Geography Student Awards

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

Award-Winning Students
and Active Student Scholars

CSULB Geography Students Are Active in Research Conferences

Students in this Department, both graduate and undergraduate Geography majors, have a long tradition of doing research and presenting the results of their work in conference papers, posters, maps, workshops, and field trips. From 2000 to 2008, students have made 73 such presentations, and four have published professional articles or chapters. Twenty-two students have made such presentations to national or international conferences, such as the Association of American Geographers, the International ESRI Users Group, and the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. Thirty-five have made presentations at regional, state, or local conferences, such as the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, the California Geographical Society, the Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research, GIS Expo, and the Los Angeles Geographical Society invitational student research colloquium. Twenty-seven of these students have made a repeat habit of such presentation! The Department would like to commend the following individuals:

Mr. Aziz Bakkoury       Ms. Denise Behrens       Mr. Jim Covin       Ms. Doreen Crespin       Ms. Leslie Edwards       Mr. Thomas Ellrott       Ms. Maribel Enriquez       Mr. César Espinosa       Mr. Kevin Flaherty       Ms. Kayla Folkins       Mr. Lewis Francis       Mr. Tom Frazier       Ms. Julienne Gard       Ms. Romey Hagen       Mr. Shaun Healy

Mr. Andrew Houston       Mr. Edward Huefe       Mr. Michael Inman       Mr. Michael Jenkins       Ms. Leeta Latham       Ms. Micaela Lukasser       Mr. Terry Lumati       Mr. Scott Mathers       Mr. David McCune       Mr. Michael McDaniel       Mr. Jeff Marotta       Mr. Mike Mercurio       Ms. Aregnaz Mooradian       Ms. Valery Müller       Ms. Nazanin Naraghi

Ms. Devon Nelson       Mr. Steve Newberg       Ms. Mary Ngo       Ms. Wanjiru Ngujuna       Ms. Fern Nueno       Ms. Jan Olsen       Ms. Lisa Pitts       Ms. Cynthia Schantz       Ms. Zoe Schumacher       Mr. Brian Sims       Ms. Erin Stockenberg       Ms. Alma Vargas       Mr. Simon Wright       Mr. Greg Ziolkowski

College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Thesis 2009: Ms. Susan E. Timm

Lightning strikes four times in a row! One of our graduate students, Ms. Susan E. Timm, has graduated from our master's program with her thesis awarded recognition as the "Outstanding Thesis of the College of Liberal Arts." Her thesis is entitled Using Remote Sensing, GIS, and Landscape Ecology Techniques in Wildland Management. It provides a beautifully written discussion of remote sensing and various statistical indices based on the imagery for tracking a variety of indicators of health and stress on ecosystems in Orange County. Congratulations to Ms. Timm and to her thesis committee, Drs. Christopher Lee, Suzanne Wechsler, and Rick Behl (Geological Sciences)!

University Achievement Award 2009: Ms. Annette Quintero

Ms. Annette Quintero, a CSULB Sociology graduate, is now a post-baccalaureate student completing a GIScience Certificate in the Department of Geography. She has received a 2009 University Achievement Award in recognition of her record of community service and activism. Congratulations on earning this award!

College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Thesis 2008: Ms. Deborah Hann

Yet another of our graduate students, Ms. Deborah Hann, graduated from our master's program with the distinction of having her thesis designated "Outstanding Thesis of the College of Liberal Arts." Her thesis is entitled Maps in Childrens Literature: Their Uses, Forms, and Functions, and it explores the different functions of maps in children's literature, whether they organized simple geographies of the plot, whether maps themselves figured as plot devices, or whether characters demonstrated spatial skills with a map. This is the third Geography thesis in 52 years of graduate studies in Geography to be so recognized, and the three theses were fêted three years in a row! Geography @ The Beach ROCKS! Congratulations to Ms. Hann and to her thesis committee, Drs. Chrys Rodrigue, Suzanne Wechsler, and Judith Tyner!

Geography Student Team Wins First International Education Week European Culture Bowl Event:

As part of its International Education Week celebration, the College of Liberal Arts held its first ever "Culture Bowl" on November 15th, 2007. The Bowl consisted of a competition among department teams of undergraduate students, who vied with one another in fielding questions in general knowledge about Europe and the European Union. Dr. Sidorov was part of the organizing group and put out a call to the Department to organize a crew, and Mr. Tom Frazier took on the coaching challenge, assembling a crack team of geography students. Team Geography won first place!!! Here are the members of the team who brought home the gold:

• Mr. Anthony Vasquez
• Ms. Yuki Konishi
• Mr. Ernesto Sanchez
• Mr. Malcolm Bourne
• Mr. Michael Vladoianu

CSULB Nomination to Western Association of Graduate Schools Annual Outstanding Thesis Award: Mr. Scott Eckardt

Mr. Scott Eckardt, who graduated in Spring 2007 from our master's program, earned the distinction of having his thesis (described in the next news item) named "Outstanding Thesis of the College of Liberal Arts." In August, this thesis was deemed the best one written at CSULB this year! It has, accordingly, been put forward as the CSULB nomination for the annual Outstanding Thesis Award competition of the Western Association of Graduate Schools. Geography is truly honored that one of our own has earned this level of campus (and now regional) recognition. Congratulations to you, Mr. Eckardt (and, vicariously, to your thesis committee, Drs. Paul Laris, Chris Lee, and Chrys Rodrigue).

College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Thesis 2007: Mr. Scott Eckardt

One of our graduate students, Mr. Scott Eckardt, graduated from our master's program with the distinction of having his thesis named "Outstanding Thesis of the College of Liberal Arts." His thesis is entitled Assessment of wildfire frequency and coastal sage scrub vegetation dynamics in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. This thesis reported changes in coastal sage and grassland over roughly 75 years as shown in air photos. It found that different theoretical interpretations of type conversion, which are the basis of controversy in biogeography, actually apply at different spatial scales of analysis. This is the second Geography thesis in 51 years of graduate studies in Geography to be so recognized, and the two theses were fêted two years in a row. Lightning does strike twice! Congratulations!

Jacques May Award 2007 Winner: Ms. Julienne Gard

One of our recent graduate alumni, Ms. Julienne Gard, was named the 2007 recipient of the Jacques May Award by the Association of American Geographers' Medical Geography Specialty Group. This award fêtes the best master's thesis in medical geography produced in the country! Her thesis was entitled "Creating health in a Native American sweat lodge: The production of an alternative healing space," and her thesis committee was chaired by Dr. Vincent Del Casino, and Drs. Christine Jocoy and Ray Sumner served on the committee. Bravo!

California Geographical Society Cartography Digital Map Competition Winners in 2007: Messrs. Simon Wright and César Espinosa

Two of our graduate students, Messrs. Simon Wright and César Espinosa, were named the first place and the second place winners in the CGS Cartography Digital Map Competition at the 2007 annual meeting in Anza- Borrego. Lightning strikes twice simultaneously! Congratulations!

Doctoral Program Admissions: Ms. Nazanin Naraghi, Mr. Ryan Goode, Ms. Julienne Gard, Mr. Travis Brooks

Four of our students have recently been admitted to Ph.D. programs. Ms. Nazanin Naraghi will be in the geography doctoral program at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, in Fall 2007, while Mr. Ryan Goode will be starting the joint Ph.D. in geography offered by San Diego State University and the University of California at Santa Barbara. In 2006, Ms. Julienne Gard began her doctoral studies in geography at the University of Southern California and Mr. Travis Brooks began work on his doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA.

College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Thesis 2006: Dr. Michael McDaniel

One of our graduate students, Dr. Michael McDaniel, graduated from our master's program with the distinction of having his thesis named "Outstanding Thesis of the College of Liberal Arts." His thesis, The Persistence of the Mexican Land Tenure System in Los Angeles and Orange County, integrated archival research with geographical information science to delineate the survival of rancho features in the contemporary urban landscape, sometimes in such odd features as utility line placement. This is the first Geography thesis in fifty years of graduate studies in Geography to be so recognized. In attendance at the banquet where this award was announced was Ms. Jane Westenberger, who completed the first Geography thesis at CSULB, Occupance in the San Jacinto Mountains, California, back in 1956! Congratulations to you (and to your committee, Drs. Frank Gossette, Judith Tyner, and Suzanne Wechsler)!!!

CSULB Graduate Research Fellowship: Ms. Doreen Crespin

One of our graduate students, Ms. Doreen Crespin, has been awarded one of the first CSULB Graduate Research Fellowships! Graduate Research Fellowships will be awarded competitively each year to master's students engaged in scholarly research or creative activity in their field of specialization. The awards are based on the strength of the proposed research or creative activity and the faculty mentor's nomination. Only ten of these substantial fellowships were awarded in the inaugural year, 2005. Congratulations! We are really proud that one of our graduate students put together a winning proposal.

Richard Logan Scholarship: Ms. Doreen Crespin and Mr. Jeff Marotta

The Richard Logan Scholarship was originally endowed by and now memorializes Dr. Richard Logan of UCLA for the purposes of promoting outstanding student work in geography. It was awarded to two CSULB students by the Los Angeles Geographical Society in 2004.

Joe Beaton Award: Ms. Zoe Schumacher

Three Joe Beaton Awards honor outstanding posters presented at the California Geographical Society conference. Ms. Schumacher won a second place Joe Beaton Award in 2004.

CSULB Women and Philanthropy Scholarships: Ms. Zoe Schumacher and Ms. Doreen Crespin

The CSULB Women and Philanthropy Scholarships of $1,000 each honor outstanding women who are returning students. These two awards were presented in a Women and Philanthropy meeting on the 12th of January 2004 and were the subject of a Long Beach Press Telegram story.

Sigma Xi Inductions: Ms. Doreen Crespin, Ms. Leslie Edwards, Mr. César Espinosa, and Ms. Zoe Schumacher

Sigma Xi, a national scientific honor society, recognizes active scientists and students in the sciences. Students become eligible on the basis of their academic records and presentation of their research to a professional conference. Leslie and Doreen were nominated following their presentation of their work on the Oakland Firestorm of 1991 to the Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Education and Zoe upon presentation of her work on marine mammal strandings along the Southern California Bight to the California Geographical Society. César was inducted in 2006 in recognition of his two publications in Estudios Jaliciences about work he did on Proyecto Ulama's 2003 team, which was an ethnographic field project in Sinaloa, Mexico, about the ulama ball game, which shows similarities with the ancient Aztec ritual ball egame.

Master's Thesis Research Award: Ms. Angela Ng Cangelosi

The Association of American Geographers' Cartography Specialty Group offers a $300 grant to offset research costs for a master's thesis project being done by a student enrolled in a geography program. Her award-winning thesis was chaired by Dr. Judith Tyner and Drs. Gossette and James Curtis served on her committee. Ms. Cangelosi was one of only two students to receive this national honor in 2001.

ESRI Mapping Honors: Mr. Mike Jenkins, Mr. Shaun Healy, and Ms. Caroline Kolb

The ESRI International User Conference annually fêtes outstanding maps done with the ESRI family of GIS products. Our three students won second prize in the Map Gallery Best Cartographic Publication class. Their entry was the City Street Map they had done for the City of Lakewood.

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Last revised: 04/28/09