Geography Commons^™

The Global Project: Observing Geographic Literacy Obtained By Study Abroad Learning, Erin Joy Greunke

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

One of the major debates regarding studying abroad concerns criticism that it lacks measurable and demonstrable learning outcomes and is usually viewed as less rigorous than other university courses (McKeown 2009). As one Western Kentucky University (WKU) faculty member noted when responding to the Faculty Attitudes Survey deployed for this project, all too often “too many study abroad experiences [are] little more than glorified fieldtrips.....” (Anonymous WKU Faculty Member, 2009, Appendix IV). While this may be the case, upon their return to the United States, students often say their study abroad experience proved life changing. The primary purpose of this …

Analysis Of Fresh Water Resources At The Line Hole Well Field, San Salvador Island, The Bahamas, Scot Allan Russell Jr.

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A major economic constraint in the Bahamas, and other small carbonates islands world-wide, is the lack of fresh water resources. To combat these socio-economic problems on San Salvador Island I sought to gain a more detailed understanding of the extent, behavior, and controls on the island’s fresh-water lens. DC electrical resistivity tomography and time-series geochemical data are used to study the fresh water lens at the Line Hole well field. Electrical Resistivity profiles are used to image the extent of fresh water resources. Time-series geochemical data provide information on the behavior of the fresh water resources as a function of …

Geographic Information System Analysis Of Changing Demographic Patterns And Ethnic Restaurant Locations In Bowling Green, Kentucky, 1940-2005, Shwu-Jing Jeng

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The geography of food has been a popular subject for researchers and scholars who have explored the representative foods of a given region in reference to the area’s cultural identity. Food plays an important role in the development of individual cultures and civilization. Food consumption and dining habits usually reflect individuals’ location, cultural and individual identity, accessibility to food and heritage. United States is a country often called a “melting pot society.” Immigrants in the United States comprise over eight percent of the population, and various ethnic groups have reshaped American society with their unique cultures and foodways.

Driven in …

On The Physical Geography Of The Malay Archipelago (1863), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings

No abstract provided.

Human Selection (1890), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Dust: A Source Of Beauty And Essential To Life (1898), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings

No abstract provided.

Using Conservative And Biological Tracers To Better Understand The Transport Of Agricultural Contaminants From Soil Water Through The Epikarstic Zone, Brian Ham

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Agriculture contamination is very common in karst systems due to the vulnerability of these aquifers. Animal waste is often spread across crop land to enrich the soil with nitrates and phosphates. Herbicides and pesticides are also applied to the crops. The transport of these pollutants through the soil and epikarst is a difficult process to monitor due to the complex, heterogeneous behavior of the groundwater as it makes its way down to the aquifer below.

An experimental site at Crumps Cave lended a unique opportunity to monitor the vadose zone at a waterfall in the cave below. A previous dye …

Analysis Of Mammoth Cave Pre-Park Communities, Matthew Brunt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Before the creation of Mammoth Cave National Park, this area was home to numerous communities, each with a sense of identity. To prepare for the creation of the National Park, all residents living within these communities were relocated, and many of these communities were lost to the passage of time. Today, public memory of these lost communities is being fostered by the descendents of the pre-park area.

Through the use of a Historical Geographic Information System, 1920 Edmonson County manuscript census data, and statistical analysis, the demographic composition of these lost communities was explored. This project not only brought to …

Using Archetypal Metaphor To Analyze Cultural Landscape: A Chlilean Case Study, Cari Bourette

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In our increasingly complex and interactive world, it becomes ever more difficult to isolate and map the cultural identity of any given region, as bounded and contained cultural places have become a rare occurrence. To further complicate the matter, perspectives, loyalties, and identities shift with time, and appear to shift with circumstance. While cultural conflict per se was not the subject of this study, the ability to quantify differing cultural profiles in one location relative to another may be the beginning of the development of a tool for assessing degrees of difference in neighboring regions, and thus diagnosing the potential …

Baird, Nancy Disher, B. 1935 (Sc 1880), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1880. Diary kept by Nancy Disher Baird, Bowling Green, Kentucky of a sabbatical semester spent traveling and researching in southern Africa.

The Biscayne Aquifer Of Southeastern Florida, Kevin J. Cunningham, Lee J. Florea

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Cumberland Plateau Of Eastern Kentucky, Larry C. Simpson, Lee J. Florea

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Southeastern Coastal Plain: An Overview, Lee J. Florea, H. L. Vacher

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Caves And Karst Of West-Central Florida, Lee J. Florea, David A. Budd, Robert B. Brinkman

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

On The Law Which Has Regulated The Introduction Of New Species (1855), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings

No abstract provided.

Ua1a University Archives Reference Books, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Reference books, non-WKU publications and recordings related to the history of Western Kentucky University and its founding institutions. Some of these items are available in the Harrison-Baird Reading Room.

Ua94/6/1 Student / Alumni Personal Papers Western Kentucky University Small Collections, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Small collections of personal papers and oral histories relating to the Western Kentucky University.

Water Quality Impacts From Agricultural Land-Use In The Karst Groundwater Basin Of Qingmuguan, Chongqing, China, Ted W. Baker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Karst regions are composed of soluble rock, often limestone, which leads to the formation of fissures, sinkholes and water flow conduits such as caves. Pollutants in karst waters tend to be quickly directed and concentrated into these subsurface conduits. As a result of this and other factors, water resources are especially sensitive to contamination and pollution in karst areas. Pollutant concentrations going into fluvial systems travelling through the subsurface in karst areas are often very similar to the concentrations arriving at outlets such as springs. Areas connected by karst conduit flows must be distinctly determined and special attention should be …

Simulation Modeling Of Karst Aquifer Conduit Evolution And Relations To Climate, John D. Broome

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

ABSTRACT Karst regions of the world that receive relatively similar amounts of precipitation display a wide variety of landscapes. It has been suggested (Groves and Meiman, 2005) that climates exhibiting larger discrete storm events have more dissolving power and consequently higher rates of conduit growth than climates with more uniform precipitation distributions. To study this concept, a computer program “Cave Growth” was developed that modeled the growth of a cross-section of a cave passage under dynamic flow and chemical conditions. A series of 46 simulation datasets were created to represent different climatic conditions. These simulations had the same total annual …

Kernel Density Estimation Of Traffic Accidents In A Network Space, Zhixiao Xie, Jun Yan

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

A standard planar Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) aims to produce a smooth density surface of spatial point events over a 2-D geographic space. However, the planar KDE may not be suited for characterizing certain point events, such as traffic accidents, which usually occur inside a 1-D linear space, the roadway network. This paper presents a novel network KDE approach to estimating the density of such spatial point events. One key feature of the new approach is that the network space is represented with basic linear units of equal network length, termed lixel (linear pixel), and related network topology. The use …

Ua30/2 Visitor's Guide & Campus Map, Wku Parking & Transportation Services

WKU Administration Documents

Western Kentucky University campus map includes advertisements for local Bowling Green businesses.

Commuting Analysis In A Small Metropolitan Area - A Case Study Of Bowling Green/Warren County, Kentucky, Caitlin Hagar

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In previous studies of urban commutes, little attention has been paid to commute patterns in smaller urban areas. In this study, the concept of "excess commute" (EC) is applied to the Bowling Green-Warren County Metropolitan Statistical Area (BGWCMSA) in Kentucky. EC quantifies the portion of commute distance explained by the overall spatial separation of jobs and households. Results in this thesis research show that approximately 65% of commute distance by persons driving alone in the study area can be explained by the physical locations of homes relative to job sites as well as the existing roadway network, leaving an EC …

Overcoming Global Ignorance: Developing Geographic Literacy In A World Regional Geography Course, Amy Seymour

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The most recent Roper Survey (2006), a study of geographic literacy among 18-to 24-year-olds, found that despite constant coverage of the war in Iraq since 2003, 63% of Americans surveyed could not find Iraq on a map. Similar shortcomings abound in the poll, pointing to what must be considered a "geographic illiteracy" among Americans. This national geographic illiteracy has global implications that range from the local to the global scale, including issues of politics, economics, foreign policy, environmental policy, and resource use to name just a few. How badly prepared, then, are students entering colleges and universities in terms of …

Who Will Put America Back Together Again?, David J. Keeling

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 83, No. 1, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

The Rise Of A Hispanic Enclave In Davidson County, Tennessee, Jim Chaney

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In recent years, the United States has observed a significant increase in the Hispanic population within its borders through immigration. Since the 1980s, there has been a shift in the immigration and movement of the Hispanic population from border states to states in the southeastern United States. Many Hispanics, attracted by employment opportunities, have moved into growing metropolitan areas in the American South. In some of these cities, new Hispanic immigrants have created distinct enclaves. These enclaves provide almost all needs for the Hispanic community, such as shopping, healthcare, legal assistance, dining, employment, entertainment, and religion. This study examines the …

An Analysis Of Key Aspects Of Warm And Cool Season Flash Flooding In The Southern Appalachians, William Baldwin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Flash flooding kills more people in the United States than any other severe weather phenomenon. One of the most vulnerable areas for flooding is the southern Appalachians. These mountains lie in a geographical location that places them near the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, two major moisture source regions. This ample supply of moisture, mid-latitude circulation patterns, and orographic lifting leads to annual precipitation totals in the southern Appalachians that are comparable to locations along the Gulf coast. The present study investigates eight non-tropical flash flood events. Four of the events occurred in the cool season and four …

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of Observed Soil Moisture From Nebraska, Ashley Littell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Soil moisture is a measure of the water content in a soil that is dependent upon precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff, drainage, and irrigation. Nebraska is one of the few states that measures soil moisture in an extensive network that records weather variables on a daily basis. Daily soil moisture observations are collected from depths of 10, 25, 50, and 100 centimeters and analyzed in this research. Data from these stations are evaluated on the spatial and temporal scales using spatial interpolations, time-series analysis, and cross-correlations to better understand the variations of soil moisture in the Northern Great Plains. Spatial interpolation grids …

Big Fences Do Not Make Good Neighbors, David J. Keeling

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ua66 2007 Student Awards Ceremony, Wku Ogden College Of Science & Engineering

WKU Administration Documents

Program recognizing Ogden College students with brief list of activities for each student.