Thursday, February 25, 2010

Economic Census workshop

The U.S. Census Bureau and MIT Libraries are hosting a free, half-day conference about the 2007 Economic Census and related programs. Economic Census data are available once every five years and includes detailed statistics for industries, and information about sales ($ receipts) by industry by city and town geography. This is public domain data. The conference is open to the public.

Register online at: http://tinyurl.com/economic-census-mit-2010

Date: March 25, 2010
Time: 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location:

MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Building 10, room 105
Cambridge, MA 02139
Campus Map: http://whereis.mit.edu/?q=10-105&zoom=16&lat=42.359669683225945&lng=-71.09201431274414&open=object-10&maptype=mit

More details are available at: http://libraries.mit.edu/gis/economic-census-event2010.html

Saturday, February 20, 2010

MACC Executive Director

Dr. Hayes-Bohanan recently received this message from MACC, a state-wide organization of which he and many of our alumni are members. This job opening may be perfect for some BSC geographay alumnus. Please spread the word, and feel free to ask Dr. Hayes-Bohanan for further information about MACC. Consider attending the annual meeting February 27 as well (posted on this blog recently).

The Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC) seeks an Executive Director. The mission of MACC is the education of and support for Conservation Commissions across the state. MACC supports science-based laws and regulations that protect wetlands, water resources, open space, and other natural resources. The Executive Director is the Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for promoting and implementing the MACC Strategic Plan, including the roles of education, advocacy, and fundraising. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors, and will work with a staff of 3.5 FTEs. The successful candidate will have an understanding of Massachusetts environmental law, regulations, and policy; an understanding of non-profit management and fundraising; a passion for natural resources, and will have excellent presentation and writing skills. For a full description of the position, please visit our website at: http://maccweb.org/resources_jobs.html
All cover letter and resume submissions must be electronic and addressed to: staff@maccweb.org Submissions will be accepted until April 15th.

No phone calls Please.

Friday, February 12, 2010

"Food Fight" Documentary (Producer/Director to Present)

The Students for Ethical Eating (SEE) and the Social Justice League (SJL), along with the Center for Sustainability invite you to join Director/Producer Chris Taylor, who will be presenting his award-winning documentary "FOOD FIGHT" at BSC:

When: 5:30pm Wednesday, February 17th
Where: Heritage Room, Maxwell Library

Food Fight is a fascinating look at how American agricultural food policy and food culture developed in the 20th century, and how the California food movement has created a counter-evolution against big agribusiness.
Coffee and light refreshments will be served.

For more information on the documentary and its producer/director please visit: www.foodfightthedoc.com

Graduate study at CSU Long Beach

We recently received this announcement. Graduate study far from home is difficult for many New Englanders to contemplate, but it can be quite rewarding, especially for geographers! CSU-LB has an outstanding reputation, so we encourage our majors to consider it.

The Department of Geography at California State University, Long Beach, is accepting Fall 2010 applications for its master's degree program. We have a very strong program in urban GIScience, including GIS, remote sensing, cartography and geovisualzation, GPS applications, and statistics, applied to urban land use planning, the visualization of urban growth, and emergency management. Our traditional strength in this area has been augmented by two new faculty appointments: Dr. Jacqueline Mills, with expertise in GIS applications in emergency management and planning, and Dr. Hyowon Ban, with expertise in geovisualization and cartography, programming, and urban planning applications. Drs. Mills and Ban join a faculty with complementary strengths in urban cultural and historical geography (Drs. James R. Curtis and Dmitrii Sidorov), social geography (Drs. Vincent Del Casino and Christine L. Jocoy), and urban hydrology and water resource management (Drs. Suzanne Wechsler and Suzanne Dallman).


Graduate study at CSULB is affordable. Graduate students taking 6 or fewer pay $1,612 per semester and those taking more than 6 pay $2,653. In addition, out-of-State students pay a $372 per unit surcharge, but the campus has waivers available on a competitive basis and Geography graduate students have secured several of these. We also have a few graduate student assistantships for work in our two computer labs. New graduate students who are familiar with our software (e.g., ArcGIS, ERDAS, IDRISI, SPSS, and spreadsheets) and can assist students in classes using these are eligible for these positions. In addition, we have an extensive internship program, and most of these are paid. Applicants who are interested in these assistantships and internships should contact Dr. Suzanne Wechsler for more information on qualifications and application processes. There are also some research assistantships associated with faculty grant activity.

Geography @ The Beach has an active graduate student culture, and there is a lot of interaction with faculty (including a monthly reading group). Our students have done very well in conference presentations, post-graduate employment or doctoral studies, and in winning awards for outstanding theses (see http://www.csulb.edu/geography/AwardWinningStudents.html).

Monday, February 8, 2010

This time, it IS rocket science

Geography students pursuing careers in K-8 education are ideal candidates for NASA's Pre-Service Teacher Institute. See the program description for details, and talk to Dr. Domingo or Dr. Hayes-Bohanan if you are interested.

GIS at Mass DEP

Dr. Brian Brodeur, Geographer and GIS Program Director from Mass Department of Environmental Protection is giving a talk in Dr. Boellstorff's GIS II class on Wednesday, February 10. All are welcome. The class meets at 9:05 a.m., Maxwell Library room 206.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Smolski & Rao Scholarships

The Department of Geography strongly encourages its majors to apply for two annual awards to be given to students this year. The Smolski Award is given in honor of the late Professor Chester Smolski, who graduated from the department in 1951 and went on to a distinguished career as a geographic educator in Rhode Island. The Rao Award is given in recognition of Dr. Madhu Rao's service to the department. Details of each -- and the common application form -- are available at:


Smolksi: http://www.bridgew.edu/StudentAffairs/Scholarships/scholdetail.cfm?myIDNum=172
Rao: http://www.bridgew.edu/StudentAffairs/Scholarships/scholdetail.cfm?myIDNum=106

The application deadline is February 12th!

Monday, February 1, 2010

HOPE.HELP.HAITI

The Bridgewater State College community is coming together in very powerful ways to support the people of Haiti and to learn about and honor this hemispheric neighbor. The Hope.Help.Haiti event on February 3 will be the focus of much of this energy, but the attention will be on-going. Subscribe to the HHH blog to keep up-to-date on campus activities and on educational resources related to Haiti, its challenges, and its future development.

Job Available: Essex County Greenbelt Association

Land Conservation Project Manager

Full-Time Position

Dr. Hayes-Bohanan received this from MACC listerv. Please contact him if you have general questions; please contact the ECGA (see below) to apply.
The Project Manager will identify conservation opportunities through landowner outreach and manage specific land conservation projects from inception to completion. Responsibilities include meeting with landowners, organizing outreach events, drafting conservation restrictions, securing financing for land protection projects, and assisting in associated fundraising campaigns. The Project Manager will represent Greenbelt in local and regional conservation coalitions. Provides leadership in land conservation and advocacy in selected communities within the Greenbelt service area.

Specific Tasks:

· Identify and evaluate potential land protection projects, including field assessment of conservation values (scenic, ecological, agricultural) and land use and conservation alternatives;
· Prepare and implement fee and conservation restriction acquisition strategies;
· Negotiate donations and purchases of conservation land;
· Cultivate landowners and solicit charitable gifts of land and money;
· Represent Greenbelt in collaborative arrangements with conservation organizations, municipalities, and governmental agencies;
· Coordinate the work of appraisers, land planners, surveyors and engineers, legal counsel, and other professional consultants, and other Greenbelt staff on strategic projects and activities;
· Recruit, organize, train, and supervise volunteers;
· Prepare project reports, proposals, budgets, news releases, presentations, and correspondence;
· Make presentations to landowners, conservation organizations, community groups, municipal boards, legislative committees, and other audiences;
· Assist in preparing and implementing fundraising strategies for conservation projects;
· Represent Greenbelt at assigned member events, public events, and speaking engagements.
· Assist the Director of Land Conservation in planning and setting priorities for its work at the regional and community level;
· Participate in regular meetings of the Board of Directors, Acquisition Committee, and Greenbelt staff;
· Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications: Commitment to the conservation mission of Essex County Greenbelt. Bachelors degree and a minimum three years directly-related work experience, expertise in land conservation methods and funding, and demonstrated communication (writing and public speaking), negotiation, leadership, interpersonal, and teamwork skills. Strong computer skills essential; basic GIS and relational database (FileMakerPro/Access)
experience is desirable. Background in both natural and cultural resources is desirable as is familiarity with Essex County¹s landscape and communities. Ability to travel within Essex County and Massachusetts and to
attend frequent evening and weekend meetings and events is essential.

Reports to: Director of Land Conservation
Coordinates with: Land Stewardship, Development, Operations
Administrative Support: Very limited. The individual in this position must be prepared to handle his/her own correspondence, filing, and record keeping.
Location: Cox Reservation, Essex, MA
Greenbelt offers a competitive compensation and benefits program, including a retirement plan and contribution to health insurance.
Interested individuals should send a résumé and cover letter electronically to dts-A- ecga.org by close of business Wednesday, February 24, 2010.

The Essex County Greenbelt Association (Greenbelt) is a nonprofit land trust that has conserved more than 13,000 acres of land in Essex County, Massachusetts. A membership organization, Greenbelt acquires and manages land, assists communities and state agencies in property acquisitions, promotes land conservation through events, publications and programs, and offers locations for outdoor recreation and environmental education.

Where in the World? Here in the World!!

Thanks to Dr. Domingo and our colleagues in SEMAGNET for noticing not only this very positive story about geography in the town of Plymouth, but also the unfortunate opening comment on the story from someone who is not yet a fan of our discipline.

Geographers are encouraged to read and comment, remembering to be gentle on the "beach bum" poster.