Geography at Bridgewater

MACC Conference March 3

2012-01-26T04:11:00.000-08:00

For geography -- or biology -- students interested in environmental careers or activism in Massachusetts, the Annual Environmental Conference sponsored by MACC is a golden opportunity. As a MACC member, I have attended many times in the past, and though I might not make it to this year's meeting, I strongly encourage students to attend. The sessions are very informative and the vendors include many potential employers. Lunch is included, which is both a nice meal and an opportunity for networking.

I see this year that MACC has followed my advise and created a student rate. They did not follow my advise completely though, and the cost remains a bit steep at $55. The department or the university may be able to provide some assistance, so please let us know if you are interested in attending.

Finally, if you do go, wear a bright BSU shirt so that our alumni can spot you!

Geography Education in Massachusetts

2012-01-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

Over the past couple years, Dr. Domingo and I (Dr. Hayes-boh) and other members of the EarthView team have spent a lot of time at North Andover Middle School. We often stay for two days in a row so that we can participate in Family Geography Night. Mr. Robert Poirier organizes teachers from throughout the school to transform the whole school into a learning environment for students, siblings, parents, and neighbors, including local dignitaries.

The October 2011 Family Geography Night made a particular impression, receiving an Official Citation from the Massachusetts Senate for the dedication of Mr. Poirier and his team to education. The 2011 event was also notable for a special project undertaken by Mr. Poirier and North Andover High School student Alexander Gamble. Alexander interviewed us and filmed EarthView and other activities that evening, and the two of them produced a remarkably effective, five-minute video that supports geography education, with particular emphasis on our current legislative efforts.

We put the video online just yesterday, and it has already garnered attention at National Geographic in Washington. Please share the video widely, and follow up on its recommendations to contact Massachusetts legislators in support of geography!

Native American Consultation for Environmental Professionals

2011-12-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

Note from Dr. Hayes-Boh: Many of our majors end up working in environmental professions, and we teach several courses specifically intended to prepare our students for such careers. Each student should take responsibility, however, to cultivate interests and develop skills that will build both competence and credentials. Membership in organizations such as NAEP or MACC can be part of such preparation, as can carefully-selected courses in mathematics, foreign languages, and other sciences.

The webinar described below is one example of the learning opportunities available.

NAEP JANUARY 2012 WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENT

Native American Consultation for Environmental Professionals

TO REGISTER FOR THE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25 WEBINAR PLEASE CLICK THE APPROPRIATE LINK BELOW

NAEP Jan 25 2012 webinar-credit card payment

NAEP Jan 25 2012 webinar-please bill me

Native American or Tribal consultation is a key element of many types of projects that an environmental professional might encounter. Federal, state, and private project can all benefit from effective consultation. Implementing Native American consultation early in the process can identify potential stumbling blocks (or worse) and facilitate a smoother planning process moving forward.

The NAEP Education Research & Science Working Group is organizing an informative webinar to provide background information about the benefits and application of Native American consultation in the planning process, including why it is advisable and how to avoid pitfalls in the consultation process. NAEP’s goal is to provide members and other environmental professionals in the nation with a good understanding of what is and what is not consultation, as well as how to initiate consultation to the benefit off the full project planning team and public.

Thomas F. King, Ph.D. will lead an informative webinar discussing Native American consultation. Dr. King will discuss why consultation is advisable with reference both to legal requirements and the practicalities of impact assessment and planning. He will also outline some of the main issues that often trigger Native American or Tribal consultation, the etiquette surrounding consultation and what is and is not often considered correct consultation from the Native American perspective. Dr. King will also highlight the common causes of project delays and difficulties associated with Native American consultation. In addition to Dr. King, this webinar will include perspectives from a Tribal representative when discussing consultation concerns.

Dr. King has spent 45 years working in cultural resource management, historic preservation, and environmental impact assessment. He is the author of eight textbooks and one tradebook (as of 2010) on cultural resource management through Left Coast Press and Altamira Press, and editor of Wiley-Blackwell's "Companion to Cultural Resource Management" (2011). Dr. King currently provides consultation assistance to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, and other clients. Dr. King has also been an active member of the NAEP NEPA Working Group.

Date and Time: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 1pm ET (12pm CT, 11am MT, 10am PT)

Duration: Event will last 90 minute
Location: Wherever it is convenient for you

Questions: Please contact Tim Bower at 856-283-7816 or email him at naep@naep.org

Registration Fees:
* NAEP members — $79.00
* NAEP Affiliate Chapter members that are not NAEP members — $98.00
* Non-members (NAEP or Affiliated Chapters) - $109.00 (Save $30—please consider joining to receive the member rate for this and future events)
* Full time Students can participate at a reduced fee of $39.00

Why Geography?

2011-12-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

The film Why Geography? from Cambridge Educational is a 35-minute introduction to the kinds of inquiry that define the integrative discipline of geography. The narrator begins with his own home region in the American Southwest, asking questions about where he is and what is around him. In the process he reveals the analytic power of geography for understanding both human and natural distributions.

Thanks to the Maxwell Library for making this educational video available to the BSU community. Because of copyright restrictions, a BSU login is required to view this film.

Mainha Restaurant

2011-12-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

One advantage of studying geography in southeastern Massachusetts is that it is often possible to get a close-up glimpse of another part of the world by visiting restaurants that are operated by and and primarily cater to migrants from many parts of the world. This is particularly true of Brazil, a country whose connections to the region are expanding year by year.

Some students in our Geography of Latin America class learned a bit about the cultural geography of Brazil by visiting Mainha Restaurant in Avon (on Route 28, adjacent to the northern boundary of Brockton). "Mainha" is a Brazilian term of endearment meaning "Little Mother."

The food was delicious and authentic. Prior experience in the group ranged from none to native, and all enjoyed both the meal and the experience. For anybody curious about Brazilian food, this restaurant is an excellent choice, because the serving staff are fully bilingual and ready to help with any questions. The walls of the restaurant are covered with signs representing many of Brazil's major and minor cities, so we will be bringing a map on the next departmental visit!

EarthView Schedule Updated

2011-12-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

Close to 30,000 students -- mostly in eastern Massachusetts -- have participated directly in the Geography Department's EarthView outreach program since we began it in 2007. We visit schools almost every Friday, with occasional special programs at other times. The spring 2012 schedule is starting to take shape, and is posted on the EarthView blog at http://bsu-earthview.blogspot.com/2011/10/upcoming-earthview-events.html.

'Tis the Season

2011-12-15T12:25:00.001-08:00

Materials and Methods is one of two courses in our department that is dedicated to preparing future teachers of geography. In the course, students learn how to find and use a wide variety of maps, models, and other tools that can keep learners of all ages engaged in the many aspects of geography. Dr. Domingo also inspires students to develop their own teaching tools, and to teach their classmates how to make and use them.

The last day of the semester featured Kimberly Frisoli's seasonally appropriate contribution: Earthly Ornaments. What seems like a simple craft project is actually much more. It is a lesson in scale; in the adjustments to scale needed in cartography; in projections (none is needed, but that is the point); and in the relative importance of land and water (29/71, respectively, with the majority of land in the Northern Hemisphere). The detailed lesson plan describes several additional lessons to be gleaned from this fun activity. Learners of all kinds benefit from applying these global geography lessons on a very small object.

The ornament project began with some basic materials from a craft store:

Photo: Nicci Petit

It continued with the application of craft and geographic know-how:

Photo: Nicci Petit

Drying is cleverly facilitated by Popsicle sticks.

Photo: Kim Frisoli

The result is some useful practice in the skills described above, and nifty holiday gifts that themselves can be used for holiday geography lessons!

Photo: Nicci Petit

Photo: Korin Zigler

The department's other undergraduate course for educators is Geographic Frameworks, in which Dr. Hayes-Bohanan helps students to identify educational standards in geography and to find ways to apply them to all kinds of source materials. In addition, the department offers -- in partnership with the Massachusetts Geographic Alliances and its various partners -- a variety of graduate courses and workshops for in-service teachers. See the Globe Art entry on the EarthView blog for description of his own hand-on geography project.

Global Break

2011-12-15T04:47:00.000-08:00

Although final exams are still to be given and received, the end of the last day of classes gave a few geography students -- along with one alum, a couple professors, and the library's geography liaison -- a chance for a brief respite and repast. Of course, we could not go long without our globes, so we brought a few along!

Let Them Eat Cake

2011-12-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

Students in GEOG 490: Seminar in Geography did not know that today was Picture Day, but they were good sports, since they also did not know that it would be Cake Day. A few meridional segments remain, in the Global Education Center (room 272).

Polus Center Guests

2011-12-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

The Geography Department is hosting two very special guests who will be visiting BSU this Wednesday, December 14.

Michael Lundquist Michael holds a CAGS in education from BSU (then BSC), and has made several campus visits, including one supported by a social entrepreneurship secured by the Maxwell Library. He has also supported our Geography of Coffee study tour in Nicaragua, most notably by introducing us to projects in which coffeeland landmine victims develop their own communities, through a clinic, a wheelchair factory, and a cafe. He is also the Executive Director of the Polus Center for Social and Economic Development, based in Massachusetts but serving communities both locally and throughout the world. (http://poluscenter.org/).

The Center's newest project is the Coffeelands World Gifts Espresso Cafe in Clinton, Massachusetts. This is both a storefront and online store (http://worldgiftscafe.org/) that employs universal design and provides an outlet for fairly and directly traded products from throughout the world, mostly in coffeelands. It also provides employment opportunities for people in and near Clinton who have disabilities.

I encourage you to spend a minute browsing the web sites above to see some of the many ways in which the Polus Center is helping communities to develop their own capacity to address what are often dire needs. Aside from compassion, the theme that unites all of the work of the Polus Center is deep listening to help communities identify their own most important needs. Michael's presentation on Wednesday will focus on just such a fact-finding mission, examining the provision of health care among spatially dispersed riverfront communities in Amazonas, Peru.

Michael will be accompanied by renowned Massachusetts artist Gregory Stone (http://www.gregorystoneartist.com/), whose many works include the Polus Center cafe projects in both Clinton and Leon, Nicaragua. Greg will be here as part of the process of deciding on educational public art for the Science and Mathematics Building.

Both Michael and Greg will be available in the Global Education conference room (#272) on the second floor of the new Science and Mathematics Building, from 11:30-1:30. Feel free to drop in for any part of that time for casual conversation about their work. Light refreshments will be available.

Michael's more formal presentation about his recent visit to Peru will follow at 1:50 in the Science & Math Lecture Hall, room 122.

Geography on Dan Rea Program

2011-12-13T05:19:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Professors Domingo and Hayes-Bohanan took their traveling geography-education road show on the air nationwide, as guests on Nightside with Dan Rea. An entire hour of the four-hour call-in program -- which originates at WBZ in Boston but airs in 38 states -- was dedicated to the need to return geography to a place of primacy in education at all levels. All of the station's call-in lines were lit up throughout the program, as callers shared their fondness for learning geography and their alarm at its removal from many schools.

Many thanks to Dan Rea and his producers for inviting geographers into the studio, and for archiving the program on the WBZ site, where it can still be heard. This broadcast has started a lot of conversations!

Faculty and Alumna on Bridgewater Television

2011-12-07T06:25:00.001-08:00

Dr. Jabbar al-Obaidi of Bridgewater State University is host of the Bridgewater Television 9 program InFocus. Recently, he hosted BSU geography professors Vernon Domingo and James Hayes-Bohanan, along with BSU geography alumna ('07) Laura Howard for a half-hour discussion of the importance of geography education, particularly in Massachusetts.

Geography Jobs -- Sooner and Later

2011-11-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

Matt Rosenberg, our friend at Geography.about.com, has two posted two new articles about working as a geographer. Geographer is a Hot Job reports on the growth in jobs with the actual title of geographer, many of which are federal-government jobs. As students in our senior seminar know, most geographers work under other titles, as Rosenberg also discusses. The AAG Careers page provides more information about what is available for geographers.

Geographers do have to work a bit harder at finding their niche, as reflected in slightly above-average unemployment rates compared to other disciplines. It is partly for this reason that the faculty in BSU's geography department work so hard at promoting the identity of geographers -- the best-kept secret in the job market.

When I worked in the private sector I asked my managers to use the Geographer title in combination with the established titles, so that I was once known as "Geographer and Assistant Regulatory Analyst."

Matt Rosenberg also offers a short-term proposition to employ geographers. Unpaid internships with geography.about.com can earn academic credit while helping a geographer to hone skills very important to our discipline: writing, being part of a team, and integrative thinking. More over, this job can be done at home in one's jammies, with no need to buy gas for the commute! Contact Matt for the position and me (Dr. Hayes-Boh) regarding the credit.

Minutes after I posted this, Patric Anjos shared a photo he took at the end of our seminar class last week. It shows the results of our brainstorming about jobs for which a geographic education would be good preparation.

GeoLearning

2011-11-15T04:39:00.000-08:00

ESRI/NGS

As National Geographic VP Daniel Edelson tells the ESRI community, Geography Awareness Week is an opportunity for geospatial professionals to serve their communities and share their enthusiasm for geography.

Writing for the Fall issue of ArcNEWS, Edelson describes a number of ways that geographers can demonstrate the value of our discipline, and provides links to further information about the week.

Geographers -- including department alumni and students -- can get directly involved by volunteering as judges for the umpteenth annual Geography Fair, taking place Saturday morning, November 19, in the Burnell School building on the BSU campus. Contact Dr. Domingo for directions on being part of the team.

It is also a good time for geographers to contact state and federal representatives about the need for geography education. Legislation is pending at both levels -- read the MGA blog for the latest information on how to have an impact.

Satire and Myths of New World Identity

2011-11-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

From Epic to Satire: Early Peruvian Viceregal Contradictions and New American Subjectivities

The Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program

Presents Distinguished Speaker

Pedro Lasarte

From "Columbus Day Sales" to Pirates of the Caribbean, the Western cultural imaginary just can't stop purveying stale myths about "Old World" vs. "New World" identities and interactions! Come hear Dr. Pedro Lasarte of Boston University shatter paradigms and keep it both real and complex in his talk.

Monday Nov. 21, 4:30
Heritage Room, Maxwell Library
Lecture followed by discussion

Gourmet Refreshments will be served

Sponsored by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, the U.S. Ethnic Studies Program, and the Center for International Engagement

For more information, contact Dr. Leora Lev (LACS) or Dr. Hayes-Bohanan (Geography)

Middle East Program: Geography Education

2011-10-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

The BSU Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) is joining the Geography Department's efforts to promote geography education at the primary and secondary levels in Massachusetts.

The Center has hosted a number of campus visitors from various countries in the Middle East, and they are generally astonished by the lack of geographic insight among otherwise well-educated people they meet in the United States. The CMES faculty understands, as geographer Harm de Blij has stated, that ignorance of geography is a threat not only to the national security of the United States, but also the well-being of the planet as a whole.

For these reasons, CMES is sponsoring a Geography Education on Monday, November 7. The details:

Why we need to know more about the world: the geography bill in the Massachusetts legislature
Professors James Hayes-Bohanan and Vernon Domingo, Geography Department, BSU.
Monday, Nov 7 at 12:20pm
Campus Center, Small Ballroom
The event is open to the public. Please invite your classes.

Later that same day: On the evening of November 7, tune in to AM1030, WBZ radio from 10-11 pm, when Professors Domingo and Hayes-Bohanan will discuss the same topic on Dan Rae's Nightside, a nationally broadcast radio program. Feel free to call the program that evening at (617) 254-1030.

Environment and Trade in Central America: Lectures Oct 24

2011-10-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Julio Sanchez is a researcher at the Humboldt Center in Managua, Nicaragua, who is currently studying the introduction of genetically modified organisms through U.S. food aid into Nicaragua. Mr. Sanchez is the featured speaker in the Witness for Peace fall speaking tour, and will be appearing at Bridgewater State University on Monday, October 24.

At 1:50-3:05, Mr. Sanchez will be a guest speaker in James Hayes-Bohanan's Geography of Latin America class, which is being held in thelecture hall of the new Science & Mathematics Center for this occasion. Enter the building from the Chapel Lot side (the only available entrance), walk down the long, glass hallway, and the lecture hall will be to your right in the main lobby area.

At 5:00, members of the Social Justice League -- which is sponsoring his visit -- will be meeting with Julio Sanchez -- and the rest of the Witness for Peace tour team -- in the Bear's Den (formerly known as Commuter Cafeteria) in the basement of the Rondelau Campus Center. This is a chance to meet the team informally -- community members are welcome to bring along their own dinner or buy dinner at the cafe.

The main event will be at 6:00, when Mr. Sanchez will make a presentation at the Moakley Auditorium, regarding his work at the Humboldt Center. His presentation will trace the connections among trade policy (especially CAFTA), the introduction of food aid, and environmental consequences, particularly related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Details and background:
Facebook Event page with details of Julio's visit
Fall Tour Page with more information about Julio's work
Witness for Peace New England with information on the organization

This event is co-sponsored by La Sociedad Latina, Students for Sustainability, and the Sociology Department.

Natural Resources Internship -- Concord

2011-10-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

The Natural Resources Division of the Town of Concord's Planning and Land Management office is seeking an intern. Deadline is October 27. Pay is up to $10/hour. See details, including application form.

Science Building Changes

2011-10-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Dr. Chifuru "Chief" Noda in the Department of Chemistry for documenting some of the dramatic changes taking place during the transformation of the Conant Science Building into the Conant Center for Science and Mathematics. Dr. Noda recently shared the October 6 video above, along with two videos (first and second) taken October 7.

Update October 12: Chief has created his own page with more photos of the ongoing transformation of the Conant Center for Science & Mathematics; bookmark it to see further progress.

The demolition in the midst of an active campus requires great care and planning -- and the cooperation of curious passersby who must resist the temptation to get even closer. The spraying hoses you see in some of the footage are to keep dust down; that work requires great skill, as the workers must be very close to the giant claw, essentially under it, but not too close.

Those looking at satellite imagery on services such as Google Maps often experience the illusion that the imagery is current. The satellite imagery found on Google Maps today (October 9, 2011) is a good example of the time lag, which can sometimes be several years. In this case, the image seems to be from about a year ago, when the 1964 wings of the building were still in use and the new wings (to the north) still under construction. The offices for the Department of Geography are found today in a wing that is still shown as vegetation in on the Google image.

Below are some more of Dr. Noda's photos, at various stages of construction and destruction -- first some panoramas and then some straight shots. Click any image to enlarge.

Panorama -- view of 1964 wing from new wing -- September 8, 2011
(Note: The building was not actually curvy!)

Same view, October 6

Same view, October 7

Main wing, May 2010

Foundation, May 2010

Foundation, May 2010. That curved area is an indoor planting area
that is now under the main stairwell.

Geologists posing in front of Park Avenue side,
just as the serious demolition had begun on the NE corner.

October 2011 -- view from the far end of the new wing; Kelly Gym to the left,
Campus Center in distance; rubble of 1964 main wing in center.

The future building, as depicted on the
Facilities Management web page, which has many
more project details and photos.

Cookies for Future Teachers --

2011-10-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

BSU-STREAMS and Dean Goldstein are sponsoring a gathering for students interested in science or math teaching careers (this includes geography!) on Tuesday, Oct 11 from 3:00-4:00 in the 3rd floor common area. Please announce this in your classes. Flyers should be going up soon and coming to you through email as well.

The meeting is informal. The goals are to let new, less experienced students talk a bit with more senior students and faculty about the classes required for teaching certification, what teaching careers are lilke, etc.

There will be coffee and cookies!

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-24T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's earthquake was a minor affair in Bridgewater. Geography alum Phil Klotzbach suggests we keep an eye on Irene.

Mass DEP Internships

2011-08-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recently contacted the BSU Office of Career Services to remind our campus community that DEP has a number of internships available in all regions of the state. Geographers are imminently qualified for many of these opportunities. Have a look at the "Available Internships" link on the DEP Internship web page to see what might be a good fit for you. Then contact any geography professor and the Career Services office for next steps. It is best to finalize internship arrangements within the add/drop period of each semester.

Dedham GIS Internship for Fall

2011-08-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

Duties and Responsibilities:

Assists the GIS Manager and Town staff in a variety of GIS related projects. The GIS Intern will be responsible for data creation and maintenance, spatial analysis and cartographic production. Other duties include GPS field work and other tasks as they relate to the general administration of the Engineering Department.

The successful candidate will work under the general direction of the GIS Manager. Employee is expected to have some measure of initiative and independence in solving problems and performing assigned duties.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

Must be a candidate to receive a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography, GIS, or a closely related field. Previous related work experience is a plus.

Knowledge, Ability and Skill

Must be proficient with ArcGIS Desktop 9.x/10 and Microsoft Office. Experience with GPS technology is preferred. Knowledge of VBA, Python or other scripting language is a plus. Valid Massachusetts’s motor vehicle operator’s license required.

SALARY: $15.00 per hour.

HOURS: 20hr/wk year round available.

Please send resume and copy of latest available transcript to:

Leon Scott, GIS Manager

Town of Dedham

Department of Infrastructure Engineering

55 River Street

Dedham, Massachusetts 02026

lscott AT dedham-ma DOT gov

phone: (781) 751-9390 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (781) 751-9390 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

fax: (781) 751-9359

Nicaragua Development Job

2011-08-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

From Dr. Hayes-Bohanan: I recently received this job announcement from a Nicaragua listserv. The deadline is soon and the job requirements are very specific, so finding the right applicant through this post is not very likely. I decided to share it, however, as the kind of opportunity for which a geographic education may be quite suitable. Even though the description does not list geography as a qualifying discipline, many of the responsibilities and characteristics listed are those of geographers!

Note the need for foreign language skills. Although BSU does not require a foreign language (at the moment), languages are required for many of the careers to which geographers are best suited.

Food for the Hungry (FH, www.fh.org) is a Christian International Development Organization with presence in Nicaragua since 1994. FH is expanding its short-term teams program and is recruiting for the following position:

Assistant Teams Coordinator – This individual will support the Teams Coordinator in all aspects of the administration and implementation of the short-term teams program in Nicaragua.

Primary Responsibilities:

· Help in the identification and execution of projects that support the on-going work of the organization in the communities of Chinandega and Somotillo.

· Organize and implement all the logistics related to team visits.

· Share the vision, mission, and values of the organization with each team and helping them understand how they can support the on-going transformation process in the communities where they serve.

· Facilitate the development of just and mutually respectful relationships between team and community members.

This position requires an individual with the following characteristics:

· A desire to serve and transform vulnerable communities in Nicaragua.

· Good understanding of the context and culture of both Nicaragua and the United States.

· Bilingual in English and Spanish (oral and written).

· Highly responsible and detail oriented.

· BA/BS in business administration, international development, or similar field,

Send resume and cover letter explain your interest in the position to nicaragua@fh.org by August 19, 2011. After this date we will conduct interviews with the top candidates.

Finding Geography Programs

2011-05-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

We encourage our geography majors to pursue graduate education in the field. From Matt Rosenberg's Selecting a Geography Program article we learned of a handy resource for finding such programs worldwide. Austrian Professor Klaus Förster maintains a searchable database of hundreds of programs in several dozen countries.

Happy browsing!

Financial Support for Unpaid Internships

2011-05-06T14:28:00.001-07:00

The BSU Foundation has generously provided funding to assist students in completing unpaid credit bearing internships. Three awards of $2,000 each are available to qualifying juniors and seniors in the College of Science and Mathematics who secure and complete their internships during summer or fall 2011. Click here for full details, including deadlines and application packet.

Town of Chatham GIS Internship

2011-05-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Provided by Dr. Hellstrom:

Summer/Fall Semester 2011

Internship Contacts: Paul Lagg, GIS Coordinator, Town of Chatham

549 Main Street Chatham, MA 02633

(508) 945-5168

plagg@chatham-ma.gov

Internship Summary:

The major focus of this internship will be to evaluate and improve the organizational structure of Chatham’s GIS database. Intern will be required to submit a plan to re-organize the current database to improve ease of use, streamline workflow and increase data sharing among town staff. Intern will then implement plan with the assistance/supervision of the GIS Coordinator. In addition, the internship will involve the following duties:

Create/edit new and existing data layers
Create “meta data” for new/existing data layers
Fieldwork utilizing Trimble GPS and Tablet PC (training will be provided)
Scan/link documents to GIS using web-based document manager software

Candidate must possess a strong working knowledge of ArcGIS Desktop 9.x and/or ArcMap10, ArcCatalog, ArcToolbox and Microsoft Excel. Internship will require both fieldwork and office work.

Note: This is an unpaid internship. However, successful candidates will gain exposure to a wide range of land management issues including coastal resources management, infrastructure maintenance, planning and zoning. Candidate will also gain exposure to a plethora of data types and software used in the professional sphere of GIS these include: shapefiles, geodatabases, aerial photography, site plans and other relational databases. ArcGIS, Terrasync, Pathfinder Office, PeopleForms and MapsOnline.

This internship is geared toward candidates with a strong interest in pursuing a career in GIS/Land Use Management. All work performed will be expected to meet a high degree of accuracy.

Mekong Update

2011-04-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

Dr. Domingo is spending his sabbatical studying and teaching about water privatization in Malaysia. He recently sent this photograph following a lecture he gave on the subject in the geography department at the University of Malaya.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

As those who know Dr. Domingo will expect, he has not been spending all of his time in conference rooms! The series of photos below, in fact, were taken during a four-day excursion in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, a side trip he took "while in the neighborhood." These photos bear out his claim that the Mekong is a "geographer's delight!" He also explored Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) -- describing it as an incredible place of very high energy where he spent many hours on the back of a motorbike taxi (Xe Om).

Click any of the photos below to enlarge; we look forward to hearing the stories behind them when Dr. Domingo returns!

Food, Inc. Thursday Evening

2011-04-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

BSU student Diana Ramos is president of Students for Ethical Eating, which was recently renamed Students for Sustainability to reflect its broader scope. Diana is guest blogger for this article about an important that should be of interest to geographers. For more on the connections between food and geography, see my Geography of Food web page.

Students for Sustainability will be showing the film Food, Inc. at 6pm on Thursday 4/21 at Bridgewater State University in the Rondileau Campus Center room 208. The film is a look at the industrialization of our food and the impacts it has had on humans, animals, and the environment. Here is just a small glimpse into what the film covers:

Mashed Potatoes. Think of the last time you have eaten them. Maybe this week, last month, or perhaps they are mostly just a Thanksgiving staple for you. But such a seemingly simple dish, just with its basic 4 ingredients being potatoes, milk, butter, and salt, is very complex. It is most likely you didn’t dig the potatoes out of the ground yourself, nor milked a cow, nor churned the butter, nor gathered the salt. In fact you may have not even cooked it yourself. Thanks to the industrialization of the food system, food is more convenient than ever. Now we have instant mashed potatoes where you simply add water, or better yet the Kentucky Fried Chicken down the road has some already made and at an appealing price for your convenience.

But if it is so easy and cheap now to get our food, what happens before the attendant at the drive through window passes along the branded paper bag? This is the story that the documentary Food, Inc. aims to reveal. While we used to get our milk in glass jars from the dairy man and the milk was produced by a dairy farmer we knew with a dozen or so grass grazing cows that lived not so far away, now we get our milk from giant food superstores where they come from factory farms with hundreds of corn, soy, antibiotic, and hormone fed cows, that are hundreds if not over a thousand miles away. The industrialization of our food has led to an illusion of choice over what we eat when in essence they are really just different manifestations of corn, soy, and wheat. As the American diet has changed to take advantage of this convenience of pre-made food, so too has the American gut grown. Poor diet related illnesses such as diabetes have also grown. This is issue is exacerbated in communities that are “food deserts” where all that is available is convenience and highly process foods.

Above is a map showing the percentage of households by county with limited access to supermarkets (source: LAist) ; below that is a map of diabetes rate per capita by county (source: PotatoPro).

But human health isn’t the only thing at stake, so is the health of our environment. The chemical fertilizers and pesticides used on farms today degrade soil quality, which leads to a vicious cycle of putting more chemical fertilizer to make up for the loss. But these chemicals don’t just stay in the ground, when it rains, they flow with the water to whatever streams of rivers are near. One of the best known examples of the effects is the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico (source: USDA Amber Waves). In this zone (which is about the size of New Jersey), the run-off of large agribusiness farms has dumped nitrogen (the main base of fertilizers) into the rivers that flow to the gulf which has lead to depletion of oxygen to the point where aquatic life can’t be supported.

But there is much more to the story. If you want to find out more about the hidden face of industrialized food systems, join Students for Sustainability this Thursday. Mashed potatoes will never seem the same again.

~~ Diana Ramos

What Geographers Do ... and Make

2011-04-12T02:14:00.000-07:00

In the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, the Robin Williams character says:

… medicine, law, business, engineering: these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.

Geographers have the good fortune of being able to pursue both a livelihood and a life within their chosen field. The Association of American Geographers (AAG) has identified 90 occupations that require geographic skills, and has compiled salary and employment data for each.

Employment and salaries in many categories remain remarkably strong, especially given the very difficult economy of the past few years. Our recent anecdotal experience suggests that graduate-school -- a common refuge during recessions -- is becoming much more competitive. And although jobs in any field are more difficult to find than in the recent past, geospatial skills (i.e., GIS) remain in high demand.

Salaries and employment trends are probably not valid as primary reasons to choose an academic path. But it is good to know that the study of geography can offer both personal and professional rewards.

Geography Visibility

2011-04-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

State legislators, tourists, and Boston Globe readers had an opportunity to learn about the importance of geography last week, as the department's EarthView was displayed in the State House for the second time. Read about it on the EarthView blog, and stay tuned for more about geography education in the Commonwealth.

Domingo Update

2011-04-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Members and friends of the Geography Department will be pleased -- but not surprised -- to know that Dr. Domingo is busily applying his knowledge of and enthusiasm for geography while on sabbatical in Malaysia. While living in Melaka and continuing his work on access to water at the University of Malaya, he took a short trip to Cambodia. There he visited the famous Angkor Wat and -- more importantly -- spent some time with Dr. Kevin Curry, our colleague from the Biology Department, on his projects providing clean water in small villages.

Writing to us just today, Dr. Domingo shared his impression that:

"...people you meet even casually, know more about the the people and places that make up our world than the average American does. Purposeful travel is important but without the full inclusion of geography in the school curriculum, the U.S. will never be able to close the geographic literacy gap. Where else but in the geography curriculum will students learn about the monsoons, the diffusion of Hinduism and Buddhism, the role of the trading in the Straits of Melaka, the dynamism of the city-state of Singapore, and of course the economic emergence of China?"

He also shared a few photographs (click to enlarge):

With Dr. Curry in Cambodia

Dr. Curry demonstrating water filter

A good geographer always notices the

local transportation.

Dr. Domingo with geography graduate students,
University of Malaya

Dr. Domingo is out-standing in his field!
(a rice padi, that is!)

Summer Grants for Sustainability Resesarch

2011-03-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

The Center for Sustainability (CfS) is announcing its 2011 Summer Grant Competition to support research and creative activities related to sustainability projects. The Instructions and Application forms for Summer 2011 are available from any faculty member. The application deadline for the 10-week summer grant program is Friday, April 22. Please note that the CfS summer grant program runs in parallel with the ATP summer program. Students who applied for an ATP summer grant and did not receive funding may now apply for a CfS summer grant, but should speak with the CfS coordinators for suggestions on how to strengthen their proposal.

A series of Information Sessions and Workshops are listed below. If neither you or your student are able to attend these sessions, please contact Ed Brush in Chemistry to set up a 1:1 meeting.

CfS Summer Grants Information Sessions:

Monday, April 4, 11-1 Office of Undergraduate Research (Maxwell 200)….Lunch provided!

Tuesday, April 5, 11-1 Office of Undergraduate Research (Maxwell 200)….Lunch provided!

CfS Summer Grant Review Workshops – CfS personnel will review preliminary student proposals and provide feedback:

Thursday, April 14, 11-1 Office of Undergraduate Research (Maxwell 200)….Lunch provided!

Friday, April 15, 2-3:30 Office of Undergraduate Research (Maxwell 200)….Lunch provided!

Internships in Geography

2011-03-29T09:05:00.001-07:00

Geography faculty just received the following message from Tracey Gray in Career Services. It looks like our talented students are in demand!

I wanted to alert you to three great internship prospects for students in your academic department as indicated below.

Habitat Restoration Intern, The Trustees of Reservations                                                                         Job ID # 3842Help The Trustees of Reservations to monitor and restore a rare Atlantic White Cedar swamp at Copicut Woods. Responsibilities include:
• Inventory and use GPS to map all existing Atlantic White Cedar trees.
• Assess the cedar stand for evidence of disease or decay.
• Measure trees to determine diameter, height, crown spread and age.
• Conduct swamp transects to measure depth of peat layer and water depth at various times of year.
• Assess the impact of deer browsing on trees and explore methods to reduce impact of browsing.
• Assist with transplanting trees from tree nursery into swamp.
• Remove competing trees and shrubs from restoration site.

Transportation Planning Intern, SRPEDD                                                                                                      Job ID # 3935Students will assist staff with a wide array of data collection efforts including, but not limited to the following:
Traffic Counting Program and other highway transportation related programs-assist in data collection efforts that include:
• installation of automatic traffic counting devices on various highways
• manual traffic counts at signalized/non-signalized intersections
• vehicle crash data at local police departments
• use data base, spreadsheets and other software programs for data entry

Pavement Management-assist in data collect efforts that include:
• pavement condition surveys of Federal Aid Eligible roadways
• data entry of surveys into computer software program

Transit Planning-assist in data collection efforts that include:
• bus and train passenger surveys
• ridership data input

Geographic Roadway Runoff Inventory Program (GRRIP)-assist in data collection efforts that include:
• field work to inventory, evaluate and photograph roadway drainage structures and surrounding environs
• mapping (GIS), data entry and cataloging of photos for analysis and report development

Planning Intern, Town of Easton – Department of Planning and Community Development            Job ID # 3852           The Department of Planning and Community Development in the Town of Easton, Massachusetts seeks an intern to take part in a variety of department activities. Assignments will include assisting staff in a number of substantial projects relating to government funding, community outreach, zoning policy research, GIS analysis, and conservation policy. Some light administrative work will also be required. This will allow the intern to become familiar with day-to-day operations of a suburban, municipal planning department. Depending upon the intern’s demonstrated competence and department need, staff will consider including the intern in additional projects which the intern may find to be of interest.

Faculty and staff can view these opportunities as well as other full-time openings and internships listings by proceeding to CareerLink@BSU at: https://www.myinterfase.com/bridgew/faculty/home.aspx, entering faculty as both their Username and Password and typing in the Job ID #.

Please share the above opportunities with colleagues and encourage your students to apply. Students can create their own username and password at https://www.myinterfase.com/bridgew/student/home.aspx to access all of our listings.

Department Survey

2011-03-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

BSU Geography Alumni -- if you have not already done so, the department would really appreciate your feedback on our program. Please take a few minutes to take our program survey.

Sustainable Water Program March 29

2011-03-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

The Department of Communication Studies and the Center for Sustainability Present:

Increasing Public Awareness of Water Preservation & Sustainability Using Public Relations, Community Outreach and Education

A panel of industry professionals, educators and BSU staff discuss how they each work to educate consumers on these issues and generate public awareness, including the role public relations plays in community outreach efforts.

Tuesday, March 29th
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Moakley Auditorium

The event is being held in 2 sessions for people who cannot stay for the entire event due to scheduling conflicts.

SESSION I: 1:00 – 1:45 p.m. - Water Sustainability – Chemicals in Our Water What are the issues? What’s being done? What can we do to help? (Internationally, Regionally, BSU)

SESSION II: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.- Best Practices in PR & Community Outreach & Communication Careers in the Environment Sector

Event MC: Kim McCoy, BSU, Laboratory Coordinator, RiverNet Watershed Access Lab

Panelists:
Dr. Jabbar Al-Obaidi, BSU, Department of Communication Studies Chairperson, Director of the Middle East Studies Program and Producer of the documentary “Contaminated Drinking Water in Cambodia”

Edward Brush, BSU, Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemical Sciences; Co-Coordinator, Center for Sustainability and Member of the President’s Climate Commitment Task Force

Patricia Delaney, BSU, Environmental Health and Safety Officer, Facilities Management and Planning Office and Member of the President’s Climate Commitment Task Force

Alison Bowden, The Nature Conservancy, Director of the Freshwater Program in Massachusetts

Mark Campanale, Triumvirate Environmental, Client Relations Manager, Marketing and Social Media Manager

Scott W. Horsley, LEED AP Horsley Witten Group, full-service environmental science and engineering firm. Veteran consultant in watershed planning and water resources management.

Japan Relief T-Shirts

2011-03-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

CafePress is selling t-shirts in support of Red Cross relief efforts in Japan. The shirts feature a nice map of the country with the word "hope" in Japanese. Ten dollars from each purchase goes to the Red Cross.

To economize on shipping while showing our solidarity as geographers, BSU geography student Ashley Costa is putting together a group order. If you are interested, contact Ashley (a5costa is her bridgew email) and get her the funds by Tuesday, March 29. The cost, to include shipping, is $18. If you round up to $20, any extra bucks will go to one of the many campus-based fund-raising efforts.

Learn more about BSU educational and charitable responses at http://www.bridgew.edu/response/JapanRelief.cfm. The day-long teach-in on Wednesday, March 30 will include at least a couple of the geography and geology faculty members.

GIS Job Upportunity

2011-03-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

A graduate of our department is taking a new job, and has let us know -- through Dr. Rao -- about the upcoming vacancy in his place. This mainly GIS position includes both mapping and marketing duties, as outlined below.

Map duties: Custom maps based requests, including:

Running Demographic Reports
Producing Thematic based maps on Demo Variables
Geocoding Retail Locations
Doing Parcel Overlay Aerials.
Zoning Overlay Aerials.

Marketing duties:

E-blasts
Website updates
Creating brochures
Working with Adobe Suite

Contact:

Richard Pilla, Principal
Paramount Partners
rpilla AT paramountpartners DOT com
781-848-1550 x17
http://paramountpartners.com/

Japan Resources from BSU Asian Studies

2011-03-14T02:05:00.000-07:00

Dr. Minae Savas and Dr. Wing-kai To of the Asian Studies Program have posted the following message for the BSU community. Dr. Savas is in the Foreign Languages Department and Dr. To is in the History Department.

Please join us in extending our heartfelt sympathy to the Japanese people for the casualties, injury, and damage they suffered from the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11 and beyond. We have dozens of Japanese students studying at Bridgewater as well as hundreds of alumni and graduates who are from Japan or working in Japan. We are gradually able to establish contacts with many of them and our thoughts are with the well-being of them and their families.

For up-to-date news coverage of the disaster and recovery efforts, you can watch TV news as follows:

Information in English:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv

Information in Japanese:
NHK http://ustre.am/vmCj

The Japan Society of Boston has a website devoted to the tragedy and local relief efforts:
http://www.japansocietyboston.org/Earthquake

The Asian Studies program is coordinating with other campus offices to receive donations for relief to the earthquake and tsunami victims. We’ll provide you more information about our campus efforts as soon as they are available.

With deepest sympathy to our friends in Japan at this difficult time,

Minae Savas and Wing-kai To

LACS/PAIS Event -- March 16

2011-03-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

LACS/PAIS Event

It would be great to see geography faculty and students -- especially those who have studied or visited Latin America, at this event. Those who took Geography of Latin America last fall will remember that Dr. Shanahan was an excellent guest speaker! In general, these reflections on the literature of the realm can help us to understand its cultural geography.

Incidentally, LACS is soon changing its name to Pan-American and Iberian Studies (PAIS) to reflect the broader scope of studies taking place at BSU.

Storied Lives: New Frontiers in Latin American and Caribbean History and Fiction

We cordially invite you to join us for a LACS symposium featuring brilliant new scholarship from BSU faculty

March 16, 10:00-11:30, Small Ballroom, RCC.

Refreshments will be served. Open to students, faculty, and staff.

Featured lecturers are:

"Pushing Gender Boundaries? Dancehall, Migration and Trade in Contemporary Jamaican Culture” – Dr. Diana Fox, Acting Chair, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology

"Domestic Relations: Gender, Household, and Nation in Latin American History since 1850" – Dr. Erin O’Connor, Department of History

“La Frontera as Creative Space for Artistas Chicanas” – Dr. Jenny Shanahan, Director, Office of Undergraduate Research

Moderator: Dr. Leora Lev, Department of Foreign Languages, Coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program

Sponsored by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program

Contact Information: Prof. L. Lev at x2449

DEP Summer Internships - March 15 Deadline

2011-03-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Summer 2011 Summer Internship Opportunities
Application Deadline: March 15

Our department strongly encourages students to pursue internship and research opportunities because they deeply enhance learning while enhancing prospects for future employment. Students who have not yet done so should visit the Office of Career Services Office and the CSO web site for information about finding and preparing for internships. The office maintains a database of opportunities that students should check frequently.

Thanks to Internship Adviser Debra London for sharing a whole set of internship opportunities that should be of special interest to geography students. A variety of internships are available in various offices of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and geography students are well-positioned to apply for several of them. Internships are not paid, but academic credit can be earned.

Please note the application deadline immediately after Spring Break.

Contemporary Slavery: March 2

2011-02-28T12:33:00.000-08:00

It is estimated that there are at least 27 million people living in slavery around the world today.

The Social Justice League at BSU has organized an informative presentation combining guest and student speakers, theatrical performances, slide shows, brief film clips, and discussion to raise awareness about the issue of modern day slavery.

AMIRAH Boston, an organization that provides shelters for females refugees in the Boston area, will join us to present about their work and how they have been helping thousands of women who have been displaced from their homes due to human trafficking, slavery, and other related causes.

Wednesday, March 2
7:00 PM
Moakley Center Auditorium
Bridgewater State University
This event is sponsored by the Social Justice League and the Christian Fellowship at BSU. Learn more at the event page on Facebook.

Coffee, Sustainability, and a Catchy Tune

2011-02-16T03:50:00.000-08:00

In late 2010, students in BSU's Master in Public Administration program interviewed Dr. Hayes-Bohanan about coffee and sustainability. For those who watch the entire interview, there is an amusing treat at the very end.

GIS position

2011-02-15T13:56:00.001-08:00

Overview:
FM Global is a leading property insurer of the world's largest businesses, providing more than one-third of FORTUNE 1000-size companies with engineering-based risk management and property insurance solutions. FM Global helps clients maintain continuity in their business operations by drawing upon state-of-the-art loss-prevention engineering and research; risk management skills and support services; tailored risk transfer capabilities; and superior financial strength. To do so, we rely on a dynamic, culturally diverse group of employees, working in more than 100 countries, in a variety of challenging roles.

Responsibilities:
Entry- to mid-level GIS Specialist to work as part of a GIS team. Participate in corporate projects and related activities to provide assistance in advancing the utilization of GIS technologies, processes and procedures. Take a proactive role in representing and promoting the GIS vision within the company. Assist with a variety of GIS applications and projects, assist in selecting and acquiring the appropriate geospatial data and technology for spatial analysis. Participate in the development of corporate GIS web and desktop tools by providing programming assistance for delivered tools and provide technical/operational support.

Qualifications:
Associate Degree/Diploma/Certificate in GIS, Geography, or a related discipline with a strong focus in GIS. 4+ years GIS Specialist experience, including data development, analysis, and cartography. Knowledge of GIS related concepts, products and geospatial industry. Basic knowledge of programming utilizing Visual Basic and/or VB.NET a plus. Must have strong project and time management skills, excellent written and oral communication skills, and organizational skills.

Apply for this job online:
https://jobs-fmglobal.icims.com/jobs/3340/job

Geographers of Coffee

2011-01-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

L-R: Geography majors Anne Williams and Nicole Petit;

Geography minors Ryan Dexter-Hansen and Nikki Sauber;

Geography Professor James Hayes-Bohanan

BSU geographers posed with a relief map in the museum at the Parque Nacional Volcán Masaya yesterday, near the end of the department's fifth study tour in Nicaragua. The subject of the study tour is the Geography of Coffee, which integrates human and physical geography. The trip included visits both to active volcanoes Masaya and Cerro Negro and dormant volcanoes in the heart of the coffeelands of Matagalpa and Jinotega.

As the students in the course learned, fine coffees are found on rich, volcanic soils throughout the world.

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY available in the spring

2010-12-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

Note from Dr. Hayes-Boh:
Are you looking for a spring-semester course that counts toward the geography departmental electives? Are you interested in how economies work? Do you want to recommend a truly excellent course to a friend from another discipline? One of our very talented visiting lecturers (and a BSU geography graduate) Prof. Phil Birge-Liberman is offering a dynamic, challenging, and informative course in economic geography.

The description and objectives from his syllabus are provided below. Here is Hayes-Boh's shorter definition: Economics without the limiting assumptions.

Sign up today, and learn how the world really works.
~~JHB

GEOG 350: Economic Geography
Professor Phil Birge-Liberman
Class Meetings: Wednesday 1:50pm-4:30pm
Spring 2011

This course examines some of the historical and contemporary factors that shape the global economy and current spatial economic order. This entails studying processes—such as economic restructuring, changing production systems, and the internationalization of trade and industry as well as studying the role of various actors in the economy— including states, producers, organized labor and consumers. We will unpack the term ‘globalization,’ which is so widely used to explain contemporary economic relations and explore the causes, effects, representations, contradictions, costs and benefits of globalization. We will begin the course by discussing economic geography as a concept, sub-discipline and discourse. We will then study the historical development of the capitalist economy, including the role of new technology in changing production systems and the geography of firms. We will learn that economic change is accompanied by increasing inequality both across and within regions. This will lead to a discussion of economic development as a product of globalization. According to the World Bank, 2.8 billion people live on less than $2 a day. We will explore the contradictions of globalization marked by record corporate executive earnings at the same time as falling real wages for the average worker; new technologies that improve production and yet inefficient and uneven distribution; U.S. economic dominance and yet a shortage of secure well- paid jobs in the United States. The course will conclude with an examination of the current challenges facing the global economy including the greening of the economy and the role of consumption in changing our society.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To develop an understanding of the political economy approach within economic geography.
• To connect the historical development of the capitalist economy to contemporary shifts in the spatial organization of production and consumption.
• To critically analyze globalization and be able to explore the connections between economic,
political and social processes shaping our globe.
• To examine how local and regional economies are implicated in global economic restructuring.
• To investigate the causes and patterns of spatial inequality.
• To develop critical thinking skills to examine the world around us and representations thereof.

Student Help w/ US Environmental Protection Agency - Narragansett, RI

2010-12-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Current Status: Solicitation posted December 14, 2010. All responses are due 01/03/11, 12:00 p.m., ET. See the Announcement file at the website for more information.

Brazil's Rising Star

2010-12-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

Nobody who has been around the BSU Geography Department the past few years is likely to be surprised by the 60 Minutes segment on Brazil that aired yesterday, in which Steve Kroft described the achievements -- and challenges -- of this rising power. From its remarkable economic growth and narrowing social chasm to its upcoming role as host of the World Cup and Olympics, this 13-minute video makes the case that we already understand in the BSU Geography Department: learning about Brazil is as important as it is enjoyable.

In the past decade, BSU has received two grants from the prestigious Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) of the U.S. Department of Education and CAPES, its Brazilian counterpart. The first of these was in the area of special education (under the leadership of Dr. Lidia Silveira) and the second in geography (with Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan). The grants allowed for in-coming and out-going, semester-long exchanges with university partners in southern Brazil, and greatly enriched our campus.

In June 2011, we will build on this experience to provide BSU's first short-term study tour to Brazil. Dr. Hayes-Bohanan will lead a tour that explores the changes taking place in several key areas of Brazil, from coffee (in which "Brazilian gourmet coffee" is no longer a joke) to modern manufacturing and from transportation planning to hydroelectric power. More details about this trip will be available from the Office of Study Abroad in early January.

If the 60 Minutes segment whets your appetite to learn more about the dynamism that is today's Brazil, check out the Discovery Atlas DVD set that is available at the Maxwell Library Circulation Desk. It includes one DVD each on Brazil, China, Australia, and Italy. The Brazil volume illustrates the geographic variety of the country by focusing on the stories of seven very different individuals from disparate corners of the country. (Call number: PN1995.9.T73 D57 2007)

Reminiscence

2010-12-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

Paulo Vela is one of eleven Brazilian students to have spent a semester at BSC (now BSU) as part of the department's US-Brazil Consortium on Urban Development, which was jointly supported by the United States Department of Education FIPSE program and CAPES, its Brazilian counterpart. Dr. Hayes-Bohanan will be leading a short-term study tour in Brazil next June. Details will be posted here in coming weeks.

The academic results of these exchanges (in which many of BSC students also spent semesters in Brazil) have been numerous, including regional and national conference presentations in both countries. Today we learned of an artistic legacy as well, as Paulo posted a music video based on his experience. The title can be translated as "Where I Walked" and it captures beautifully the joy of learning a new place.

(Go to YouTube for larger image.)

Geography Fair Success

2010-11-23T03:46:00.000-08:00

The 24th Annual Geography Fair was a terrific success, with hundreds of students and family members learning about the geography of water. BSU students in Dr. Clark's Water Resources were among the volunteers who judged a hundred student projects.

While the judging took place, humanitarian Michael Cambra told the story of Mission to Liberia, an organization that he and Joseph Naranamie have created over the past several years to support recovery and development projects in Liberia, West Africa. This was the first time that the Geography Fair had such a focus on service learning, with t-shirt sales and donations being directed toward the creation of a fresh-water well in Liberia.

Near the end of the program, students and their families enjoyed the music of Khakatay, BSU's amazing West African Drumming ensemble. West Africa, of course, comprises many cultures and musical traditions, but the region as a whole is well-represented by the music of Khakatay (which means "laughing out loud"). This excellent connection was made even stronger by the appearance of educator Brigitte Ndikum-Nyada of Cameroon, whose grace and strength was a vivid reminder of something Michael Cambra had discussed earlier: in Cameroon, as in Liberia and much of the rest of the world, girls and women spend hours each day carrying water great distances, often on their heads.

Photo: Danielle Robidoux

All of the volunteers and students -- and particularly Dr. Domingo and the Massachusetts Geographic Alliance -- are to be commended for a program that was not only enjoyable and informative, but also of direct benefit to the people of Liberia.

Help with Grad School Letters

2010-11-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

For many students, the most difficult part of applying to graduate or professional school is writing the dreaded "personal statement." What should be included? What is the appropriate style and tone? And how can you make the best use of this opportunity to sell yourself to admissions committees?

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is here to help! "Writing an Impressive Personal Statement," a workshop for students, will be offered:

Tues, Nov 30, 3:15-4:30 in ECC 112 (appetizers served) and again on
Wed, Dec 8, 12:15-1:15 in the Heritage Room (lunch served).
Students will learn practical guidelines for writing personal statements and see models of successful statements by recent BSU graduates who are now in law school, medical school, and master's and doctoral programs in various disciplines.

Food will be served at each workshop. A response is requested but not required. RSVP to Kathy Frederick in the Office of Undergraduate Research (kfrederick@bridgew.edu).

Focus on Sudan: December 3, 12 noon

2010-11-14T17:43:00.000-08:00

Focus on Southern Sudan: January Independence Referendum

Friday December 3rd, 12 PM—2 PM

Heritage Room, BSU Maxwell Library

Political boundaries in Africa could change again very soon, due to the independence referendum in Southern Sudan. Come learn about the important upcoming referendum in southern Sudan that will decide whether southern Sudan will become an independent country. “The future of Sudan is hanging in the balance,” Salva Kiir, president of southern Sudan .

Meanwhile, to learn more:

See the Washington Post article about the possibility that the vote will be delayed, a video from Al Jazeera English about preparations for the vote, and a second Al Jazeera video about fears of war in South Sudan.

Sponsored by the African Studies Program, BSU Chapter of Free the Children, African Student Association, and Middle Eastern Culture Connection Association.

Light refreshments will be served.

Graduate Assistantships at Central Washington

2010-11-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON, ELLENSBURG.
Graduate Assistants in Resource Management. Central Washington University’s Resource Management (REM) Graduate Program will offer approximately ten (10) graduate assistantships for the 2011-2012 academic year. REM is an applied, interdisciplinary program that includes the Geography Department as a major participant. Applicants should have a bachelor’s degree in Geography, or related field at the time of enrollment. Assistantships will involve a combination of research and teaching in the Geography Department.
Apply online at: http://www.cwu.edu/~masters/forms/formsGraduate.html. Applications submitted before February 1 receive maximum consideration. For more information, please see http://www.cwu.edu/~rem/ or contact co-director Karl Lillquist at lillquis@cwu.edu.
CWU is an AA/EEO/Title IX Institution.

Graduate Opportunity at UNH

2010-11-13T06:12:00.000-08:00

Funded Research Seeking Graduate Students Interested in Human-Environment Interactions

The University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH invites applications for a highly-motivated graduate student interested in linking human dimensions to ecosystem change to work on a new interdisciplinary project in northeastern Oregon. This project, "Community and Forest: Linked Human-Ecosystem Responses to Natural Disturbances in Oregon" is funded through the USDA's Disaster Resilience for Rural Communities Program. In addition to thesis/dissertation research, this student will work closely with project directors in designing, implementing, and analyzing a household survey, will conduct field work in northeastern Oregon, and will work alongside other graduate students and community and agency partners in providing appropriate deliverables throughout the project (e.g., extension publications, briefs, conference papers, community presentations, refereed articles). Funding is available - 2 years funding for a MS student and 3 years funding for a PhD student.

Project synopsis:
Forests in the Wallowa-Whitman Ecosystem (WWE) are threatened by the risk of catastrophic insect outbreaks and wildfire. Forecasted growth in these natural hazards implies dramatic socio-economic costs to communities that are dependent on forests and their ecosystems. Coupled with that risk is ongoing ecological deterioration concurrent with declining commodity timber-production and changing management goals on public lands, all of which has completely transformed the ways that forests are perceived, valued, and managed. This research uses a multi-scalar, multi-disciplinary approach to examine risk perceptions and behavioral reactions to forest management with implications on land use and housing. Further, this work focuses on the dynamic feedbacks between landscape changes, land use conversion, parcelization, and the strategies people use to respond to risk in the WWE.

Application procedure:
Application is open to students from social science disciplines (e.g., sociology, geography), natural resources, landscape ecology, and related professional fields who will make significant contributions to linking social dynamics of land management and risk perception with ecological change the research project in the form of a master's thesis or PhD dissertation. Preference will be given to individuals who have experience in statistics and GIS. Optional qualifications include an interest in working in rural communities of the US West, rural sociology, landscape ecology, experience in satellite imagery analysis, and modeling.

Potential PhD students can apply to either to the Natural Resources and Earth Systems Science (www.unh.edu/nressphd/) or Sociology (www.unh.edu/sociology/) and potential MS students can apply to either the Department of Natural Resources & the Environment (http://www.nre.unh.edu/) or Sociology at UNH. The student has the option to begin study in late January 2011 or September 2011.

Graduate students will also work closely with the Carsey Institute (www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/) while at UNH.

Send a CV and letter of application by December 15, 2010 to:

Joel Hartter
Department of Geography
University of New Hampshire
102 Huddleston Hall
73 Main Street
Durham, NH 03824 USA
Tel: 603-862-7052
Email: joel.hartter@unh.edu

Two Geography Adventures -- Monday Nov 15

2010-11-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

Dr. Domingo and Dr. Hayes-Bohanan are taking students on two adventures on Monday, November 15, and we have room in the van for additional students to join us.

First, we will be taking EarthView on a special, short program in Lexington. We will leave from the front of the Science Building at 7:00 a.m. in order to allow for traffic on our way to the Armenian Sisters' Academy for a morning-only program for grades 1-4. We will be back at BSU by noon. Read more about this visit on the EarthView blog. State Rep. Peter Koutoujian will be joining the EarthView team for this program.

Our second adventure is in conjunction with the GEOG 490 senior seminar, whose students are required to research graduate schools. We are taking advantage of the fact that perhaps the most prestigious geography program in the United States (the world? the universe?) is just an hour away, at Clark University. Our own Dr. Domingo, who got the "Dr." part of his name at Clark, has arranged for a meeting with Dr. Bebbington, Director of the School of Geography (like a department, but bigger!) and a tour of the geography facilities, which include the birthplace of IDRISI. We will then find dinner (bring some cash) at one of Worcester's many authentic, ethnic restaurants. For this outing, we will leave from the front of the Science Building at 1:30 p.m. and return sometime in the early evening.

Ben Linder Film Viewing -- Thursday November 4

2010-11-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday, November 4
Library Lecture Hall, 7:00 PM

Fair trade, organic coffee from Nicaragua and light refreshments will be served.

Please join us for a viewing of the acclaimed short documentary American/Sandinista, followed by discussion and presentations by BSU faculty and students regarding US-Latin American relations, Nicaragua, and the experience of BSU students as they engage with a global world.

American/Sandinista

In the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War, a bloody civil war between the socialist-influenced Sandinistas and U.S.- backed Contras ravaged Nicaragua. Despite the danger, thousands of Americans disobeyed White House warnings and descended upon the Central American nation, determined to lend their skills and labor to the revolutionary Sandinista cause. Using an eclectic mixture of rare archival footage, arresting still photography, and contemporary interviews, American/Sandinista tells the story of a small group of controversial U.S. engineers who went further than anyone expected, and paid the ultimate price.

This event is co-sponsored by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, the Foreign Languages Department, the Geography Department, and the Social Justice League.

Geography Tutors Needed

2010-11-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

The Academic Achievement Center needs at least one tutor for introductory physical geography. This is an excellent opportunity for upper-level geography majors, particularly those interested in education careers. Meeting times are flexible and tutors are paid for their tutoring and preparation time. It is an immensely rewarding experience that will also contribute to a strong resume.

Harvard Forest

2010-11-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

The Fisher Museum includes the famous
landscape dioramas. Built in the 1930s, they
have stood the test of time both physically
and intellectually.

On Saturday, October 30, students in Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's GEOG 332 course on land protection embarked on what has become a nearly annual tradition in the department: a field trip to Harvard Forest.

The course begins with readings of Henry David Thoreau's diaries, as analyzed by Harvard Forest director David Foster in his book Thoreau's Country. Foster mines Thoreau's writings for lessons about changes in the New England landscape. By the time of this field trip, students are well aware that the landscape shown at right would be typical of most of New England in Thoreau's lifetime, when forest cover reached its low point at 20 percent of the region. As Dr. John O'Keefe -- former director of the Fisher Museum at the forest -- explained to our group, the forest cover would have been even lower, but roughly 20 percent had to remain in forest to provide the 30 cords of wood needed each year for cooking and heating on an average farm.

The remainder of the semester will be spent studying the management implications of these lessons, as students learn about the work of land trusts, conservation commissioners, and other institutions involved in protecting the various values of open space. The visit to Harvard Forest and the related readings on forest ecology make the importance and challenges of land protection much easier to understand.

John O'Keefe's guided tour of the forest literally breathes life
into many of the readings about forest ecology.
Photo credit: Nicole Sauber

Students in GEOG 332 never forget two important lessons about
New England forests. Forests are always in a state of change and
stone walls (lower-right of photo) are clues to forest history.
Photo credit: Nicole Sauber

BSU @ NESTVAL 2010

2010-11-01T03:58:00.000-07:00

Dr. Domingo (2nd-right) poses with members of the winning
BSU Geography Bowl team.

Dr. Domingo took a group of BSU geography students to the annual meeting of NESTVAL (New England and St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society), hosted this year by the Geography Department at UConn in Storrs, Connecticut.

Always strong contenders, this year's BSU team did exceptionally well in the annual Geography Bowl competition, coming in second only to UConn's own team of graduate students, but coming in first among undergraduate teams. Congratulations to all five of the BSU Geography Bowl participants, who also enjoyed the conference itself and a tour of the UConn department, one of only a handful offering a graduate degree in geography in New England.

The department is already planning for NESTVAL 2011, being held October 7 & 8 (very early in the semester) at Concordia University in Montreal. Students are urged to mark their calendars and secure their passports early! Funding will be available for students who plan to present research at that conference. The department will likely forgo the annual HumPhy trip in order to focus energy (and funding) on the Montreal excursion.

Apply Now for Geography Awards

2010-10-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

The BSU Geography Department offers two presitigious awards each year: , both of which are presented at the Spring Student Honors and Awards ceremony. Each award encourages excellence in geography by providing both public recognition and a monetary prize.

Complete applications are due February 11, 2011, but the department is encouraging submissions by the middle of December 2010, so students can secure letters of recommendation from faculty and/or employers. All applications and letters should be delivered to Dr. Rob Hellstrom.
The two awards are (click for full details):
Dr. Madhu N. Rao Scholarship
Chester '51 & Theresa Smolski Endowed Geography Fund

Not all of the BSU annual awards are departmental; students can search the scholarship database for other awards for which they may be eligible.
Geography students may also eligible for induction to the Eta Nu Chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon, the honorary society for our discipline, in a departmental ceremony to take place in the spring. Current GTU members interested in helping to organize the ceremony should contact Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan, GTU advisor.

Belize Culture Series -- Thursday Oct 21

2010-10-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

Belize Culture Series

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Heritage Room, Maxwell Library

Hosted by International Culture Club

Thursday, October 21st, the International Culture Club is hosting our Belizean exchange students as part of the club's Culture Series.The students will be giving a presentation about their home country and native food will be served. The event flyer is attached.

Please sign up via the Involvement Network (www.bridgew.edu/in) -- International Culture Club (ICC) -- Upcoming Events -- Belize Culture Series

https://bridgew.collegiatelink.net/organization/internationalcultureclub/calendar/details/19320

Kiado Cruz & Sustainable Farming in Mexico

2010-10-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

Sustainable Agriculture and Social Justice: Cultivating Peace, One Garden at a Time

Thursday, October 21 7:00 PM
Moakley Center Auditorium

Señor Cruz will speak on sustainable agriculture as well as the community organizing that has been instrumental in the current autonomous movements in Oaxaca and Chiapas, southern Mexico. He will also address questions about the effects of U.S. trade policies and increasing privatization that have been damaging to Mexico, and about related migration issues.

With this presentation, Witness for Peace New England and the partners at Bridgewater State aim to enrich the cross-borders dialogue between those who are creating and supporting local food systems and local economies; engaging in education reform; advocating for immigration reform; and/or promoting fair and just international trade, both in Latin America and in the U.S.

(See more on the SJL Facebook listing for this event.)
Co-Sponsored by: The Anthropology Department, The Sociology Department, The Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, and The Center for Sustainability

Mapmaking Seminar in Boston, Oct 28

2010-10-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Professor Birge-Liberman for this announcement.

Massachusetts Historical Society
Boston Immigration and Urban History Seminar
Thursday, October 28, 2010, 5:15 p.m.

Michael H. Ebner, Lake Forest College: "Motives, Interests, and Mapmakers: Storylines about the Drawing of Boundaries in Metropolitan America"

Comment: Sam Bass Warner, MIT

All seminars take place at the Society, 1154 Boylston St., Boston, MA, and commence at 5:15 p.m. Each seminar consists of a discussion of a pre-circulated paper provided to our subscribers. (Papers will be available at the event for those who choose not to subscribe.) Afterwards the Society will provide a light buffet supper.

All seminars are free and open to the public. As in the past, we are making the essays available to subscribers as .pdfs through the seminar's webpage, http://www.masshist.org/events/bsiuh.cfm. Subscribe to the 2010-2011 series online via this page. A $25 subscription will entitle you to the full series of papers. Questions? Contact Kate Viens at 617-646-0568 or kviens@masshist.org.

RSVP so organizers know how many will attend. To respond, email seminars@masshist.org or call 617-646-0568.

Cape Trek 2010 Success!

2010-10-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

GEOGRAPHY field vehicle parked at base
of Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown.

Another autumn, another successful HumPhy! A few highlights are presented here. Join us for Cape Trek 2011 to experience a whole new version of this annual adventure!

For many years, the Geography Department organized a weekend field camp somewhere in the southeastern New England region each autumn. Throughout the early 2000s, we tried to combine these trips with NESTVAL conferences, in order to promote student participation in the regional conference and Geography Bowl. As successful as the results were in that regard, we found that the goals of the field camp were under-served, and reinstated the annual journey, independent of any conference.

In the past, HumPhy has gone to the Blackstone Valley and other fascinating locations, but we have found Cape Cod to be the ideal destination for many reasons, not least of which is the availability of Gibson Cottages, just at the "elbow" of the Cape in Eastham. The Cape is sufficiently dynamic in both its HUMan and PHYsical geography to sustain our interest for many years to come, and to offer a different itinerary for each group of students.

This year, HumPhy began at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, part of the Massachusetts State University system. Our excellent guides included both staff members and students, who familiarized us with the history and mission of the academy as well as its significant innovations in the generation and conservation of energy. Mass Maritime is a true leader in green technologies throughout its beautiful campus. We also head the privilege of touring the teaching vessel Kennedy, which carries 600 students (and a crew of 150) for a two-month voyage each year.

The journey also included several hours seeing the human and physical landscape of the town of Mashpee, which was established as an Indian "praying town" and continues to have a unique status relative to the land rights of the indigenous Mashpee Wampanoag. We had the great privilege of learning some of the history -- but more importantly the values -- of the Wampanoag from Annawon Weeden, a Wampanoag educator who is equally hip and traditional. We started at Masphee Pond, the heart of the community, and visited the site of the original Meeting House as well as the estuary where the Mashpee River mingles with ocean waters. It was a tremendous privilege to spend part of Columbus Day weekend learning how indigenous people discovered Europeans on these shores!

Though at a different scale, this map resembles one worn by
Annawon Weeden during his presentation to us.
It is taken from Celebrate: Song, Dance and Story from ECHO Space.

From Mashpee, we went to Provincetown, both for the spectacular views and for its rich cultural geography that encompasses settlement from pilgrims to fishing communities to writers and artists, all on the way to P-town's current status as safe haven and virtual cultural capital for GLBT communities and their allies and families.

Finally, we discussed sediment transport processes at the Cape Cod National Seashore (where a few in our party spotted a sea lion among the morning's human surfers) before heading to the town of Falmouth, where BSU geography alumna Jen McKay described how such processes affect her work with the local Conservation Commission.

The photos show here are just a few of nearly 300 that Dr. Domingo and Dr. Hayes-Bohanan have posted on Flickr. See the two Cape Trek sets in Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's GEOGRAPHY collection to see them all.

For some reason, Dr. Domingo thought it important to get a photo of
Dr. Hayes-Bohanan (aka Dr. Java) under the
Coffee Obsession sign in Woods Hole.

Fuel, the Film. Wednesday night.

2010-10-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

On October 13th at 7:00PM in the Library Lecture Hall (note: this is a new location), the Social Justice League will be hosting our monthly Movie Night- and this month the powerful movie we have chosen considers issues of environment, sustainability, global political economy, and social justice!

The documentary we have chosen is Fuel, an in-depth personal journey of filmmaker and eco-evangelist Josh Tickell, who takes us on a hip, fast paced road trip into America's dependence on foreign oil. The film combines a history lesson of the US auto and petroleum industries and interviews with a wide range of policy makers, educators, and activists such as Woody Harrelson, Sheryl Crow, Neil Young and Willie Nelson. Animated by powerful graphics, Fuel looks into our future, offering hope via a wide-range of renewable energy and bio-fuels. Fuel is a thought-provoking film and a recent recipient of the Sundance Audience Award.

See the trailer and more information at http://www.thefuelfilm.com/.

Gubernatorial Candidate Baker visiting campus October 22

2010-10-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

The Center for Legislative Studies Distinguished Speaker Series presents: Charlie Baker, Candidate for Governor 2010.

Date: Friday, October 22

Time: 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Location: RCC Large Ballroom

The Center for Legislative Studies has invited the four candidates competing in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election to present at BSU as part of a special Gubernatorial Edition of their Distinguished Speaker Series. The Center is pleased to announce that Charlie Baker has graciously agreed to participate. Candidate Baker will discuss major policy issues with which the state is struggling, as well as how he would address those issues if he were elected governor. Please join us on Friday, October 22 from 2:30 to 3:30 pm in the Large Ballroom of the RCC.

Professors are welcome to bring their classes!

Please note: Unfortunately due to time constraints in Governor Deval Patrick’s campaign schedule, he will be unable to participate in this special Gubernatorial Series. Timothy Cahill presented on 9/22 and Jill Stein presented on 10/4.

Nicholas School of the Environment -- Open House in Cambridge

2010-10-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) will be hosting an Open House at Haller Hall Harvard Museum of Natural History 26 Oxford Street Cambridge, MA 02138 (phone:617-495-3045) on Tuesday, October 19^th.

This will be a great opportunity for them to get to meet Nicholas School staff from Academic and Enrollment Services, Career Services, Nicholas School Alumni and the Dean. They will be able to get any questionsabout the program answered and receive as much information on what The Nicholas School has to offer.

RSVP and learn more at the following site:
http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/programs/professional/nicholas-school-open-houses

Updating the Campus Map

2010-10-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

The current map -- see pdf version for more detail
or see the Google Maps version currently in use.

The transition to university status has given Bridgewater State a number of opportunities, large and small. Of particular interest to geographers is the opportunity to update the campus maps, both in print and on way-finding kiosks. University status coincides with several other changes that have implications for the design and development of these maps. The change comes amid an unprecedented series of major building projects and during a period of particular interest in university/town connections. (See the current print and web-based maps.)

On September 29, students in the department's senior seminar course met with several university officials for a discussion of mapping for these exciting times and complex conditions. Bridgewater's campus has evolved in a piece-meal fashion over the past 165 years in the center of 300-year-old town, and it has a railroad running through it. In a brief meeting, students learned a lot about the need to balance these challenges and the needs of various map consumers.

Meanwhile, they applied their geographic insights to the current draft maps, and offered numerous suggestions for improvements based on cartographic conventions and their growing spatial instincts. A large printout of the map will be available in the hallway outside the geography department offices for the next two weeks, for further suggestions to be made (in pencil, please!). Suggestions can also be shared with Dr. Hellstrom or Dr. Hayes-Bohanan, who will convey them to the university officials responsible for the project.

In addition to fine-tuning the current map, we began discussions of other ways in which the department can contribute to mapping and way-finding. These include materials for future kiosks and visitors' centers on or near campus and, eventually, to employing GIS for state-of-the-art online versions of campus and downtown maps.

The Fall 2010 mapping discussion builds directly on the final report of students who completed the same course with Dr. Clark in 2007. The legacy of those students will live on in new and future maps.

Building on the earlier work Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's 2010 seminar students met with university officials to share their expert insights on the campus map, which is being redesigned in connection with the institution's name change.

Global Latin America, Interrogating Columbus Day

2010-10-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hosted by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program
October 5, 3:30-5:00, Small Ballroom, RCC.
Refreshments will be served.

Columbus and his voyage have starred in grade school ditties and inspired infamous national holidays and even sales, but how can we more productively engage with past, present, and future global concerns raised by “Columbus Day”? Please join us for a scintillating, cross-disciplinary colloquium with a spectrum of BSU faculty experts! Food for thought as well as body will be provided!

”Post Columbus, Post United States – A New Latin America” - Dr. Michael Kryzanek, Dept. of Political Science, and Executive Director, Center for International Engagement

“Latin America: Local Legacies/Global Futures” – Dr. Sandra Faiman-Silva, Chair of the Department of Anthropology

"Finding Roses in December: Chicana (Re)Visions of European Conquest" – Dr. Jenny Shanahan, Director, Office of Undergraduate Research

“Encounter-ing Columbus: Telling Indigenous Stories” - Dr. Joyce Rain Anderson, Dept. of English, Coordinator of Ethnic Studies

Moderator: Dr. Leora Lev, Dept. of Foreign Languages, Coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program

Sweatshops in the United States? - Oh yes there are.

2010-09-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

On October 6, 2010, the BSU Social Justice League will be having a guest speaker from the Global Exchange organization come to campus. Her name is Chie Abad, and she is a former sweatshop worker who worked for the garment industry in Saipan (an island in the western Pacific that is part of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) for 6 years. After trying to organize a union within her workplace and getting fired from her job, Chie is now a global social activist who speaks on the issues with sweatshops and the human rights violations that accompany them.

The Department of Geography is proud to co-sponsor this event with SJL and other campus organizations.

Chie will be speaking at the BSU Library Lecture Hall from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 6th. More information can be found at http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/speakers/5.htm.

View Larger Map

Geography on the BSU NewsLog

2010-09-30T03:52:00.000-07:00

The Bridgewater State University NewsLog includes short stories about activities of the university on campus and in the community. A mid-September article -- currently featured on the university home page -- includes two short items about the Geography Department.

Jill Stein, Candidate for Governor

2010-09-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

The Center for Legislative Studies has invited the four candidates competing in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election to present at BSU as part of a special Gubernatorial Edition of their Distinguished Speaker Series. The Center is pleased to announce that Jill Stein has graciously agreed to participate. Candidate Jill Stein will discuss major policy issues with which the state is struggling, as well as how she would address those issues if she were elected governor. Please join us on Monday, October 4th from 1-2 pm in the Large Ballroom of the RCC.

Professors are welcome to bring their classes!

MACC Fall Conference -- Oct 23 & Nov 6

2010-09-27T06:43:00.000-07:00

In Massachusetts, much of the responsibility for enforcement of the Clean Water Act -- particularly the wetlands provisions -- rests with local, volunteer boards known as conservation commissioners. Appointed by town governments, ConCom members (as they are known) are not required to have any professional training to do this important work. In some towns, they employ conservation agents, who generally have degrees in biology, geography, or a related field. (On conservation agent has a double-major from BSC -- biology and geography. We're very proud of that alum!)

Fortunately, most conservation commissioners in the state take their work quite seriously, and take advantage of the rich opportunities for professional development afforded by the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissioners (MACC). These include an eight-part fundamentals certification program that most commissioners try to complete (as has Dr. Hayes-Bohanan), an advanced certification, and various other workshops on environmental science, public policy, administration, and resource management.

Workshops and certification programs are offered throughout the year in various locations around Massachusetts, but the greatest variety can be found in a single day at the fall and spring conferences. This year, the fall conference is being held on two separate dates in two locations, to be more accessible to the entire state. Check the fall conference page for details, and compare workshop offerings to the fundamentals page if you are interested in getting started on that certification (which requires a total of eight, half-day workshops).

At the conference, you will meet concom volunteers, conservation agents, and representatives from various companies that provide related products and services (from consulting to high-infiltration paving materials). For anybody interested in volunteer or professional environmental work, this is one of the best opportunities for networking in Massachusetts. And if you go, wear a BSU t-shirt, so that some of our alumni in attendance can find you! Dr. Hayes-Bohanan is probably not attending, but has done so many times in the past; feel free to ask him questions.

Nicaragua & The Coffee Brigades -- Lecture Thursday morning, Sept 23

2010-09-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's Geography of Latin America class will have a special guest this Thursday: Cornell librarian Sally Lockwood. She was one of many volunteers who went to Nicaragua during the 1980s, following the collapse of the Samoza dictatorship and the victory of the Sandinista Revolution. She will be speaking about that experience and about her acquaintance with Ben Linder, a U.S. engineer and fellow volunteer, in whose honor a cafe has been proposed for the new science building.

The event is in the Moakley Auditorium, Thursday September 23 from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.

Fresh-roasted Nicaraguan coffee will be served.

HumPhy 2010

2010-09-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

These smiling geographers posed below the "Bridgewater" stone in the Pilgrim Monument at HumPhy 2009. Each year the Geography Department takes a HUMan and PHYsical geography field trip to Cape Cod. The itinerary will vary somewhat year to year, but we always enjoy learning about the human and physical landscape in the company of fellow geographers -- and sustained by food we prepare as a group.

HUMPHY - a FieldCamp for Geographers

Oct 8 - Oct 10^th, 2010 - save the date

Theme: Change in the Physical and Cultural Landscape

Goal: To apply geographic thinking in the field and to spend some time exploring the landscape in the company of geographers!

Leaving BSC - About noon on Friday Oct 8^th

Returning to BSC - about 4pm Sunday Oct 10^th

Accomodations provided - Gibson Cabins, Eastham

A small fee will be charged to help with breakfasts and dinners.

Bring cash for lunch on the road.

Open to all geography majors and minors

Space is limited by the number of van seats

So sign up early with Ms. Brenda Flint, Department Secretary

There will be an informational session, date and time to be announced – with further details – on this blog.

Join us on Facebook

2010-09-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Geography Department at Bridgewater State University now has a Facebook page, so that we can readily share department news with students, alumni, and friends of the department. Please visit the page and sign on to stay connected with the department and fellow Geography Bears.

Job opening: GIS Analyst

2010-08-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative is looking for a GIS Analyst with a degree in geography or a related field, one year of experience, and strong communication skills, to work on an exciting initiative involving the deployment of broadband access in western Massachusetts. The position may be ideal for a recent graduate from our department. Current students might wish to review this and other announcements to see what kinds of skills and experience are in demand. Prospective students are invited to look at the kinds of jobs for which geographers tend to be qualified.

Please see the position announcement for details; review of applications began on August 6.

Erosion Control Instructors needed

2010-08-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

The announcement below could be a great opportunity for some our department's alumni who work as conservation agents, commissioners, consultants, or contractors (and we have such alumni!). Current students should have a look, too, as this indicates the kinds of professional credentials that geographers sometimes pursue. Contact Dr. Hayes-Bohanan with any questions about this opportunity or MACC in general.

Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC) is a private non-profit organization whose primary mission is to support and educate Conservation Commissioners. We received a grant to develop new statewide educational programs on erosion and sedimentation control over the next year. MACC is interested in retaining the services of erosion and sedimentation control specialists and instructors to develop and teach these erosion and sedimentation control workshops throughout Massachusetts.

You may download these requests from the MACC Website here: http://maccweb.org/resources_jobs.html

Job opening in Nicaragua

2010-08-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

The NGO Christian Aid is looking for a program director in Nicaragua, to work on specific programs related to climate change. This job posting is a good example of the kind of position for which some geographers are well-suited. On a related note, plans are underway for the department's fifth study tour in Nicaragua -- January 2-13, 2011. It will be a very integrated look at economic and social development in a post-war developing economy. It will also be a comprehensive look at coffee, from the field to export.

Boston Harbor Islands

2010-07-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Photo from Directory of Boston

A recent Boston Globe article describes efforts to expand tourism at the islands in Boston Harbor, which have been under the auspices of the National Park Service since 1996. It describes the friction of distance created by the relatively high-cost ferries. Even so, the islands are scenic, historic, and varied enough to provide many opportunities for geographers to explore. They might make a good destination for a GEO excursion in the fall, and certainly a nice outing for any summer day.

Geographers can also learn a lot about the harbor from the Hull Lifesaving Museum, which has recently embarked on an exciting geographic education project.

BSC Geography and the Summer of Science

2010-07-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

The department's participation at the first-annual Connect Summer of Science event at Mass Maritime has yielded an unexpected benefit. The Cape Eyes online technology journal includes an excellent article about the fit between geography and the other STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines. The author makes a very strong case for a holistic education grounded in scientific inquiry, especially in the context of 21st century competitiveness.

(See more photos on EarthView Blog.)

Regarding competitiveness, the United States has weathered this recession fairly well because other countries are still willing to lend us money to buy things. This gives us a chance to do something we had better get serious about: building 21st-century skills. Those include STEM (especially math!), writing, foreign languages, and of course GEOGRAPHY!

EarthView at Mass Maritime

2010-07-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

Friends of the Geography Department are invited and encouraged to join the EarthView team at Mass Maritime Academy next Friday, July 9. We will be there from 1 to 3 pm as part of an event that showcases K-12 outreach programs in science and technology throughout the region. See the EarthView blog for details and contact Drs. Domingo and Hayes-Bohanan with any questions.

EarthView at the State House

2010-06-10T03:07:00.000-07:00

Partnering with the Massachusetts Geographic Alliance, the department's EarthView team had a very successful visit to the State House on June 7. Department alumni Ed Donnelly and Matt Martel joined in what might become an annual event. Below, Senator Brewer, who hosted the event, poses with several geography educators and students.

EarthView at the state house

2010-06-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

This may be short notice, but friends of the department are invited to join us on Beacon Hill on Monday, June 7.

Career Advice from Dear Abby

2010-06-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

The following letter and reply appeared in the Dear Abby column of June 2, 2010. It is posted here for the consideration of our graduates and future graduates. What the writer describes is all-too common. We have been known to discard applications for faculty positions at the college on a similar basis.

DEAR ABBY: The company where I work posted an ad online and at our state unemployment job board for a position that needed to be filled. The ad detailed simple but specific instructions that included asking applicants to write a cover letter to address certain questions. It also said -- in large letters: "YOU MUST FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS OR YOU WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR EMPLOYMENT."

Of the 133 resumes we received, 76 did not contain the information that was requested. These applications were moved to an "Incomplete" file and not considered for hire. What's sad is that judging by their resumes alone, several of these applicants had the qualifications we were looking for.
With unemployment being what it is, I was surprised that the majority of the applicants did not comply with the simple instructions. Please advise your unemployed readers that a job is out there for them, but they must follow instructions.
-- TRYING TO BE HELPFUL, TUMWATER, WASH.

DEAR TRYING TO BE HELPFUL: Consider it done. Now I'll offer another suggestion: Always proofread what you have written to ensure there are no spelling or transposition errors.

Lessons from Haiti

2010-05-31T08:17:00.001-07:00

Coordinates is an online magazine, based in New Delhi, that covers geopositioning and other geotechnologies, with the intention of making information about developments in these fields more accessible to end users.

The May 2010 issue includes Lessons from Haiti, an article that describes how the UN-Spider program -- established for just such emergencies in 2006 -- worked in Haiti, how its operation had to be modified, and what lessons were learned.

EarthView and general geography

2010-05-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

If you enjoy learning about geography, be sure to follow not only the Geography Department blog, but also the EarthView blog. We use it to share not only news of EarthView's travels, but also a wide variety of stories that we think will be of interest to the students who participate in the program. Recent posts have covered an early Chinese globe, the Amazon river, fresh water, and tectonic activity. Sign on to see what is coming next!

Department Alum on NPR

2010-05-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

BSC Geography Graduate Dr. Phil Klotzbach continues to make us proud! He is a research scientist and lead forecaster for the Hurricane Forecast Team at the University of Colorado.

Most recently, he was featured on NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, one of the premier science programs on public radio. Tune in to the program to hear Phil's thoughts on the upcoming season.

Incidentally, geographers should try their best to catch Ira Flatow's excellent Science Friday program every week -- either online or on the air on Friday afternoons. It is a free, continuing education in science of all kinds.

Geography Student Awards

2010-04-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to two of our geography majors who have received awards at the 2010 BSC Arts & Sciences honors Awards Day on Wednesday April 28th.

Zaine Venter received the Dr. Chester and Theresa Smolski Geography Award, created and named for Professor Smolski who graduated from BSC with a geography major in 1951. This is the first year that the award has been presented.

Aimee Higgins received the Dr. Madhu Rao Scholarship Award, endowed by current faculty member, Dr. Rao. In addition, Aimee also received the Dr. George Weygand Scholarship award, endowed by Dr. Weygand, a physics professor at BSC from 1958 to 1999.

Congratulations to both of these awardees. Just goes to show how hard work and perseverance can pay off.

World Music Festival

2010-04-27T04:40:00.000-07:00

The Music Department will be presenting their annual day long World Music Festival on Tuesday, April 27 (today!). There will be 10 groups and 2 solo artists performing music from various parts of the world.

Here is the schedule for the entire day:
Daytime performances at CRIMSON HALL (NOT RCC FOUNTAIN AREA):
1. The Lindsays (Traditional Irish Duo) 11 PM

2. Hot Tamale Brass Band (New Orleans Jazz) 12 PM

3. Annaliva (Traditional Irish Band) 1 PM

4. Veronica Nobles and her Mariachi Band (Mexican Music) 2 PM

5. BSC Chamber Singers (Western Classical) 3 PM

6. Jason Roseman (Trinidadian and Caribbean Music) 3:30 PM

7. The Bohemian Street Chanters (A capella Ensemble) 4:15 PM

8. The Male Bonding Band (Old Timey American Folk Music) 4:30 PM
(MBB includes Dr. Hayes-Bohanan and Dr. Domingo, though Dr. Domingo will not be available today.)

Evening performance (in Horace Mann Auditorium, Boyden Hall):
1. Khakatay (BSC West African Drumming Ensemble) 7:30 PM

2. Alley Cats (All Women American Barbershop Quartet) 8 PM

3. Marcus Santos and his Brazilian Ensemble 8:30 PM
Admission is free for all performances. Refreshments will be provided during the daytime performances.

The festival is in aid of building a school in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Donations will be welcome.

Internship: Massachusetts Broadband Institute - Westboro

2010-04-26T02:59:00.000-07:00

The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) Summer Intern will assist with a wide variety of tasks associated with the mission to bring affordable, high-speed broadband Internet access to the unserved areas of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Summer Intern will work closely with MBI staff to assist in all program activities including broadband infrastructure deployment, GIS mapping and data collection and community outreach.

GIS Position w/ the Town of Lexington

2010-04-26T02:54:00.000-07:00

Closing date for applications: April 30, 2010

Annual Coffee Tasting

2010-04-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Coffee is the second-most traded commodity in the world (after oil), and in the past 1500 years, it has spread from its origins in Ethiopia to production areas throughout the tropics, mostly in former colonies of European countries. Coffee is an excellent way to learn about the world, and where the commodities we take for granted come from. It is for this reason that the department offers two classes on coffee - a study tour to Nicaragua and a second-year seminar.

The students shown above are demonstrating that coffee comes FROM some place, in this case Peru. The annual coffee tasting has now become a focus of the Second-Year Seminar the Secret Life of Coffee, which will be held on Tuesday, April 20 from 1 to 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and will be held in the campus center ball room, along with the Just Trade Fair.

Posters will focus on particular countries or on topics such as coffee preparation and marketing. Decaf will be available. See the event page for more details.

Public Lecture on Henry David Thoreau

2010-04-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey S. Cramer, Curator of Collections at the Thoreau Institute and editor of several editions of Thoreau’s works, will speak on “Living Deliberately: Thinking like Thoreau Today” on Tuesday, April 13^th, from 3:00-4:30 in the Bridgewater Dining Room in the Campus Center of Bridgewater State College. Please feel free to bring classes and encourage students to attend. (NOTE VENUE CHANGE)

Acid rain monitoring volunteers -- April 11

2010-03-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

Dr. Clark recently received this message from Water Resources Research
Center, University of Massachusetts, requesting help in an environmental monitoring project.. Please see the contact information below if you are able to participate.
We need your help. There are several sites that still need volunteers for ARM Sunday, April 11th, 2010 throughout Massachusetts. It's a great way to explore Massachusetts water bodies and help with valuable research at the same time.

What does sampling entail? We will send you a sampling bottle with instructions on how to get to your site and how to collect the sample, and then you will deliver the sample to the nearest volunteer sampling lab. That's
it! Please contact Beckie Finn, esfinn AT tei.umass.edu, 413.545.5979, for a list of sites that need coverage.

What does sampling entail? We will send you a sampling bottle with instructions on how to get to your site and how to collect the sample, and then you will deliver the sample to the nearest volunteer sampling lab. That's
it!

The Acid Rain Monitoring Project (ARM) began at the Water Resources Research Center, University of Massachusetts, in 1983. The project's mission was initially to develop a comprehensive picture of the sensitivity of Massachusetts surface waters to acid deposition, and later evolved to determine long-term trends in this sensitivity.

Our database represents the full water chemistry record beginning with the start of the project in March 1983. Samples were collected monthly in 1983 and 1984, semiannually in 1985 and 1986, and quarterly from 1986 to 1993. Current samples are collected semiannually. More than 40,000 records from nearly 5,600 lakes and streams are contained in the database. For more information, visit our website: http://www.umass.edu/tei/wrrc/arm/index.html

Morocco field course -- Oklahoma State

2010-03-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

The Cultural and Natural Resources of Morocco

GEOG 4910/5510 (3 credit hours, undergraduate and graduate credit options)

Oklahoma State University

May 22 to June 6, 2010

This study abroad summer course, offered through Oklahoma State University, College of A&S Outreach, will focus on themes of cultural and natural resources in Morocco and include fascinating and exciting experiences along the way. The course instructors are Dale Lightfoot and Thomas Wikle, both in the Department of Geography at OSU. Dr. Lightfoot has more than 15 years of experience with research and outreach projects in Morocco and the wider Middle East and North Africa region. His co-instructor, Dr. Wikle has traveled throughout North Africa and the Middle East and has directed more than a dozen summer travel courses since 1994.

The cost of the trip will be $4,181 for undergraduate students and $4,251 for graduate students and non-credit participants.

For more information please contact Tom Wikle (t.wikle@okstate.edu or 405 744-7978).

Conservation Conference - March 27 - student rates

2010-03-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

Governor Deval Patrick will be the featured speaker at this year's Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference on March 27 in Worcester! The daylong conference, cosponsored by The Trustees of Reservations' Putnam Conservation Institute and the MA Land Trust Coalition, will also feature 30+ workshops on topics ranging from fundraising to land protection and management.

A complete list of workshops and registration information is available at www.massconservation.org. You can still get the early-bird rate of $42 if you register by March 12 (afterwards it's $62; student rate, $20). Have questions or want to volunteer? Email pci@ttor.org or call 978.840.4446 x1905.

Although Dr. Hayes-Bohanan is not attending this year, he has done so many times in the past, and can attest to the value of this conference for learning and networking. You are quite likely to see some of our alumni there as well!

Bizarre Map Challenge

2010-03-11T09:19:00.001-08:00

The Bizarre Map Challenge is a map design competition open to high school, college, and university students in the United States. The goals of this challenge are: to promote spatial thinking; increase awareness of geospatial technology; and inspire curiosity about geographic patterns and map representation in students and the broader public. “Bizarre” in this competition refers to maps that are strikingly out of the ordinary. Though all maps must use real-world data, successful entries might employ unusual techniques, illustrate bizarre topics, or exhibit striking patterns.

All entries must be submitted in a static PDF format (no interactive or animated maps) using the on-line registration form. The complete map should be no larger than 8.5 x 11 inches (letter size) with a minimum of half-inch margins. A summary description, 500 words maximum, will also be required at the time of submission. The summary should describe why this map is bizarre, how it was created, the tools used, data sources, coordinate systems, projection methods, etc.

This competition is supported by the National Geospatial Technology Center and San Diego State University and prizes will be awarded to the top entries as voted on by a round of judges and then by the public. The First Place prize is $5,000.

Map submissions are due March 22.

http://bizarremap.sdsu.edu/index.html

Row for Water nearing the shore

2010-03-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of students in our department's EarthView program have been impressed by the effort of Katie Spotz to raise money for fresh water by rowing across salt water. She left Dakar in early January in a row boat, armed with a lot of geographic knowledge. She will be arriving in Georgetown, Guyana soon, and is looking for donors to support her cause. Read more on our EarthView blog posting about nearing the shore, which has links to Katie's story, her maps, and donation tools.

NASA opportunity -- deadline March 16

2010-03-11T06:50:00.000-08:00

NASA seeks highly motivated, advanced undergraduate and early graduate students to participate in a summer 2010 research program in Earth system science using a DC-8 flying laboratory. The Student Airborne Research Program, or SARP, is managed by the National Suborbital Education and Research Center.
Selected students will acquire hands-on research experience in all aspects of a scientific campaign, using a major NASA resource for studying Earth system processes, calibration and validation of space-borne observations and prototyping instruments for possible satellite missions. Students will operate instruments aboard the DC-8 aircraft to sample atmospheric gases and to image land and water surfaces in multiple spectral bands.
Applicants should have a strong academic background in disciplines relevant to the Earth system, including the physical, chemical or biological sciences, or engineering. Applicants must have full-time student status at an accredited U.S. college or university. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.
Successful applicants will be awarded a $2500 stipend for participation in the 6-week program in Southern California for classroom, laboratory and aircraft experience. NSERC will provide travel to and from California and living expenses while in California.
Applications are due March 16, 2010.
For more information about this competition, visit http://www.nserc.und.edu/learning/SARP2010.html.
Questions about this opportunity should be directed to Rick Shetter at r.shetter@nserc.und.edu.