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12/6/2017 Dr. Stephen Hanna was recently selected to become the next Cartography Editor for the American Association of Geographers (AAG). In that role he will review, edit as necessary, and approve for publication all maps, diagrams, and photographs appearing in the Association’s three journals: the Annals of the American Association of Geographers, the Professional Geographer, and GeoHumanities. His term will last 4 years.Bringing this position to UMW creates a new opportunity for an undergraduate student as he will hire an editorial assistant.The AAG Newsletter has more information: AAG Announces New Journal Editors |
12/1/2017 SEDAAG 2017Each fall, faculty and students travel to the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers (SEDAAG) conference which showcases research being done by geographers across the region. This year’s meeting was held in Starkville, MS. Five faculty and eight students participated in the meeting. This has been a long-standing tradition in the Department with our participation dating back to the 1970s.Prior to arriving at the meeting location, a van full of UMW geographers take a field trip engaging in the sights and sounds of the region hosting the conference. This year took us to the Mississippi Delta, home to cotton, catfish, and the Blues. We made stops at a harvested cotton field to see cotton, the Tunica Cotton Gin to watch raw cotton being cleaned and baled for delivery to the warehouse, and the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale.Faculty presented papers or posters on their research. These included co-presentations by Dr. Finlayson and Katie Boston, ’19 “‘(Im)Perfect Food: A visual Analysis of the Ugly Food Movement,” and Dr. Hanna and Eli McCleary, ’19, “Using Qualitative GIS to Track Change in Commemorative Landscapes after Charlottesville.” Drs. Gallagher and Nicholas presented a poster on their work at Crow’s Nest, “Sub-Surface Conduit Flow in a Coastal Plain Watershed,” and Dr. Bowen gave a paper, “Kids and Birds: Engaging Guatemalan Youth in Conservation.”In addition to Boston and McCleary, two other students also made presentations. Alistair Andrulis, ’18, presented a poster, “Drainage Basin Characteristics of a Small Stream at Crow’s Nest,” and Hallie Heinzen, ’18, delivered a paper, “Planning a Mobile Farmers’ Market in Fredericksburg, VA.”Four other students, Darby Libka, Jordan Chandler, Lily Lester, and Marissa Alessi, represented UMW. Our students participate in the World Geography Bowl competition in which teams representing states of SEDAAG answer questions about geographic concepts. The students practice once a week prior to the trip and this year, three UMW students finished in the top ten for individual scoring. Darby Libka, ’19, was the top undergraduate, taking the number 2 slot, Alistair Andrulis, ’18, ranked number seven, and Hallie Heinzen, ’18, took the number 10 slot. The Virginia team finished second overall and faced North Carolina, a team of full of graduate students, in the final round. While NC took home the trophy, our team made us proud. As the number two, Darby Libka has been invited to represent SEDAAG (and UMW) at the national competition at the AAG in New Orleans in April.At the Honors Banquet, two UMW geographers received accolades. Alistair Andrulis, ’18, won the Undergraduate Honors Poster Competition, earning a check for $250. Congratulations, Alistair! Dr. Stephen Hanna won the annual Research Award for, among other projects, his on-going research into representations of slavery at southern plantations. This has been an NSF-funded project involving professors and students at several institutions across the southeast. Congratulations, Dr. Hanna!UMW Top News Stories: Regional Conference Puts UMW Geography on the Map |