

Del Casino, Vincent. 2003. Review essay on three books, Transnational Asia Pacific: Gender, Culture, and the Public Sphere, by S. Geok-Lin Lim, L.E. Smith, and W. Dissanakyake; Thai Women in the Global Work Force: Consuming Desires, Contested Selves, by M.B. Mills; and Pink Fits: Sex, Subcultures, and Discourses in the Asia-Pacific., by A. Murray. Gender, Place, and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography (forthcoming).

Curtis, James R. 2002. A typology of Brazilian urban squares: Its application in the city of Manaus. In Ciudades y Urbanismo en las Americas, Robert Kent, ed. Castelló, España: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I (forthcoming).

Griffith, Marcie; Wolch, Jennifer; and Lassiter, Unna. 2002. Animal Practices and the Racialization of Filipinas in Los Angeles. Society and Animals, (accepted in July -- forthcoming).

Curtis, James R. 2002. Barrio Space and Place in Southeastern Los Angeles's Industrial Corridor. In Hispanic Spaces, Latino Places: A Geography of Regional and Cultural Diversity, ed. Daniel D. Arreola. Austin: University of Texas Press (forthcoming).

Lassiter, Unna. 2002. Cultural aspects of attitudes toward marine animals: a focus group analysis. California Geographer , (accepted in June -- forthcoming).

Young, Terence. 2001. Grounding the myth: Theme park landscapes in an era of commerce and nationalism. In The Landscapes of Theme Parks: Antecedents and Variations, pp. 1-10. Terence Young and Robert Riley, eds. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Library and Research Center Press (forthcoming).

Young, Terence. 2001. Virtue and irony in a U.S. National Park. In The Landscapes of Theme Parks: Antecedents and Variations, pp. 155-182. Terence Young and Robert Riley, eds. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Library and Research Center Press (forthcoming).

Lassiter, Unna and Wolch, Jennifer. 2001. From barnyard to backyard to bed: Changing attitudes towards animals among Latinas in Los Angeles. In Land of Sunshine: The Environmental History of Greater Los Angeles, ed. Greg Hise and William Deverell. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press (forthcoming).

Wolch, Jennifer; Brownlow, Alec; and Lassiter, Unna. 2001. Attitudes toward animals among African American women in Los Angeles. International Urban Wildlife Conservation Conference Proceedings (forthcoming).

Young, Terence. 2001. Historical geography of the environment. In Geography in America at the Dawn of the 21st Century, C. Wilmott and G. Gaile, eds. New York: Oxford University Press (forthcoming).

Wolch, Jennifer; Lassiter, Unna; and Top, Tula. 2001. Tracking animal- oriented organizations in Southern California. International Urban Wildlife Conservation Conference Proceedings (forthcoming).

Young, Terence. Creating Community Greenspace: A Handbook for Developing Sustainable Open Spaces in Central Cities. Los Angeles: The California League of Conservation Voters -- Education Fund (forthcoming).

Del Casino, Vincent. 2003. Review of the book, Tourism: Between Place and Performance, by S. Coleman, S. and M. Crang. Area (forthcoming).

Curtis, James R. 2002. Review of the book, Places for Dead Bodies, by Gary J. Hausladen, Geographical Review (forthcoming).

Tyner, Judith A. 2001. Review of the book, The Island of Lost Maps, by Miles Harvey. Cartographic Perspectives (forthcoming).

Curtis, James R. 2001. Review of the book, Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age, by John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle. The Professional Geographer (forthcoming).

Koletty, Stephen R. 1999. California circuits: Spatial constructions of an urban Samoan community. Out of Oceania: Diaspora, Community, and Identity: Proceedings of the Annual Pacific Island Studies Conference, Honolulu, Hawai'i (forthcoming).

[ Publications ] [ Presentations ] [ Grants ] [ Media ] [ Guest Lectures ]

Presentations at Conferences

2003

Association of American Geographers, New Orleans, March 2003

Dr. Vincent Del Casino is presenting:

"Miracle Cures, Local Wisdom, and Biomedical Care: Mapping the Competing Discourses and Practices of AIDS Care in Thailand."

Dr. Paul Laris is presenting:

"Patch Mosaic Burning: Exploring the Linkages between Human Practices and Biogeographical Theory."

Dr. Dmitrii Sidorov is presenting:

"The Corporatization of Public Space in Post-Soviet Moscow."

Dr. Suzanne P. Wechsler will be the presenting author, representing a G-DEP field team made up of Dr. Wechsler, Yuet Ying O'Connor (Long Beach City College, now Pasadena City College), Peter Wohlgemuth (USDA Forest Service), Brian Sims (graduate student at CSULB), and Aziz Bakkoury (graduate student at CSULB):

"Centroid Hunting: The Truth Is out There -- or Is It?"

Dr. Judith Tyner will present:

"Tracing 50 years of academic cartography: Robinson's Elements of Cartography."

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue will be the presenting author for the G-DEP team of investigators, representing Drs. Rodrigue, Suzanne Wechler, David Whitney (Psychology), Elizabeth Ambos, María-Teresa Ramírez-Herrera, Rick Behl, Dan Francis (Geological Sciences), and Crisane Hazen (Science Education):

"Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Project: Student Responses."

Dr. Stephen R. Koletty will present:

"Race and Identity among California's Pacific Islanders."

Additionally, Dr. Koletty, with Drs. Jim Allen (CSUN) and Wei Li (Arizona State University), has organized two paper sessions, "Ethnic Identity and Community: Patterns and Change I & II," one of which he will chair.

Mr. Brian Sims will present:

"Assessment of Interpolation Methods and Spatial Resolutions on Urban Digital Surface Models Derived from LiDAR."

Incidentally, Dr. María-Teresa Ramírez-Herrera, a geographer in the CSULB Geological Sciences Department, will also be going to the AAG, with Mr. David Stephens of Lakewood High School, to present the results of a G-DEP field project:

"Coastal Tectonics in Jalisco, Mexico."

Dr. Ramírez teaches the geomorphology course there, Geology 431/531, which geography majors are eligible to take, by the way.

2002

American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, 6-10 December 2002

Mr. Noel Ludwig

will present:

"Discretization of HRUs in a Mixed-Use Subtropical Watershed: Hydrologic Modeling in Windward Oahu, Hawaii Using SWAT"

Drs. Elizabeth L. Ambos, James C. Sample, Richard J. Behl, Robert D. Francis (Geological Sciences), Daniel O. Larson (Anthropology), María Teresa Ramírez-Herrera (Geological Sciences), Christine M. Rodrigue, Suzanne P. Wechsler (Geography), and David J. Whitney (Psychology) will present:

"The Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program (GDEP): Building an Earth System Science Centered Research, Education, and Outreach Effort in Urban Long Beach, California"

Dr. Ambos will be the presenting author

North American Cartographic Information Society, Columbus, Ohio, 9-12 October 2002

Dr. Judith A. Tyner presented:

"Elements of Cartography: Tracing 50 years of academic cartography."

Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, San Bernardino, 2-6 October 2002

Drs. Elizabeth L. Ambos (Geological Sciences), Christine M. Rodrigue, Suzanne P. Wechsler (Geography), Robert D. Francis, James C. Sample, Richard Behl, María Teresa Ramírez-Herrera (Geological Sciences), Daniel O. Larson (Anthropology), David J. Whitney (Psychology), and Crisanne Hazen (Science Education) presented:

"GDEP (Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program): An Interdisciplinary Summer Research Program to Increase the Diversity of Geography, Geology, and Archaeology Majors"

Dr. Wechsler was the presenting author.

Drs. David J. Whitney (Psychology), Suzanne P. Wechsler, Christine M. Rodrigue (Geography), María Teresa Ramírez-Herrera, Elizabeth L. Ambos, Robert D. Francis, James C. Sample, Richard Behl, (Geological Sciences), Daniel O. Larson (Anthropology), and Crisanne Hazen (Science Education) presented:

"General Education Student Perceptions of the Geosciences"

Dr. Rodrigue was the presenting author.

Dr. Stephen R. Koletty presented:

"What Census 2000 doesn't tell us about California's Pacific Islanders"

Messrs. Brian Sims, graduate student, and David McCune, undergraduate student in the Department of Geography and research associates in the NASA Regional Earth Science Applications Center will present:

"Diurnal live fuel moisture change in Adenostoma faciculatum (Chamise) in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California"

Ms. Valerie Müller presented:

"Gateway Cities 2000: Visualizing Land Uses in 27 Cities in Los Angeles County"

Geological Society of America, Denver, 27-30 October 2002

Drs. Elizabeth L. Ambos, James C. Sample, Richard J. Behl, Robert D. Francis (Geological Sciences), Daniel O. Larson (Anthropology), María Teresa Ramírez-Herrera (Geological Sciences), Christine M. Rodrigue, Suzanne P. Wechsler (Geography), and David J. Whitney (Psychology) will present:

"GDEP (Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program): Creating a Community-based Summer Geoscience Research Program"

Dr. Francis will be the presenting author.

The International Geographical Union, Durban, South Africa, August 2002

Dr. Unna Lassiter made a presentation to the International Geographical Union in Durban, South, Africa, in August. The paper is entitled:

"On the social construction of animals."

27th Annual Hazards Research and Applications Workshop, Boulder, CO, 14-17 July 2002

Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue served as invited panelist in a session:

"What's Happening in Higher Education? Student Needs and University Response."

She also facilitated the first-ever "First-Timers Orientation" to the Workshop.

Additionally, Dr. Rodrigue made two poster presentations:

"Media coverage of the events of 9/11."

"Developing controversies in the Mars Sample Return program."

Twenty-second Annual ESRI International User's Conference, San Diego, July 2002

Dr. Suzanne P. Wechsler made a presentation to the "HiEd: GIS Articulation" session with Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue. The paper is entitled:

"GIS articulation: Addressing the issue, sharing experiences and moving forward."

Mr. Brian Sims, graduate student, gave a paper, entitled:

"Centralizing Corporate Assets with GPS Technology at Southern California Edison."

CSU and Community College Workshop on Articulating GIS, CSULB, May 2002, organized by Dr. Suzanne P. Wechsler and attended by three dozen representatives of GIS education programs throughout the State

Dr. Frank Gossette made a presentation on:

"The GIS curriculum at CSULB."

29th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 8th-12th April 2002

Dr. Christopher T. Lee chaired a special session on "Fires" at the invitation of the Program Committee for the Symposium

California Geographical Society, Lone Pine, May 2002

Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue made a presentation based on her experiences teaching Geography 140 online:

"Assessment of an experiment in teaching geography online."

AVIRIS Earth Science and Applications Workshop, Pasadena, 5th-8th March 2002

Dr. Christopher T. Lee is co-author (with D. Roberts, P. Dennison, M. Gardner, and S.L. Ustin) of a presentation on using remotely sensed data to evaluate wildfire risks: online:

"Evaluation of the potential of Hyperion for fire danger assessment by comparison to AVIRIS."

Association of American Geographers, Los Angeles, 19-23 March 2002

Ms. Romey Hagen and Mr. Aziz Bakkoury, graduate students and research associates in the Southern California Wildfire Hazard Center, presented:

"Southern California Wildfire Hazards Center: A Regional Earth Science Applications Center."

Mr. Shaun Healy, graduate student and research associate in the Southern California Wildfire Hazard Center, presented:

"Cultural geography: An experiment in hypermedia."

Mr. James A. Woods and Dr. Frank Gossette, presented:

"Wildfire hazard in Southern California."

Dr. Vincent Del Casino served on the Program Committee of the AAG-LA meetings. He also gave a presentation, with Stephen Hanna, entitled:

"Tourism Workers and the Reproduction of Heritage in 'America's Most Historic City.'"

Mr. Doug Behrens gave a paper:

"Climatic Effects on Eggplant Production in California."

His daughter, Ms. Denise Behrens (a math major here, but we're workin' on 'er), ALSO presented a paper! Her paper was entitled,

"Los Angeles Chinatown and its New Business Improvement District."

Dr. Nurudeen Alao gave a paper:

"Development as a Tension-Driven Process."

Dr. Suzanne P. Wechsler gave a paper:

"Effect of Interpolation Method and Grid Cell Resolution on DEM Accuracy."

Mr. Noel Ludwig gave a paper:

"Gold in Them Thar Hills: Assessing the Need for Establishment of Hydrothermal Vent Protected Areas in the Global Ocean."

Dr. James R. Curtis presented:

"East L.A. Moves South."

He also served as a discussant in a session on "Latinos and Latino Space in the U.S.," which was organized by Dan Arreola at Arizona State.

Dr. Unna Lassiter gave a presentation:

"The Social Construction of Authenticity and Attitudes toward Animals."

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue gave three presentations, one in a poster session and two in two special panels she organized for the conference:

"Media and Hazards" panel (other speakers included Drs. Eugenie Rovai [CSU Chico, who chaired the session], Eve Gruntfest [University of Colorado, Colorado Springs], and Ben Wisner [formerly of CSULB and now at Oberlin College]).

"Media and the Terrorist Attack of 11 September 2001" panel (with the same panel of speakers, but Dr. Rodrigue chaired this panel).

The poster presentation was entitled: "Media Coverage of the Terrorist Attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."

Dr. Judith Tyner participated in several ways.

She gave a paper, "A Typology of Embroidered Maps."

She organized a panel session, "Quilts and Samplers in Geography," for which Dr. Kit Salter served as discussant.

She made an invited panel presentation in a session on "Women in Geography -- Inclusion and Exclusion."

She is gave a panel presentation in a round-table panel on "Cartographic Education."

Dr. Terence Young gave a paper:

"GIS and Public Participation Planning: Recommendations from Hollywood, California."

Cal GIS, Sacramento, March 2002

Dr. Suzanne Wechsler, presented to the:

"GIS Articulation" panel on coördinating GIS curricula among universities and community colleges.

2001

Learning from Urban Disasters, an NSF-funded workshop on the World Trade Center attacks, hosted by the Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems at New York University, New York, December 2001

Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue made an invited presentation on her work on media representation of 9/11 attacks. The talk is entitled:

"Patterns of Media Coverage of the Terrorist Attacks on the United States in September of 2001."

Jet Propulsion Lab/NASA Headquarters/Ames Research Center/Johnson Space Center Teleconference, Pasadena, November 2001

Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue made an invited presentation on her work on the construction of public hazard perception through the Internet. The talk is entitled:

"Risk Representation in the Space Program: The Internet and the Social Amplification of Risk."

Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers, Lexington, KY, 17-20 November 2001

Dr. Vincent Del Casino is presenting:

"Social Protest, Spatial Praxis, and Radical Geography in the Teaching of World History."

Dr. Del Casino is also second author with a team of people from Mary Washington University (Stephen P. Hanna, Casey Selden, and Benjamin C. Hite), who are presenting:

"Representation as Work: The Everyday Production of Heritage in Fredericksburg, Virginia."

UCLA Geography Colloquium, 16 November 2001

Dr. Vincent Del Casino presented:

"Making Space for Organic Intellectuals: A Neo-Gramscian Analysis of Non- Governmental AIDS Activism in Thailand."

North American Cartographic Information Society, Portland, OR, 3-6 October 2001

Dr. Judith Tyner presented:

"A Methodology for Examining Alternative Cartographies: Researching Embroidered Maps."

By the way, Dr. Ren Vasiliev, our Visiting Professor (and Dr. Tyner's officemate) in Spring 2001, will also be there to present:

"Quilts: An Alternative Cartography."

Association of Pacific Coast Geographers Santa Barbara, 12-15 September 2001

Mr. Thomas Ellrott, a geography graduate student, presented:

"Southern California Surf Culture Through the Construction and Deconstruction of Surf-Place Images in Huntington Beach, California."

Drs. Unna Lassiter and Stephen R. Koletty also attended the conference

Urban Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), Montego Bay, Jamaica 9-12 September 2001

Ms. Valerie Müller, a graduate student in geography, presented:

"Using GIS in Urban Planning -- Updating 27 General Plan Maps in Southern California."

Hazards Research and Applications Workshop, Boulder, CO, 15-19 July 2001

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue gave an invited poster presentation and served as a panelist for a session on:

"The Media, the Internet, and Disasters." Her paper for this session is entitled, "The Internet in Risk Communication and Hazards Activism."

Her invited poster was entitled, "The Internet in the Social Amplification and Attenuation of Risk."

Dr. Frank Gossette also attended the Workshop, together with his wife, Dr. Ronnie Wade, of Stanford University.

Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences, San Diego, 12-14 July 2001

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue attended the CCAS Seminar for Department Chairs as one of two College of Liberal Arts department chairs being sent by Dean Dorothy Abrahamse.

Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers and Universitat Jaume I, Benicàssim/Castelló, Spain, 12-15 June 2001

Dr. James R. Curtis presented:

"The Plazas of Manaus, Brazil."

International Conference on GIS Education, CSU San Bernardino, 21-23 June 2001

Together with graduate student, Ms. Erin Stockenberg, Dr. Suzanne Wechsler gave a talk on:

"Environmental and Natural Resource Applications of GIS: Course Development."

GIS Expo, Cal Poly, Pomona, 10 May 2001

Dr. Suzanne Wechsler gave an invited presentation, entitled:

"GIS and Remote Sensing at California State University Long Beach: By Example."

Association of Asian Studies, Chicago, 21-24 March 2001

Dr. Vincent J. Del Casino was the primary co-author (with Rachel Safman, Cornell University) of a presentation, entitled:

"Working the 'Middle Ground': NGOs, Health Care, and AIDS in Chiang Mai, Thailand."

Association of American Geographers, New York, 27 February-3 March 2001

The Department of Geography at CSULB sent one of the largest delegations to the AAG conference (the major national conference across the discipline) of all the Southern California geography departments. Only UCLA, SDSU, and UCSB sent larger groups (8-10 people), but their Ph.D.-granting departments are considerably larger than ours (18-24 tenured and probationary faculty each). At 58 percent, our delegation included the largest percentage of the faculty from any Southern Califoria geography department, and towered over the 29 percent average for all the CSU campuses. This kind of showing at a major national conference is just one easily quantified expression of a diverse and hard-working group of scholars, teachers, and university and community servants! Go Beach!

Dr. Chris Lee authored a paper with a large group from UC Santa Barbara's Department of Geography and Institute for Computational Earth System Science (Dar A. Roberts, Phil Dennison, Charles Jones, and Marco Morais) and The Ærospace Corporation of El Segundo (Ray Talbot):

"Integrated Assessment of Fire Hazard in Southern California using Remote Sensing, GIS and Wind Models."

Dr. Vincent Del Casino presented:

"Organizational Ethnographies and the Politics of Fieldwork."

Dr. Del Casino also served on a panel, which he co-organized. The title of the session is:

"Interrogating Tourism Maps: New 'Guides' to Space and Identity."

Dr. Jim Curtis presented a paper with Ms. Aimée R. Mindes (Physical Sciences Department, Rio Hondo College, Whittier, and a graduate alumna of Geography at CSULB):

"Urban Structure in Ensenada and La Paz, Mexico."

Dr. Curtis also chaired a session, entitled:

"Latin American Urban and Economic Geography."

Dr. Suzanne P. Wechsler delivered:

"Effect of Digital Elevation Model Uncertainty and Scale on Topographic Parameter Estimators."

Dr. Judith Tyner went off to New York to present:

"Millie the Mapper II: Experiences of Women Geographers and Cartographers in WWII."

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue, also headed to the AAG to present:

"Construction of Hazard Perception and Activism on the Internet."

Dr. Rodrigue also chaired a session, entitled:

"New Departures in Research on the Human Dimensions of Technological Hazards."

Dr. Frank Gossette, frantically flew to New York to present:

"Geography of the Last Moment." Or so he insisted right up to the very last moment. Actually, he co-presented (with Dr. Roni Wade of Stanford University) "Using GIS to Model At-risk Populations for Emergency Planning and Response" and, yes, the real abstract is now available by clicking on Dr. Gossette's name above.

Dr. Unna I. Lassiter was also part of the New York delegation, showcasing her USC dissertation research:

"Cultural Diversity and the Construction of Marine Animals."

Dr. Stephen R. Koletty, also representing El Camino College, delivered:

"Tiki L.A. -- Geography of an Urban Exotica."

Mr. Ed Huefe, a graduate student in the Geography Department, was also part of the AAG delegation, where he made the following presentation:

"Across the Borderline: U.S.-Mexico Borderlands as Locus of Transformation in North American Popular Music."

Mr. Huefe is working on his thesis with Dr. James Curtis.

Mr. Tom D. Frazier, an M.A. alumnus of the Geography Department, also went to the AAG to present:

"The Waning Berlin Wall: Topography of a Relict Boundary."

Mr. Frazier is presently working on his doctorate at the Geographic Institute of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. He noted that his AAG presentation is based on research he started while doing his master's thesis here (under Dr. Gary Peters, now at Chico State) and he wants to say hello to everyone here and be considered an unofficial member of our huge AAG delegation this year! We got to catch up a bit there, Tom (and regards to Dr. Marlies Schulz, who spoke here last year)!

College of Liberal Arts Faculty Retreat, CSULB, 9 February 2001

Dr. Frank Gossette made a presentation on:

"Study and Teaching abroad as Part of the Liberal Arts Experience."

Several other Geography faculty attended, including Drs. Suzanne Wechsler, Vincent Del Casino, Irisita Azary, Joel Splansky,and Chrys Rodrigue.

Western Geography Student Conference, Portland, OR, 2-4 February 2001

Ms. Valerie Müller presented:

"Using GIS to Update 27 General Plan Maps."

Mr. Lewis Francis, Ms. Romey Hagen, Mr. Shaun Healy and Mr. Steven Newberg presented:

"In the Line of the Fire: An Investigation into the Relationship between Aspect and Fire History in the Santa Monica Mountains, 1925-1997."

California GIS Conference, Sacramento, January 2001

Dr. Frank Gossette made a presentation with Ms. Kristina Sayer Smith on:

"Modeling campus populations at risk with GIS."

2000

American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, 15-19 December, 2000

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue presented:

"The Use of the Internet and Web-Based Technology for Space and Geoscience (Mis)Education: New Media in Natural and Technological Hazard Debates."

In addition, Dr. Rodrigue chaired a session at the AGU:

"New Tools and Perspectives on Understanding Natural Hazards Worldwide."

GIScience 2000, Savannah, Georgia, 28-31 October, 2000

Dr. Suzanne P. Wechsler presented:

"Applications of a Methodology For Digital Elevation Model Uncertainty Simulation Within ArcView Spatial Analyst."

Texas Map Society, October, 2000

Dr. Judith Tyner gave an invited presentation:

"The Hidden Cartographers: The History of Women in Cartography."

Western Conference of the Association of Asian Studies, CSULB, 6-7 October, 2000

Dr. Vincent Del Casino gave a panel presentation on:

"HIV/AIDS in Thailand."

Hazards Research and Applications Workshop, Boulder, CO, July 9-12, 2000

Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue made an invited hour-long research presentation:

"Public Perception and Hazard Policy Construction When Experts and Activists Clash in the Media."

Dr. Rodrigue also made a poster available at that conference:

"Internet Recruitment and Activism in the Cassini Controversy."

Dr. Ben Wisner served as an invited discussant in a plenary session. This was his last professional presentation while still a professor in this department (he has since moved to Oberlin College, in Ohio). His presentation was:

"The Political Economy of Hazards: More Limits to Growth?"

American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz, Mexico, 14-20 June 2000

Dr. Christopher Lee gave an invited presentation on:

"Delineating the southern borders of the Chihuahuan Desert."

California Geographical Society, San Diego, May 2000

Dr. Irisita Azary gave a presentation, entitled:

"Outreach and 'Inreach': Development of a Geography Internship Program.Outreach and "Inreach": Development of a Geography Internship Program."

Association of American Geographers, Pittsburgh, April 4-8 2000

Dr. Frank Gossette, together with graduate student, Mr. Michael Jenkins, presented:

"Visualizing Flood Hazard with GIS."

Dr. Judith Tyner presented:

"Folk Maps, Cartoons, and Map Kitsch: The Role of Cartographic Curiosities."

Dr. Ben Wisner presented:

"Urban Social Vulnerability in Six World Megacities: Lessons and Proposals."

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC, February 17-22

Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue presented:

"Internet Recruitment and Activism in Constructing Technological Risk."

1999

American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, December 13-17, 1999

Dr. Irisita Azary presented:

"Making Connections: Development of an Internship Program to Ensure Undergraduate and Graduate Student Success."

American Studies Association, Montréal, Canada, October 28-31, 1999

Dr. James Curtis presented:

"Ensenada: A Mexican Border Town?"

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Anaheim, January 28, 1999

Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue presented:

"Public, Expert, and Activist Perceptions of the Plutonium on Board the Cassini-Huygens Mission."

[ Publications ] [ Presentations ] [ Grants ] [ Media ] [ Guest Lectures ]

Grants, Contracts, and Awards

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Drs. Christopher Lee, Suzanne P. Wechsler, Christine M. Rodrigue, and Paul Laris are submitting a major grant proposal to the NASA REASoN Coöperative Agreement Notice solicitation. The project, named the Institute for the Management of Applications and Geospatial Education (IMAGE), will secure funding for the continuation of the NASA Regional Earth Science Applications Center housed in the Department and its Southern California Wildfire Hazards Center. The funding is also meant to expand the remote sensing activities of the RESAC into other areas, both in the region and into different applications. IMAGE will entail research, applications, and educational activities during its five years of operation, should funding be granted. Partners include UC Santa Barbara, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the San Dimas Experimental Forest, Crystal Cove Park in Orange County, and JPL.

City of Lakewood

Drs. Frank Gossette and Suzanne Wechsler have just received a $25,000 contract from the City of Lakewood to provide GIS services.

National Science Foundation and Association of American Geographers

Dr. Unna Lassiter received a grant from NSF and the AAG to defray her costs travelling to the International Geographical Union to present her research on the social construction of animals and hear the keynote speaker, Nelson Mandela, discuss the relevance and importance of geography.

National Science Foundation

Drs. Chris Lee (PI), Suzanne Wechsler (Co-PI), Chrys Rodrigue (senior faculty mentor) and Paul Laris (senior faculty mentor) have just signed off on a grant proposal to the Biology Directorate of NSF to support a Research in Experiences for Undergraduates project. Dr. Rod Hay, Chair of the Earth Sciences at CSU Dominguez Hills will also serve as a senior faculty mentor. Dr. Jennifer Lonergan of the Department of Psychology is a faculty associate of the project, responsible for assessing the success of the proposal, should it be funded. The project is called the Geospatial Technologies Research and Education Partnership (GT-REP).

The purpose of this roughly $700,000 project is significantly to increase the size and sophistication of the fire risk database that the Southern California Wildfire Hazard Center (a NASA Regional Earth Science Applications Center) has developed from field work done by teams of RESAC interns over the last three summers. The GT-REP would provide the workforce needed to increase the live fuel moisture collection activities from the six current sites to twenty new sites that will be chosen through GIS analysis and field reconnaissance. The GT-REP would follow LFM over the course of three whole years, rather than just the summer. The purpose of the LFM collection is to see if changes in the moisture content of vegetation can be detected by changes in the reflectance of AVIRIS airborne hyperspectral data. Interns will also prepare the AVIRIS imagery for analysis by rectifying them to maps. The database will help UCSB and Aerospace Corporation develop better models for predicting changes in wildfire hazard on a real-time basis for use by local fire agencies.

The size of the research assistant workforce is too large to be confined to the Geography Department, so this program will be made available to students in other departments on this campus (Geology and Biology and possibly Anthropology), Earth Science and Biology at CSUDH, Biology and Geography at CSUN, and the geography departments at CSULA and CSU Fullerton, as well as to local community colleges (e.g., Long Beach City College and Rio Hondo College). The research internships will run for 20 weeks each and will eventually provide exposure to the geospatial technolgies to 72 undergraduates! Here's hoping that NSF chooses to fund this wonderful research experience for students in all of Los Angeles and Orange counties!

Universitywide AIDS Research Program of the University of California

Dr. Vincent Del Casino has been notified that his proposal, "Cognitive Distance, Mobility Patterns, and Drug Use Among MSM" has been funded for 2002-2003. The grant is for $66,340 in direct costs and will cover release time for Dr. Del Casino to conduct ethnographic research on designer drug use and related HIV risks in Long Beach among "men who have sex with men." The research draws from his background in medical/social geography and ethnographic methodologies and will focus attention on how MSM "cognitively map risk."

National Institutes of Health

Dr. Vincent Del Casino (PI) and Dennis Fischer (Psychology, Co-PI) have submitted a $1,838,918 proposal on "Locality, Mobility, Drugs & HIV Among Gay/Bisexual Men." The proposal is under review in the Behavioral, Social, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse program.

CSULB Enhancing Educational Effectiveness Award Program

Both Drs. Suzanne Wechsler and Vincent Del Casino have received "EEE" Awards. Dr. Wechsler, together with her collaborators, Dr. Teresa Ramirez-Herrera (a geographer in the Geological Sciences Department) and Dr. Christopher Lowe (Biological Sciences), each received a substantial Enhancing Educational Effectiveness award. Each will receive 0.2 re-assigned time to work on geological, ecological, and marine biological labs and modules for the new course, Geography *481 (GIScience Applications for the Natural Sciences), which is targeted to Geology and Biology majors. Dr. Del Casino, together with his collaborator, Dr. Tim Keirn of History, has received a summer stipend from the Enhancing Educational Effectiveness Award program, so that they can work on developing a World Historical Geography Certificate Program at CSULB.

National Institutes of Health

Dennis Fischer (Psychology, PI) and Dr. Vincent Del Casino (Research Geographer) submitted a $3,039,434 proposal to the Behavioral, Social, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse program, which, if funded will investigate "Designer Drugs & HIV Prevention in Gay/Bisexual Men."

National Science Foundation

Drs. Chrys Rodrigue and Suzanne Wechsler were part of a team of eight co-PIs that received a three year $852,000 NSF grant. This project was spearheaded by Dr. Beth Ambos, Department of Geological Sciences and (then) Associate Dean for Instruction, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and (now) Acting Dean for Graduate Studies. Other co-PIs in the three year project include Drs. Dan Francis, Rick Behl, Jim Sample, and María-Teresa Ramírez-Herrera of the Department of Geological Sciences, and Dr. Dan Larson of the Department of Anthropology. Dr. Laura Henriques of the Department of Science Education, Dr. David Whitney of the Department of Science, and our own Dr. Chris Lee are also associates of the proposed project. Dr. Lee has put the resources of the Southern California Wildfire Hazard Center at the disposal of the project.

The purpose of the grant is to integrate underrepresented students in the geosciences by involving them in research projects conducted by CSULB geosciences faculty and faculty from several community colleges and high schools in the area. The students recommended by the high school and community college faculty work as research assistants during the summer and then co-author scientific publications and conference papers and present their work to their home institutions. This project is to help remedy the lack of exposure to the field-oriented geography, geology, and archaeology disciplines experienced by promising young urban students who may never have even gone on a field trip outside the city. The hope is that, by participating in field research and working with faculty in the geosciences, some of these students may begin to put the various geosciences on their radar for possible major selection and lend their perspectives to geography, geology, and archaeology. If urban students won't come to the geosciences, then the geosciences will come to them!

Scholarly and Creative Activities Award Program

Dr. James Curtis was selected to receive a University Scholarly and Creative Activities Committee Award (SCAC). This honor confers a summer stipend for Summer 2002, which enabled him to conduct field research in Mexico.

NSF-Funded Quick Response Grant

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue has been awarded a small NSF-funded grant from the Natural Hazards Center of the University of Colorado, Boulder, to defray costs associated with a study she is conducting on media coverage of the terrorist attack of September 11th. She will be submitting a Quick Response Report to the Center in January 2002 and has been invited to submit a paper for an anthology of Center-funded studies being put together in June 2002.

City of Carson

Dr. Frank Gossette received a $12,000 contract for a project, "Implementation and Training for Global Positioning Satellite Systems (GPS): City of Carson, CA." In this project, which ran from September 2000 through June 2001, Dr. Gossette assisted the City of Carson to acquire and develop GPS capabilities for infrastructure management projects. This project employed one student intern.

City of Manhattan Beach

Dr. Frank Gossette received another $12,000 contract for a project, "Implementation and Training for Global Positioning Satellite Systems (GPS): City of Manhattan Beach, CA." This project, which ran from September 2000 through June 2001, helped the City of Manhattan Beach acquire and develop GPS capabilities for infrastructure management projects. Like the Carson project, this one also employed one student intern.

City of Lakewood

Dr. Frank Gossette was awarded a $40,000 contract for a project entitled "Geographic Information Systems for the city of Lakewood, CA." This project, running from 1 July 2000 through 30 June 2001, developed innovative approaches to mapping information for community development and public infrastructure management, and it provided internship opportunities for four CSULB Geography students.

National Geographic Society

In winter 2000, Dr. James Curtis submitted a final report on a grant he had received from the National Geographic Society for research conducted on urban structure in Ensenada and La Paz, Baja California.

CSULB

In spring 2000, Dr. James Curtis received $1,500 from the University to conduct research on application of the urban regions concept to Lima, Peru. The initial phase of that research was conducted during spring break, 2000.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Dr. Chris Lee directs a NASA Regional Earth Science Application Center (RESAC), which he brought over from CSU Dominguez Hills on moving to our department in Fall 2000. This RESAC is the Southern California Wildfire Hazard Center. There are only eight RESACs in the country (the others, all doctoral institutions, are UC Berkeley and the universities of Arizona, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, Maryland, and Connecticut). Besides CSULB, the other partners in this center are UC Santa Barbara, Ærospace Corporation, Los Angeles County Fire Department, and Jet Propulsion Lab. Funding amounts to $1.5 million through February of 2002. The goal of this NASA RESAC is to provide fire hazard maps incorporating remote sensing and weather modelling data to the LACFD to assist them in managing fire hazards at the urban-wildlands interface.

Beside the Wildfire Hazard Center, Dr. Lee is conducting two pilot projects for the NASA Earth Science Applications Research Program (ESARP), in coöperation with the Soil and Water Science Department of the University of Alexandria in Egypt, the University of Guelph in Canada, and Boulder County in Colorado. The overall purpose of the ESARP is international, state, and local workforce development and capacity-building in support of NASA Earth Science Enterprise goals. This $300,000 pair of pilot projects includes one project in Egypt and one in Colorado. The first entails analysis of new high resolution satellite data for farm systems analysis and to build an historical data archive of 50 Landsat Thematic Mapper images for use by the students of Alexandria, Guelph, and CSULB in studies of long-term vegetation dynamics and agricultural development on the northwest coast of Egypt. The second project is to assist Boulder County in developing remote sensing capacity, including high resolution IKONOS imagery, software and training, and image processing support.

Dr. Lee arrived at CSULB after spending a year away from CSUDH as a NASA Visiting Senior Scientist in Washington, D.C., where he worked on developing the NASA State, Local, and Tribal Initiative design. He was (and remains) responsible for the Workforce Development and Capacity Building element, which he represents at conferences, workshops, and to NASA Headquarters.

Association of American Geographers

Dr. Judith Tyner reports that she received an AAG Research Grant to help with expenses for "Millie the Mapper: The Role of Women in Geography and Cartography in WWII." She commented that this means she'll actually have to do this project! ;-)

CSULB President's Office

Dr. Frank Gossette reports that the Department is currently working with the CSULB President's Office on an enrollment management mapping project. Its purpose "is to provide a visual representation of a proposed CSULB service area which maintains the university's ethnic, geographic, and academic program diversity while enrolling applicants who demonstrate the most potential for academic success."

Two versions of the map are planned. The maps will show CSULB and indicate high school districts, individual high schools, and their distances from CSULB with the use of 5-mile concentric rings. The locations of CSU Fullerton and CSU Dominguez Hills will also be shown for reference. In addition, the first version will include the number of first time freshman enrollees for Fall 1999, and the second will include Stanford 9 scores and the percentage of AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) population for each school.

CSULB Campus Assessment Committee

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue was awarded one class of reassigned time in the fall and student assistant money to work on a campus project on incorporating program assessment into the curriculum. This project has yielded comparisons of our curriculum with the national geography standards and with the curricula of other CSU geography programs in the Greater Los Angeles Area. It led to the department developing its own goals and objectives, which were also used as a benchmark for comparing the overall undergraduate curriculum.

[ Publications ] [ Presentations ] [ Grants ] [ Media ] [ Guest Lectures ]

Media Appearances

2002

Prof. James Woods created a map for the Office of Enrollment Services, which shows the area beyond which new students will have to meet higher standards for admission. The campus is trying to deal with an explosion in demand for seats at CSULB, and tougher admissions standards for non-local students is one part of the strategy. This map, attributed to the Geography Department, was featured in the leading front page story in the Daily 49er on Monday, 11 March! The article by Phil Witte is entitled, "CSULB Becoming More Exclusive," and you can read it and see Woody's map here. Thanks, Woody, for putting our department "on the map"!

2001

The Daily 49er, the student daily newspaper, featured a story about the $852,000 GeoDiversity grant that Drs. Chrys Rodrigue and Suzanne Wechsler received as Co-PIs (with Drs. Beth Ambos, Dan Francis, Teresa Ramírez, Jim Sample, and Rick Behl in Geology and Dan Larson in Anthropology. Dr. Chris Lee is also a Faculty Associate on the program (along with Drs. Laura Henriques of Science Education and Dave Whitney of Psychology). The reference is: Sarah Langford, "Foundation Funds Geoscience," Daily 49er 52, 35 (24 October 2001): 1. This lead story can also be read by clicking here.

Ian Hanigan of the Long Beach Press-Telegram wrote a story entitled, "CSULB Holds Terror Forum," which ran in the Thursday, 11 October 2001 edition, on p. A4. The story reported on the three hour teach-in on the events of 11 September 2001, which had been organized by Dr. Vincent Del Casino and an ad hoc group of the College of Liberal Arts Faculty Council. Dr. Del Casino's talk was noted:

Leading off the discussion was Vincent Del Casino, a CSULB geography professor who talked about the roots of nationalism and the fears caused by increasing glbalization. Del Casino said extremists like Osama bin Laden and Timothy McVeigh fear the encroachment of other cultures.
"At the very least, we can no longer see ourselves as an island separated from the rest of the world," he said.

Dr. Ed Karabenick has edited the 50th anniversary volume of Long Beach Geographical Notes (Vol. 15, No. 1, Winter 2001). The Notes are a publication of the Department of Geography, which is sent to all present and past students and faculty. This edition contains Dr. Karabenick's article, "A Brief Unbiased History of Geography at CSULB," which is his own idiosyncratic assembly of highlights and colorful characters in the department's half century. Some of these anecdotes are quite amusing (the rogue art exhibit story alone is well worth the effort to snag one of these newsletters!). Dr. Karabenick got several alumni, representing each of the five decades of the department's existence, to share their memories of their time here and where they've gone with their degree since. There is also an article by alumnus Tom Frazier (now a Ph.D. student in Berlin) on the Berlin Wall and a summary of Dr. Splansky's famous Mammoth field trip by one of its recent participants, Ed Huefe (who is now finishing up his M.A. degree with us this year). Speaking of Dr. Splansky, the Notes also includes his "Department Chair's Message," summarizing the 1999-2000 academic year. To get your copy of the Notes and make sure you're on the mailing list for future editions, please contact the Department by phoning (562) 985-8432 or by e-mail.

The Long Beach Union, the alternative student weekly newspaper, published a commentary by Mr. Keith Miller, entitled "In Response: 9-11," concerning the tragic events of 11 September 2001 in New York and Washington. The commentary was printed in the 24 September 2001 issue, at the top of p. 2, in the "Viewpoints" section.

The Daily News, a newspaper out in the San Fernando Valley, published a brief letter to the editor by Dr. Chrys Rodrigue objecting to the movement to have the Valley secede from the City of Los Angeles and pointing out the advantages of remaining within the L.A. City Department of Water and Power. The letter came out Friday, 9 February 2001.

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue's research on media performance during natural disasters was profiled in the campus publication, Inside CSULB. The reference is: Manly, Richard. 2001. Some Media Coverage a Disaster. Inside CSULB 53, 1: 1. You can get a PDF copy by clicking here.

2000

The Los Angeles New Times published a brief letter to the editor by Dr. Chrys Rodrigue. It was entitled "East L.A.'s Picasso: Out of this world," and it corrected a factual error about the Cassini mission. The letter came out 6 July 2000 and is available at: http://www.newtimesla.com/issues/2000-07-06/letters.html.

Jan Olsen's, Ed Huefe's, and Jim Covin's March 29th public presentation, Emergency Preparedness in Pedro, was the focus of a front page article in the Random Lengths biweekly newspaper. The article, with the byline of staff writer, Andy Harris, gave a very positive review of the three CSULB Geography graduate students' research and summarized the highlights of citizen discussion with local Fire Chief Lou Roupoli and L.A. Firefighter David Stamp. The full reference is Harris, Andy. 2000. "Disaster Preparedness: When the Big One Hits Pedro," Random Lengths Harbor Independent News (April 28-May 11): 1, 16.

Mr. Woods is profiled on the Association of American Geographers website in its "Geographers at Work" page, under its "Careers in Geography" section. The profile is entitled, "An Interview with James A. Woods - Hazard Geographer," and the direct link is http://www.aag.org/Careers/Geogwork/Woods.html. The article describes a lot of Mr. Woods' GIS work in fire hazard analysis and mitigation and his work with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. It is nice to see our department's strong record in applied geography recognized by a profile of one of own on the AAG web site!

1999

Mr. Noel Ludwig had a letter to the editor published in National Geographic (May 1999).

Dr. Tyner had an article on her work on embroidered maps and globes appear as, "Stitching a New Country," in Needlearts 33, 1 (March 1999): 12-14.

[ Publications ] [ Presentations ] [ Grants ] [ Media ] [ Guest Lectures ]

Invited Lectures and Field Trips

2002

Mr. James Woods was an invited presenter at Rio Hondo's GIS Day on 20 November 2002. He made two presentations. The first was entitled, "Brushfire History in Southern California" and the second was about "GIS at CSU Long Beach."

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue traveled with Ms. Crisanne Hazen (of Science Education) to Orange Coast College on 18 November to talk to Mr. Erik Bender's geology course about the Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Project (G-DEP) and to recruit student interns for next summer's program. She also discussed the possibility of interning in the Geospatial Technology Research and Education Partnership (GT-REP. Later that day, she spoke in Ms. Irene Naesse's world regional geography course to recruit for G-DEP and GT-REP and to discuss careers in geography as a Geography Awareness Week activity there.

Dr. Vincent Del Casino spoke on "Epidemiologies, NGOs, and community health: Negotiating the shifting geographies of HIV/AIDS discourses in Northern Thailand," to the Department of Anthropology Seminar Series, Macquarie University, Australia, in October 2002.

Dr. Vincent Del Casino presented a talk, entitled, "'All the men are dead': The gendered geographies of health and health care for people living with the HIV/AIDS in Thailand, first to the Gender, Sexuality and Culture Seminar Series, at the Gender Relations Center, The Australian National University, in September 2002, and again for the National Centre in HIV Social Research, New South Wales University, in December 2002.

Dr. Vincent Del Casino presented "Between the 'traditional' and the 'modern': investigating the overlapping (and competing?) spaces of AIDS-related health care in Thailand, to the Lunchtime Seminar Series, School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Australia, in September 2002.

Dr. Vincent Del Casino gave a guest talk "AIDS outreach and the politics of health: The geographies of NGO activism in Thailand," to the Institute of Postcolonial Studies, Melbourne, Australia, in September 2002.

Dr. Vincent Del Casino spoke on "Places of health (re)organized: interrogating the geographies of 'traditional Thai medicine.'" to the Human Geography Seminar Series, Department of Human Geography, The Australian National University, in September 2002.

Mr. Douglas Behrens served as a volunteer class leader for the CSULB Senior University again in summer of 2002. He donated his time to teach a course in California Geography and another in Astronomy.

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue gave a presentation on ethics in the earth sciences to the Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program colloquium series. She was part of a panel with Dr. Roger Bauer (Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and first dean of the College of Natural Science and Mathematics) and Dr. Elizabeth Ambos (Professor of Geology and Acting Dean of Graduate Studies). Dr. Rodrigue's remarks focussed on the ethics of attribution and the protection of human subjects.

Drs. Chrys Rodrigue and Dan Francis of Geological Sciences gave a workshop on jobs in the geosciences to the G-DEP colloquium series.

Dr. Suzanne Wechsler gave a workshop on GPS and GIS to the Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program participants.

Drs. Chrys Rodrigue gave a workshop on HTML and FTP for the G- DEP colloquium series.

2001

Dr. Vincent Del Casino gave a talk to the College of Education Brown Bag Series on 23 April 2001. The talk was entitled, "Social Protest, Spatial Praxis, and the Teaching of Radical Geography in World History." Dr. Del Casino reports that this talk is part of a larger paper that he is working on with Dr. Tim Keirn in the History Department, continuing the long tradition of interaction between the Geography and the History departments on this campus.

Dr. Yonni Schwartz gave a talk to Dr. Unna Lassiter's Geography 100 course on 18 April 2001. Dr. Schwartz is a traveler extraordinaire, who rode on a horse through South America for two years, has hiked in the Himalayas several times, and guided other adventurers through the Sinai Desert. For this presentation, he focussed on Nepal, with slides showing the adjustments made by the Nepalese people to their difficult living conditions, conditions that have barely improved in the last decade since democracy. He also discussed some of the negative impacts of tourism, such as massive deforestation and landslides set off by the need to provide wood fuel for small inns where most foreign trekkers overnight.

Dean Abrahamse invited Dr. Wechsler to address the Emeritus Faculty Luncheon, which is a series of colloquia given to retired faculty and faculty participating in the Faculty Early Retirement Program. The purpose of the luncheon series is "Informal conversation and a program where three new junior faculty discuss their research with time for discussion about their experiences at CSULB." Dr. Wechsler discussed what geographical information systems are, what they can do, and the work she does to improve GIS' rôle in predicting stream runoff and flood hazard. The Emeritus Faculty Luncheon was held on April 20th, 2001. It's a small world after all: Dr. Wechsler knows the other two speakers from other contexts. She was a classmate of Dr. Sherry Span (Psychology) back at Tufts University, and Dr. Sara Goering (Philosophy) is co-advisor with her of the CSULB Golden Key National Honor Society!

Dr. Ren Vasiliev was our visiting professor in Spring 2001. She is the chair of the Department of Geography at the State University of New York at Geneseo and is here to do her sabbatical research (on the historical derivation of place names in New York). She also normally lives here each summer! She is interested in maps and cartography, and she gave an invited guest lecture to the department on 17 April. The title of her presentation was "Maps in Art/Maps as Art." Her exciting and provocative devil's advocate argument that map-like art objects are in fact maps set off a lively exchange among the audience about what exactly qualifies a representation of the terrain as an authentic map. The debate brought out the different constructions of the "map" among the geographic and the artistic communities. This was such a well-attended talk that people were turned away at the door for lack of space.

Mr. James Woods gave a guest presentation on the 17th of April, 2001, concerning his award-winning atlas project, "Membership Analysis of the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific."

Mr. Kris Jones gave a talk to the Los Angeles Geographical Society on Friday, 6 April 2001, at Los Angeles City College (for future reference, LACC is at 855 N. Vermont Ave., Franklin Hall, right on Vermont, and the talks are always held in Room 101). The title of his talk was "Cuba 2000." The LAGS is a 48 year old public service organization, which promotes geography to the community in the form of free public lectures (with free cookies and beverages!), field trips, dinner talks, and a number of scholarships. For more information on this great organization, visit their web page at http://www.lageographic.com.

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue was one of a panel of eight hazards experts flown to St. Petersburg, Florida, in March 2001 by the Center for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance. The panel reviewed 24 research proposals submitted for funding in order to recommend four or five that fit within the CDMHA budget. Dr. Rodrigue made presentations and moderated discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of three proposals.

Dr. Frank Gossette gave a talk to the International Brown Bag Lunch Discussion Series on Wednesday, 14 March 2001. His talk provided information about "Living in Salzburg, Austria." The International Brown Bag Lunches are hosted by the Center for International Education and the Phi Beta Delta International Honor Society.

Dr. Frank Gossette made a presentation on "Study and Teaching abroad as Part of the Liberal Arts Experience" to the College of Liberal Arts Faculty Retreat on February 9th, 2001. The theme for the heavily-attended all-day retreat this year was "Teaching and Learning in the Liberal Arts: Different Formats, Different Paths."

2000

Dr. Stan Trimble of UCLA was our guest for National Geography Awareness Week. The theme this year was conservation, and Dr. Trimble gave a guest lecture on this theme, focussing on "Human-Induced Soil Erosion and Sedimentation in the Upper Midwest." Many thanks to Dr. Suzanne Wechsler for organizing this talk.

Dr. Bryan Baker of Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) out in Redlands, was our featured speaker for GIS Day 2000, a part of National Geography Awareness Week. His lecture addressed "Can GIS Survive the Internet?" This talk was organized by Dr. Suzanne Wechsler.

Dr. Peter Black of Syracuse University visited our campus on Thursday, 9 November, on his way to give presentations in New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, and Ethiopia. Dr. Black is a world-known expert in watershed hydrology and related land resources. He is the author of numerous books including Watershed Hydrology and Soil and Water Conservation Policy. He made a dynamic, accessible, and engaging presentation on how watersheds function in Dr. Suzanne Wechsler's class on Thursday, November 9th.

Dr. Jim Curtis conducted a field trip of the Long Beach area for new faculty at CSULB. Dr. Curtis has been offering this popular field trip for a few years now to help orient new faculty in all disciplines to the cultural and environmental riches of the area the campus serves. This year's trip was held on Saturday, 30 September..

Daniel R. Weir, Ph.D. Candidate, Geography and Anthropology Louisiana State University, gave a talk entitled, "The Virgin of Guadalupe, the Everyday World, and Death on the Highway: A Poetics of Place in Mexico," on May 2nd, 2000. The talk was given in conjunction with Jayne Howell's class, "Peoples of Mexico and Central America." Dr. Irisita Azary organized this talk (with funding provided by the College of Liberal Arts) and noted that Mr. Weir was her very first M.A. student, back when she was lecturing at San Diego State University,

"The Hide You Save May Be Your Own" was the intriguing announcement of a presentation and public meeting organized by Geography Department graduate students Jim Covin, Ed Huefe, and Jan Olsen for 29 March 2000 at the Peck Park Community Center in San Pedro. Their presentation was entitled Emergency Preparedness in Pedro. It addressed whether San Pedro and the Harbor area are prepared for the inevitability of disaster. The three graduate students started a project on all local hazards, whether natural, technological, or human, to be found in the San Pedro area in Dr. Ben Wisner's seminar in hazards in 1999. Their project continued to grow and develop since then and they organized a community meeting at which to present their findings. Other speakers included representatives from the City of Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Division, the Los Angeles Disaster Preparedness Unit, the CERT Program of the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Los Angeles Police Department's Harbor Division, the Los Angeles Fire Department's San Pedro Fire Station, and the American Red Cross. The meeting was sponsored by the San Pedro Organizing Committee and the South Bay Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The Department is very proud that three of its graduate students worked so hard to exemplify the spirit of University service to the larger community.

My feeling is that, if all you learn at a university is what you learn in the formal classroom, then you have not received the best education possible. CSULB President Robert C. Maxson

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Last revised: 11/20/02