Geography in the News

I’m writing this amid the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and Covid-19 pandemic. Do you notice how relevant geography is in the study of the virus and the disease? Newspapers and web pages feature maps, front and center. Ordinary people are looking at maps. Here I though I’d feature some interesting and informative news and magazine articles that feature geography and geospatial analysis. These links will take you off the UMW web page.

If you know of something you think should be included, please email me!

Darby suggested I include an article by Greg Allen from May 19, 2020: Florida Ousts Top Covid-19 Data Scientist.  This story is about a Geographer who used an Esri dashboard to compile and post up-to-date information about infections in Florida. It was followed by many stories about the Governor of Florida stating that as a geographer, the ousted employee could not have been a data scientist… because geography isn’t “science”. Sigh. We all know better, and our national organization has pointed this out to the governor here.

The American Association of Geographers web page has a LOT of good info about why geography matters!

Marshall Shepherd; Forbes, March 5, 2020: Why Geography Is A Key Part Of Fighting The COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak

Chris Brackley; Canadian Geographic, April 7, 2020: Mapping COVID-19 cases in Canada per capita

Chris Barncard; University of Madison-Wisconsin, April 13, 2020: UW–Madison researchers tracking travel, social media to help contain virus

David Wolman; Wired, April 14, 2020: Amid a Pandemic, Geography Returns With a Vengeance

An open-access journal article: Kamel Boulos, M.N., Geraghty, E.M. Geographical tracking and mapping of coronavirus disease COVID-19/severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic and associated events around the world: how 21st century GIS technologies are supporting the global fight against outbreaks and epidemics. Int J Health Geogr 19, 8 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12942-020-00202-8

World Health Organization

Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center

Laura Bliss & Jessica Lee Martin; CityLab, April 15, 2020: Your Maps of Life Under Lockdown

Fuller’s Quarantine + Pandemic Survival Map, an interview by Rachel Dixon, The Guardian, May 6, 2020. Perhaps we should all be making our own? Here is mine!!