Chair's Blog

We are very excited to learn that Emily Christenson was selected to Georgia State University's Research Experiences for Undergraduates: Addressing Social and Environmental Disparities through Community Geography and Geographic Information Systems initiative.  There were over 170 applicants, and Emily is among the handful selected to be a CSAW Scholar (CSAW stands for Community Soil Air Water , click for the program website).  This nicely paid (!) research opportunity is part of an ongoing NSF-supported project that brings together scholars and community partners to address the multifaceted relationship between urban communities and their environment. Emily will be working with faculty mentors in community-based research and fieldwork to examine some aspect of  neighborhood change, property markets, social geographies, air and soil quality, urban green spaces, and neighborhood visioning in Atlanta, Georgia. Emily's research interests include community and individual...

While the Department of Geography and Anthropology is proud of most all of its students, we are happy to report that UWEC's College of Arts and Sciences has recognized three geography majors for their exceptional efforts as they prepare to graduate.  These College awards come with 4-digit cash prizes and reflect not just hard work, but engagement with ideas and faculty, and a desire to learn and contribute in ways that are meaningful and rewarding to many people.  Congratulations Corrin, Zach and Sean for your contributions. Bravo. Corrin Turkowitch Corinn Turkowitch Arts and Sciences Outstanding Undergraduate Award, 2014 From her nomination letter (prepared by Jeff DeGrave, who drew from many faculty member comments), Corrin Turkowitch is " . . .   that rare person who possesses exceptional abilities, tireless motivation, and kindred leadership—combined with an acute cultural sensitivity to the many social injustices that continue to permeate our globalized wo...

The department is happy to report that, in recognition of their high impact on student learning and the central role that field experiences play in a geographic education, the Geography Field Seminar will receive Blugold Commitment Differential Tuition support in 2014-2015.  This support significantly offsets student participation costs and makes them much more accessible to students. It should be noted, however, that international experiences typically cost more than domestic ones. Oregon Wheat fields and Mount Hood, Oregon. Photo by E. Zeitler. In the fall semester 2014, the GEOG 368 Field Seminar will be a regional examination of Oregon and its various environments, and will combine the the physical, human-environmental, and human aspects of geography.  Dr. Ezra Zeitler will lead the course and program.  The field component to Oregon is tentatively scheduled to run from 26 September to 5 October.  Thus, students will have the opportunity to prepare for 3-4 ...

This past week, the Association of American Geographers (AAG) held its Annual Meeting , this time in Tampa. The AAG has been hosting annual meetings every year since 1904.  I am not sure what the attendance was in Tampa, but last year in Los Angeles there were over 7,000 attendees.  That's a lot of geographers. Arik Arnevik & Jackson Becker in front of their poster at AAG 2014, Tampa, FL UW-Eau Claire has a long history of student and faculty participation at the AAG Annual Meetings, and we are suspect that we bring as many undergraduate participants as nearly any other school in the country.  This year, in addition to seven UW-Eau Claire faculty participants, we were proud to have four students successfully present their research.   Nate Wick explains details of his research to Ross Guida ('09), now in the PhD program at Southern Illinois University. Nathaniel Wick presented a poster of the research he conducted with recent UWEC geography gradu...

Hillary on GEOG 319 field trip at Friday prayers  at mosque in Twin Cities , MN spring 2012. Just a week or so ago, we received just that kind of note that faculty and departments love to get from their graduates -- an update that all is well and that aspirations are being fulfilled.  We are very happy to learn that Hillary Johnson has accepted a GIS Intern position with the French NGO ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development) and will soon be working in Amman, Jordan. Hillary graduated with her geography degree in Spring 2012, and has been working at Garmin International in the Kansas City area since fall 2012.  As a human geographer with interests in humanitarian aid and sustainable development, and with a kit of geospatial skills, she had been thinking of continuing her studies in graduate school.   Those will now wait.   Hillary on GEOG 319 field trip to Kurdish restaurant in Twin Cities , MN spring 2012. In April, Hillar...

This past fall, the Department of Geography & Anthropology made numerous catalog changes to the geography curriculum, some of which will have implications for the geography major. These are part of an ongoing attempt to improve our program, our offerings and how we prepare our students -- not only geography majors, but those from other disciplines who take our courses. The implications for continuing majors will scarcely be noticeable, but there will be new requirements for students arriving at UWEC under the 2014-2015 calendar. Perhaps the biggest change will be that, in the future, geography majors will be required to take GEOG 368, the geography field seminar -- this was already discussed in the blog post of 1 February .  But there is more.   Comprehensive Environmental Geography majors will now be required to take at least  one upper level physcial geography course and one upper lever human-environmental geography course.  Until now, this was not a r...

Members of SAGGA introducing the All Majors Summit A summit suggests mountain-top experiences, high-level gathering, meetings of the minds. Well, the Student Advisory Group for Geography and Anthropology (SAGGA) – with support from the Geography and Anthropology Club – recently hosted the first of what we hope are annual summits to bring geography and anthropology majors and minors together with department faculty and staff to highlight our disciplinary community and tradition.   About 60 geography and anthropology students, staff and faculty gathered on Thursday, February 27th, in the Davies Center's Dakota and Alumni rooms from 5-7:30 pm to share and encourage.  SAGGA's program was designed for faculty, staff and students to meet, to get to know one another, and to learn from each others' experiences.  Over refreshments, students shared their stories in small groups and, more formally, the department presented programmatic developments and academic opportu...