Geography Commons^™

Communicating The Science Of Igcp 591 To The Public, Lewandowski J. Katherine

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Selling the broader impacts of science to funding agencies has become a necessity in a time when competition for grant money is high. While involving students in research is still important for maintaining a pipeline of trained scientists, the bar has been raised and it is increasingly incumbent on us to communicate to the public what is so important about our work. To be competitive in the search for funds, there must be a plan for the science funded to be disseminated to the public. The education and outreach plan for IGCP 591 attempts to appeal to this broader audience …

Lactase Persistence Variants In Arabia And In The African Arabs, Edita Priehodova, Abdelhay Abdelsawy, Evelyne Heyer, Viktor Cerny

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Lactase persistence (LP), the state enabling the digestion of milk sugar in adulthood occurs only in some human populations. The convergent and independent origin of this physiological ability in Europe and Africa is linked with animal domestication that had either started in both places independently or had spread from the Near East by acculturation. However, it has recently been shown that at least in its southern parts, the population of Arabia not only has a different LP-associated mutation profile than the rest of Africa and Europe but had also experienced an independent demographic expansion occurring before the Neolithic around the …

Polarimetric Calibration And Characterization Of The Telops Field Portable Polarimetric-Hyperspectral Imager, Joel G. Holder

Theses and Dissertations

The Telops polarimetric-hyperspectral imager combines polarimetric and hyperspectral technologies to enable enhanced scene characterization. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency funded research at AFIT to leverage this capability to provide more accurate scene information to radiation transport models that will allow for more effective location of radiation sources within a region of interest. To support the objectives of the DTRA effort, there is a requirement for highly accurate radiometric, polarimetric, and spectral data on a pixel-by-pixel basis. The complex nature of the Telops instrument combined with working in the thermal IR waveband makes achieving this accuracy a challenge. This thesis develops …

Development Of Future Land Cover Change Scenarios In The Metropolitan Fringe, Oregon, U.S., With Stakeholder Involvement, Heejun Chang, Roberrt W. Hoyer

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

We describe a future land cover scenario construction process developed under consultation with a group of stakeholders from our study area. We developed a simple geographic information system (GIS) method to modify a land cover dataset and then used qualitative data extracted from the stakeholder storyline to modify it. These identified variables related to our study area’s land use regulation system as the major driver in the placement of new urban growth on the landscape; and the accommodation of new population as the determinant of its growth rate. The outcome was a series of three scenario maps depicting a gradient …

Ailanthus Altissima In Urban Neighborhoods Of Denver, Colorado, Jenny Todd

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, also known as Tree of Heaven, is a non-native tree found throughout North America. The competitive advantages of Ailanthus make it a formidable invader that reduces biodiversity, especially in urban environments. In these areas, Ailanthus can cause structural damage to buildings, pavement, and other infrastructure such as plumbing. Although Ailanthus can commonly be observed throughout neighborhoods of Denver, Colorado, its prevalence and frequency are not well documented. The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution and abundance of Ailanthus among selected urban, residential areas and parks within the City of Denver. This was accomplished …

A Spatial Analysis Of Crime In The City Of San Luis Obispo Using Free And Open Source Gis Software, Chad Bunn

Social Sciences

A study of crime in the City of San Luis Obispo using FOSSGIS programs including CartoDB and QGIS. The study was for the perio of January 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.

Review: The Color Of Success: Asian Americans And The Origins Of The Model Minority Myth By Ellen Wu, Justin Kh Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Weaving rich institutional histories of groups that have purported to speak for all Asian Americans, like the Japanese American Citizens League and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, Ellen Wu’s The Color of Success meticulously describes how their claims to represent their ethnic communities were vigorously contested by Japanese and Chinese Americans themselves from the 1930s to the 1960s. Wu sets these representational challenges against the larger backdrop of the rise of an American liberal political framework and its assimilationist agenda for racial minorities in the United States in the 1930s, which was produced by the geopolitical challenges of totalitarian fascism …

A New Approach For The Analysis Of Hyperspectral Data: Theory And Sensitivity Analysis Of The Moment Distance Method, E.A. L. Salas, G. M. Henebry

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

We present the Moment Distance (MD) method to advance spectral analysis in vegetation studies. It was developed to take advantage of the information latent in the shape of the reflectance curve that is not available from other spectral indices. Being mathematically simple but powerful, the approach does not require any curve transformation, such as smoothing or derivatives. Here, we show the formulation of the MD index (MDI) and demonstrate its potential for vegetation studies. We simulated leaf and canopy reflectance samples derived from the combination of the PROSPECT and SAIL models to understand the sensitivity of the new method to …

Who Comes To The Bucharest Markets?, Daniel N. Dubei, Dr. Sam Otterstrom

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Johann Von Thunen’s model of agricultural land use has done much to explain the use of agricultural land in Europe prior to industrialization. His theory predicts the type of crop produced by the distance from the market. Modern transportation (1) though has improved the spatial pattern of crops and other products; no longer do they follow his theory. Romania is a country that is not yet fully modernized, and I researched how transportation is changing the land use now. I have found that improvements in transportation have allowed many farmers to come to the Bucharest market from further distances than …

Historical Evolution Of Latin American City Structure: Costa Rican Cities As Test Cases, Vaughn Robert Pickell, Dr. Samuel M. Otterstrom

Journal of Undergraduate Research

When the European explorers came to America they brought with them their pattern of city design. Jorge Hardoy (1982) asserts that the Spanish “built cities that in layout, architectural styles, technology, land-use patterns and even in criteria used to select the location of the new settlements” was just as they had done in Europe (24). As part of their European tradition, the conquistadors believed that God should be the focus of all good society, and therefore built the local Catholic church in the center of the newly established city. Regardless of the size of the local population, a church would …

A Scalar Comparison Of Motivations And Expectations Of Experience Within The Religious Tourism Market, Daniel H. Olsen

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Academic studies on tourism market segmentation have decreased in scale over time, with the focus on tourist segmentation changing from segmenting the market as a whole to segmenting specific tourism niche markets. This change in scale can also be seen in how academics have attempted to segment the religious tourism market moving from discussions related to the pilgrim-tourist dichotomy to segmenting visitors based on religious affiliation to world regions and countries to specific religious activities such as religious festivals and infrastructural amenities such as hotels. In this paper the author, following Wall’s (1997) discussion of the spatial characteristics of tourist …

The Pilgrimage To The San Nicola Shrine In Bari And Its Impact, Katia Rizzello, Anna Trono

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is defined as a journey to the Holy but more specifically as an inner journey to one’s deepest religious feelings. This type of journey has assumed new forms and types that bring it closer to modern tourism in general, though it maintains its distinctive characteristics, which will be the object of this paper. These changes in the nature of pilgrimage, which in part reflect the parallel socio-cultural transformation of the average visitor, have brought about a major reorganisation of the places involved and have had a significant socio-economic impact on the territories involved. The concentration of visitors and in …

How Long Does The Pilgrimage Tourism Experience To Santiago De Compostela Last?, Lucrezia Lopez

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourism and pilgrimage are different social phenomena (Cohen, 1992; Collins-Kreiner, 2010a); tourism is more secular than pilgrimage, which is mainly a sacred journey (Barber, 2001). In spite of this, both indicate a ‘movement’; so that tourists and pilgrims are ‘foreigners, travellers and strangers’ (Smith, 1992) who look for authentic experiences (Collins-Kreiner, 2010a). The question: ‘What kind of Experience Pilgrimage is?’ has many answers. From a social point of view, pilgrims are free from social obligations; they share the same destination and the same social status. Because of this, the anthropologists Turner and Turner (1978) defined pilgrimage as an anti-structural experience …

Boom And Bust: A Look At The Changing Economic And Demographic Profile Of Grand County, Utah, Greg B. Hall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Inter-Mountain West counties who historically have tied their economic livelihood to the exploitation of primary resources have been susceptible to cycles of boom and bust. The history of Grand County, Utah, depicts this precise paradigm. In the 1950’s, when a young Texan discovered uranium in the resource rich Colorado Plateau, north of Moab, economic prosperity and a population explosion came the way of Grand County. Mines in the county processed 95% of all uranium ores for the nation. The population reached 10,000 people, and wealth flowed from the pits of this rich resource. The market lulled soon thereafter, and intermittent …

A Comparative Study Of Hopi-Navajo Land Use Management, And The Environmental Impact Of The 1992 Proposal For Settlement Of The Hopi-Navajo Dispute, Benjamin A. Thomson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

To introduce this research summary, I would like to include a brief background to my research topic. Since the creation of the Hopi and Navajo reservations in 1880, these two tribes have disputed the use of the land. By 1974 the Navajo, living on a reservation surrounding that of the Hopi, had moved on to a considerable portion of Hopi land under the provision of a Joint Use Area which had been created in 1962. After the Hopi sued the Navajo, a federal judge ordered the relocation of the Navajo, once again, and a return of the land to the …

Timber Dependency And Geographic Change In Lane County, Oregon, Stacey Petersen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In fulfillment of !he responsibilities of a recipient of !he scholarship for Undergraduate research, I submit !his final report on Timber Dependency and Geographic Change in Lane County, Oregon. The scholarship enabled me to do !he following:

Methods And Applications Of Geospatial Technologies, Hua Liu

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Chair: Dr. Hua Liu, Department of Political Science & Geography

Presenters: Daniel Felarca, Kyle Coolbaugh, Jacob Brunswick, Christopher Johnson

Geography Newsletter, Department Of Geography

Geography Newsletter

Contents:
2013 Year in Review [Page] 2
New Faculty Spotlight [Page] 3
Move to Wecota Hall [Page] 4
Dr. Janet Gritzner to Retire [Page] 5
Wetland Survey [Page] 6
Fulbright Student Scholar in Residence [Page] 7
Geography Club at Hobo Day [Page] 7
Regional Meeting of the AAG [Page] 8
Geography Alumni Spotlight [Page] 9
South Dakota Geographic Alliance [Page] 10
Geography Awareness Week 2013 [Page] 11
Bringing the World to South Dakota [Page] 12-13
44th Annual Geography Convention [Page] 14-15
Community Updates: Alumni [Page]16
Geography Alumni Spotlight [Page] 17
From the Foundation [Page] 17
Building relationships in Burkina Faso …

Historical Relationships Between Land Elevation And Socioeconomic Status In New York City: A Mixed Methods Gis Approach, Jennifer Brisbane

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The role that topography has played in the development of New York City is essential to understanding its present urban form and foreseeing its changes. Geographers and economists have generally agreed that for cities in the United States, socioeconomic status increases with land elevation. This seemingly simple relationship between elevation and class, however, is complicated by factors such as technological innovations, economic shifts, politics, cultural perceptions, and the idiosyncrasies of cities and the neighborhoods within them. The lack of comprehensive research in this area coupled with conflicting findings warranted further exploration into the complex and changing relationships between elevation and …

Suburban Heat Islands: The Influence Of Residential Minimum Lot Size Zoning On Surface Heat Islands In Somerset County, New Jersey, Jennifer Renee Cox

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The process of suburbanization blurs regional bounds, forms mega-regions and fosters the expansion of multifaceted environmental problems, such as the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Defined by differences in air- and surface- temperature between rural and urban areas, UHI is the result of the characteristics of urbanization which modify the land surface condition, urban geometry, thermal properties of construction materials, anthropogenic heat and air pollution, which increase storage and re-radiation of heat to the atmosphere. Climate change is predicted to worsen the UHI effect. Hence, the objective of this research to characterize the UHI effect as it pertains to suburban …