Geography Commons^™

Volume 62-2b Complete Issue, Casey D. Allen

The Geographical Bulletin

Volume 62-2B Complete Issue.

Ritual And Research: Notes From The Field, Sophie C. Williams

The Geographical Bulletin

Arrival on South Water Caye. The words “beautiful tropical paradise” describe it perfectly. I believe its geography suits my project well. Seagrass covers the west facing shore of the island. Facing east, the water is shallow on the northern edge and becomes much deeper as the shoreline progresses south. Patch reef flats fill this area and become larger and deeper further out to sea. The island’s southernmost point is best for this study. Here, shallow offshore seagrass is gradually populated by patch reefs, and there is low variation in depth. T he island’s terrestrial surface is covered with Coconut palm …

Learning Regional Geography Behind The Iron Curtain, Jeffrey D. Hamerlinck

The Geographical Bulletin

This essay recounts the author’s 1987 Cold War-era adventure in the Soviet Union as a young geography student participating in Dr. William Dando’s instructor-led Soviet regional geography course at the University of North Dakota. Focused on historical military geography, the trip included visits to Moscow and Leningrad as well as the port of Murmansk above the Arctic Circle on the Kola Peninsula. The trip’s influence on the author’s career as well as his own field course teaching are discussed.

Reminiscences Of Papua New Guinea, Russell Blong

The Geographical Bulletin

Editor’s Note: While Dr. Blong’s previous article in this special issue outlines his more scholarly pursuits while in Papua New Guinea alongside a few very short anecdotal “field tales”, one of the items reviewers suggested was more depth and detail of those “field tales” he briefly touches on throughout the essay. Rather than tack-on these short happenings to the main article, and to address the reviewers’ desires, I asked Russell to compile a set of less academic field tales. The result is below, based on his many visits to PNG from 1970s-2000s, some of which he shared with Colin Pain …

Living In Grass Houses – Fieldwork In Papua New Guinea, Colin Pain

The Geographical Bulletin

I was raised on a farm so at an early age I was tending stock, building fences, and all the other things involved in running a farm. There is nothing like digging post holes along a new fence line to get you interested in soils. I was thus in the field long before I learnt about geography. Fieldwork is important for geographers for at least two reasons. First, it provides the basic spatial data for testing hypotheses, and is the basis for many of the data manipulations now allowed by remote sensing and geographic information systems. Second, at least in …

Great Smoky Geography, Ryan P. Shadbolt

The Geographical Bulletin

In 2005 my life changed unexpectedly during a field experience to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). Professor Jay R. Harman, a faculty member within the Department of Geography at Michigan State University, organized the experience frequently over a career spanning more than four decades. As an introverted first-generation college student from a rural blue-collar town, attending this trip was out of my comfort zone. I recently completed a bachelor’s program in meteorology and research during my master’s program focused on synoptic-scale climatology. Until then my travel to na

“It’S Volcanic Ash!” A Response That Began A 50-Year Odyssey, Russell Blong

The Geographical Bulletin

At the beginning of 1970 I had more or less finished my University of Sydney PhD on hillslope form and landslides in a chunk of New Zealand hill country. I was unsure what I wanted to work on next but I was pretty sure it wasn’t landslides and hillslopes. I joined the academic staff at Macquarie University, also in Sydney. In August 1970 I went to an ANZAAS conference in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, gave an excruciatingly boring paper on hillslope form and caught up with Colin Pain, an old mate from my undergraduate days at the University of …

Treating Invasive Tamarisk As An Intern At San Andres National Wildlife Refuge, Aaron Adams

The Geographical Bulletin

Tamarisk (also known as salt cedar) is mentioned once in the Quran, “There was for [the tribe of] Saba’ in their dwelling place a sign: two [fields of] gardens on the right and on the left. [They were told], “Eat from the provisions of your Lord and be grateful to Him. A good land [have you], and a forgiving Lord. “But they turned away [refusing], so We sent upon them the flood of the dam, and We replaced their two [fields of] gardens with gardens of bitter fruit, tamarisks and something of sparse lote trees. (Surah 34, Āyah 15,16)” (The …

Roots Of A Career: Finding Direction In The Mangrove Swamps Of Campeche, Mexico, Jordan R. Cissell

The Geographical Bulletin

As a human-environment geographer, it is both my vocation and my privilege to explore the alchemical interactions of people and place. Every time I return to the field, I am inspired by the limitless ways in which the two come together to form landscapes of both professional and personal stimulation. T hrough geographical fieldwork, I have had the fortune to rank Alan Jackson songs with a Maya craftsman in the shadow of Volcán de Agua in Antigua Guatemala; leap into the turquoise waters of the Belize Barrier Reef with veteran conch fishermen to escape a swarm of Africanized bees; and …

The Forest And I: A Study In Surprise, Tyra A. Olstad

The Geographical Bulletin

Although geographers are usually taught to plan and conduct research carefully and systematically in order to achieve meaningful, legitimate results, fieldwork often opens up unanticipated and insightful experiences. Sometimes, the most meaningful findings are those that are wholly unplanned for and only achievable by letting go of expectations and soaking in a place firsthand. This essay discusses the author’s evolution as a scholar, involving a series of place-based revelations leading from the open, arid plains and prairies of northeastern Arizona to the cold, rainy, wholly surprising temperate rainforest of southeast Alaska. In so doing, it is not a model blueprint …

The Fieldwork Of Shared Experiences, Kenzie Shandonay, Heather L. Moll, M. Colin Marvin, Norma LóPez-CastañEda, Madeline Kelley, Zach Hilgendorf, Ryan Heintzman, Ronald I. Dorn

The Geographical Bulletin

One undergraduate, six Ph.D. students, and one old crusty “desert rat” of a professor share their perspectives on fieldwork. Fieldwork changed our professional lives dramatically for the better – a message that can never be emphasized enough to future students.

Realizing Where I Should Be: Notes On Reflexivity And Positionality In Fieldwork, Dylan M. Harris

The Geographical Bulletin

An awareness of positionality, an attention to accountability, and a commitment to reflexivity are increasingly key elements to conducting geographical fieldwork. As such, the ‘field’ is not only a place where we go to conduct research. The ‘field’ is a place where people live, where histories are present, and where our actions are never objective. This short article discusses my experiences as an early career researcher as I came to terms with these realities during preliminary dissertation research in Nepal. As a result of several formative moments – including surviving a landslide – I slowly began to realize that issues …

Fieldwork In Oil And Gas Development Communities: Experiences Of A Research From The Global South, Avantika Ramekar

The Geographical Bulletin

Fieldwork in communities affected by resource extraction is tricky and involves complex interactions between institutional networks, community histories, location of the resource, and researcher positionality (Jenkins et al. 2015). My research assessed risk perceptions regarding oil and gas development using Hydraulic Fracturing and Directional Drilling (HFDD), and factors contributing to levels of perceived risk. I employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design (Wetherholt 2016) that used a combination of procedures. Mixed method research is a common approach to understanding the perspectives of those living in environments of change. In this case, a mailed questionnaire (focused on gathering quantitative data, with …

Becoming An Ally And Understanding The Geographies Of Gender Identity: Lessons From Fieldwork, Shamayeta Bhattacharya

The Geographical Bulletin

My “field”, Kolkata, India inspired my “work”, i.e., my research work. Before coming to the United States in 2017 for graduate school, I was associated with several queer organizations in Kolkata (also my hometown) and developed friendships and association which was the major motivation for my dissertation “SHAKTHI: Studying Healthcare Accessibility among Kothi, Transgender, and Hijra Individuals.” The word, SHAKTHI, in Sanskrit means “power” or “empowerment”. My dissertation is by and for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people, with a goal to empower them. It is theoretically grounded in transgender geography, health geography, and geospatial analysis. During my dissertation coursework, …

Foundational Moments In Geographers’ Lives: Tales From The Field, Casey D. Allen

The Geographical Bulletin

Talking with colleagues and students, one of two responses (sometimes both) usually crop-up when answering the question, “Why did you choose geography”? One is the discipline’s broadness: geography encompasses both social and natural sciences as well as the humanities.

A Narrow Escape From The Tajik Pamir, Stephen F. Cunha

The Geographical Bulletin

This essay documents surviving attempted murder and gunshot wounds incurred during 1992 geographical f ieldwork in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. Our project goal was to assess the potential for a Pamir National Park in this Central Asian terra incognita where the southernmost Soviet Union met the unruly frontier with Afghanistan and China. Our personnel included geographers and government officials from the Soviet Academy of Sciences, Tajik Academy of Sciences, Goscomproda (Tajik Ministry of Environment), and the NGO Tajik Socio-Ecological Union. The initial 1991 field season involved living in Moscow through the coup attempt that ultimately disbanded the Soviet Union. …

Debunking Muslim Stereotypes: Learning Religious Tolerance And Acceptance Through Geographic Fieldwork, Elizabeth Nelson

The Geographical Bulletin

According to the SAGE Handbook of Fieldwork, “fieldwork” refers to primary research that occurs “in the field,” the “field” being a setting that is outside the controlled settings of the library or laboratory (McCall 2006, 2). As a human geographer, my fieldwork involves participant-observation within the ethnographic tradition that requires the insertion of me (the researcher) into the subject matter of my work – the lives and experiences of Algerian immigrants and their descendants living in Paris, France. As a Western scholar doing research on a postcolonial population embedded within their former colonizer’s social systems, it is important for me …

Kombucha: Probiotics Part 1, Jean Lavigne

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Business Operators’ Perception Of The Impact Of The Portuguese Way Of St. James, Paula Remoaldo, Eduardo Duque, Vítor Ribeiro, José Cadima Ribeiro, Hélder Silva Lopes, Sandro Ferreira, Cátia Faria

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This research aims to analyse business operators’ perception of the impact of the Portuguese Way of St. James and to assess the landscape situation along a total section of 115 kilometres. Perceptions were collected in a survey of 112 small operators between 2020 and 2021. The diversity and singular components of the landscape make it a pleasant route to experience, where pilgrims have the possibility to improve wellbeing, and enjoy the landscape. Operators have profited from the significant increase in the number of pilgrims walking along the Way and claim that they aim to continue their operations.

Recent Trends In The Development Of Jewish Life And Heritage Tourism In Trani, Italy, Andrea Corsale

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper focuses on the recent revival of Jewish religious and cultural activities in the coastal town of Trani, in Southern Italy, after several centuries of substantial interruption. The specific events which led to the re-establishment of an institutional Jewish community and the restoration and reclamation of the local synagogues, along with the renewed visibility of the well-preserved Jewish district, of Medieval origins, are unique to this case study. However, at the same time, they reflect similar phenomena of restoration of Jewish sites and revival of Jewish communities in southern and eastern Europe, and beyond. As the case study analysis …

Uncovering The Dynamic Nature Of Fire Refugia Across Landscapes In Oregon's Western Cascades, Alec Scott Dyer

Dissertations and Theses

With increased fire activity, the presence of fire refugia is critical to support forest resiliency and mitigate large-scale vegetation conversion, however, the persistence of fire refugia within burn perimeters over time is uncertain. This study examines the dynamic nature of fire refugia by mapping the decline in forest cover over time, identifying spatiotemporal patch- and landscape-scale patterns and the biophysical drivers of delayed mortality following the 2020 Labor Day Fires occurring in Oregon’s western Cascades. After three years post-fire, delayed mortality accounted for an additional 8.5% of forest loss (total of 24,147 hectares in all five burns) compared to pre-fire …

The Ecosystem As Super-Organ/Ism, Revisited: Scaling Hydraulics To Forests Under Climate Change, Jeffrey D. Wood, Matteo Detto, Marvin Browne, Nathan J.B. Kraft, Alexandra G. Konings, Joshua B. Fisher, Gregory R. Quetin, Anna T. Trugman, Troy S. Magney, Camila D. Medeiros, Nidhi Vinod, Thomas N. Buckley, Lawren Sack

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Classic debates in community ecology focused on the complexities of considering an ecosystem as a super-organ or organism. New consideration of such perspectives could clarify mechanisms underlying the dynamics of forest carbon dioxide (CO₂) uptake and water vapor loss, important for predicting and managing the future of Earth's ecosystems and climate system. Here, we provide a rubric for considering ecosystem traits as aggregated, systemic, or emergent, i.e., representing the ecosystem as an aggregate of its individuals, or as a metaphorical or literal super-organ or organism. We review recent approaches to scaling-up plant water relations (hydraulics) concepts developed for …

Evidence Of Climatic Influence On Subsistence Strategies At Sage Hen Springs, Nevada, Andrew Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Models of settlement patterns in the northwest Great Basin describe a decrease in residential mobility, intensified use of upland spring ecozones, and an increase in diet breadth during the Middle and Late Archaic. Here, I present data collected from the Sage Hen Springs site in northwestern Nevada during a Phase II testing project conducted by the BLM and an analysis of these data focusing on patterns of subsistence and mobility strategies throughout the Archaic. Results of this analysis support existing models of lifeways in the northwest Great Basin at the small scale and point to climatic factors as influences on …

Paradoxes And Potential Of Tourism Development In Nicaragua, Cody J. Silveira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research evaluates the successes and challenges of tourism integration and expansion as both a broad human development strategy and a catalyst for local populations to achieve greater economic and social opportunities. The country of Nicaragua serves as the primary case study for such an evaluation due to its relatively recent promotion and expansion of tourism through government led incentives and oversight. As a case study, Nicaragua is a country whose tourism industry remains nascent, yet commands great economic potential and influence, which can serve as an example for future tourism development initiatives for developing countries in the region …

A Geospatial And Machine Learning Framework For Forecasting Ground Level Ozone Pollution, William J. Keenan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The major detrimental health effects of ground-level ozone (GLO) pollution make it imperative that both policy makers and ordinary citizens have access to high accuracy, high-resolution forecasts of their local area. Recently, advancements in computing power have made it possible to apply artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to a variety of big data modelling problems, including GLO forecasting and estimation. Of these AI methods, deep neural networks (DNN) have demonstrated the highest accuracy due to their ability extract non-linear relationships from high dimensional, noisy data inputs.

This research effort uses novel data sources, namely NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) meteorology …

Foreign Object Debris: A Spatial Analysis Of Wildlife At Seatac Airport, Eli Elias

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This study investigates the relationship between birds and prey within the airport environment at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEATAC). In 2023, instances of bird and prey activity near Runway 16C/34C were recorded using Foreign Object Debris (FOD) detection radar. The study stems from the importance of safety within the airport environment and analyzing these relationships to better protect people and mitigate aircraft damage. Runway 16C/34C is the runway of focus as it is the only runway equipped with FOD detection radar. Temperature and rainfall averages acquired from the National Weather Service (NWS) were also used to expand this analysis. The results …

Visualization Of Indiana And Northern Long-Eared Bats Using Spline Surfaces To Enable Targeted Land Management, Devin Escue

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This project introduces a Bat Visualization Tool to help manage habitats for threatened bat species while considering broader ecosystem dynamics. It integrates data from acoustic bat surveys at the Corriell Nature Preserve in Iowa. The tool attaches spatial context to non-spatial survey data, weights species calls based on statistical p-values, and creates visual bat species distribution maps using spline surfaces. It also generates future survey locations based on these patterns. By using geospatial analysis and statistics, the tool identifies priority areas for conservation actions, focusing on factors like forest composition, roosting preferences, and land cover types that affect bat habitat …

Spatial Analysis Of Transgender And Gender Diverse Students’ Mental Health And School Board Policies In Colorado And Montana, Elizabeth Heiny

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

As the number of policies impacting transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people increase among school boards, understanding the impacts these policies have on mental health is important. These policies can be positive or negative. Using geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze where better mental health and TGD impacting policies are correlated can offer clear results on where students mental health is affected by these policies in Colorado and Montana. This study found that TGD impacting policies did not explain the majority of variation in mental health index score. Positive or negative correlations between the mental health index and policy positivity …

Gis-Based Dashboard For Data Analysis And Visualization At The Water Hub In Franschhoek, South Africa, Liliana Rosa Simon

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This capstone project analyzes the land use change in the Franschhoek Valley, South Africa, and implements this information into an ArcGIS Experience Builder Dashboard. The development of an ArcGIS Experience Builder is utilized as a tool for improved spatial data communication at The Water Hub. An increase in urban development in the informal settlement upstream of the Stiebeuel River in the catchment basin north of the Water Hub research institute is found. The capstone uses geographic information systems, remote sensing, and ArcGIS Experience Builder to integrate spatial data into the Water Hub’s standard operating procedures. It highlights the importance of …

Understanding The Nuances Of Transit Accessibility: Temporal And Spatial Resolution, And Neoliberalism, Joe Chestnut

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores accessibility via public transit through several lenses. In doing so, some of the lesser known nuances of accessibility are better understood. These nuances are explored in several ways. First, various demographic variables and their relationship to accessibility to jobs via public transit are modeled at a fine spatial resolution in an exploratory analysis across several cities in the United States. Next, temporal and spatial resolution and their impacts on accessibility to jobs via public transit are analyzed and quantified in several cities across the United States. Finally, the relationship between neoliberalism and public transit accessibility is explored …