CURRENT NEWS

May 2008: B.S. in Geography announced

The Arizona Board of Regents have apporved the new Bachelor of Science in Geography to commence this fall 2008 semester. This degree will focus on the environment and geotechnology and should be a big boost to our program. Special thanks go to Steve Yool, Director of Undergraduate Studies, for all the work he put into the proposal and the process.

Spring 2008: GRD Faculty News

• David Plane was named to the editorial board of the Professional Geographer. He was also named as a representative by the Population Association of America, the largest US professional organization devoted to demographic research.
  
• Sallie Marston was awarded a "visiting distinguished professorship" this fall to the Department of Geography at Queen Mary, University of London.
  
• J.P. Jones was awarded an ESRC-funded "international fellowship" to the Non-governmental Action Programme at the London School of Economics, Centre for Civil Society for fall 2008.
  
• Congratulations to faculty member Steve Yool who was promoted to the rank of full professor.
  
• Gary Christopherson, Wim van Leeuwen, and Steve Yool were awarded a collaborative NSF grant titled, "CI-TEAM Implementation Project: Collaborative Research: Advancing Cyberinfrastructure-based Science through Education, Training, and Mentoring of Science Communities."
  
• GRD faculty Margaret Wilder and Chris Scott recently landed a large grant (along with Bob Varady): "Moving Forward: Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change, Drought, and Water Demand in the Urbanizing Southwest and Northern Mexico." The project is funded by NOAA's SARP program (sector applications research program, which is devoted to climate change issues).
  
• Congratulations to Michaela Buenemann, who accepted a position as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Geography at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

April 2008: More GRD grad students win dissertation grants

Congratulations to Jennifer Rice, Kristina Bishop, and Robin Lewis who were all recently awarded major grants to pursue their dissertation research:

• Jennifer Rice has been awarded Udall Dissertation Fellowship for 2008-2009, in support of completion of her dissertation on municipal climate action and response. The Board of Trustees of the Morris K. Udall Foundation awards only two of these generous 12-month stipends every year, and this is the first time the award has gone to a scholar from the University of Arizona.
  
• Jennifer Rice also received the PEO (a national philanthropic org) scholar award for her dissertation research on climate governance.
  
• Robin Lewis received a Fulbright award in support of her research: "Certifying Knowledge: Sustainable Forest Management in Malaysia."
  
• Kristina Monroe Bishop has been awarded an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant in support of her project: "The Nature of Medicine: Colonial Regulation, Nature, and Medicine in South Africa."

Congratulations also go to Erika Wise and Christine Hallman who received dissertation improvement grants from the Global Change GIDP Ph.D. Minor and Paula Decker and Jesse Minor who received SBSRI pre-doctoral research grants this semester.

April 2008: AAG Paper Awards

Congratulations to Jeff Garmany and Cory Morin who won distincitions for their work presented at the recent AAG meeting in Boston. Jeff received an award as the second best Latin Americanist PhD-student paper from the Latin American Specialty Group and Cory received an honorable mention in the Climate Specialty Group student paper competition.

April 2008: Dereka Rushbrook wins the Dean's Award for Teaching

Congratulations to Dereka Rushbrook who won the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences 2007-08 Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching!

March 2008: GRD featured in SBS Developments

The current issue of SBS Developments,the college's news magazine, features a handsome six-page spread on the department. Download the pdf article (5 MB).

GRD 50th Anniversary:

Celebrate with us March 27-29, 2008. Visit the 50th celebration page for the schedule, registration info, and more.

March 2008: Honors to Jan Monk

Congratulations to Jan Monk, who will receiving the AAG's Enhancing Diversity Award next month in Boston and the Society of Woman Geographers Outstanding Achievement Award in May!

January 2008: GRD grad students win NSF Grants

Congratulations to John Baldridge and Jennifer Rice who were awarded a doctoral dissertation research improvement grant from the National Science Foundation. John's project is "Cooperative Institutions and Socio-Spatial Transformations in Argentina's Recovered Businesses, and Jenn's is "From Nations to Networks: Global Climate Change and Local Climate Governance in the U.S.

Fall 2007: GRD Faculty News

• In October, 2007, Connie Woodhouse, Associate Professor, was honored at the Climate Change Water Adaptation Summit, sponsored by the Water Resources Department and the Water Education Foundation. This award recognizes academic assistance in planning for climate variability and change.
  
• Beth Mitchneck was selected in 2007 for a UA Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) vision award for “the excellent ways she cultivates diversity and advances CSW goals relating to campus climate, career and professional development, compensation, and equity.”
  
• Congratulations to faculty member Sarah Moore for organizing the 2007 Tinker Foundation conference this fall, held at the University Marriott.  The symposium featured graduate student research in Latin America, including reports of funded research by GRD graduate student Jeff Garmany.
  
• Congratulations to Sandy Dall’erba and Daoqin Tong, who received an SBSRI small grant award for “New Perspectives on Coverage Optimization of Public Facility Location: an Application to Tucson’s Wireless Communication Network for Emergency Services.”
  
• GRD is pleased to welcome Dr. Paul Sheppard of the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research to our ranks.  Paul has accepted our invitation to be an Associate Professor (Joint Appointment) in GRD.

Fall 2007: Undergraduate Recognition

Several GRD undergraduates shined this semester...

• Congratulations to our newest Magellan Scholars!  Kyle Hartfield and James (Jimmy) Mack received college and community-level recognition for their academic and community service achievements. 
• This past fall saw the initiation of 24 undergraduate majors into Gamma Theta Upsilon, international Geography Honor Society.
• Two graduating seniors, Renee Johns, Geography and Sharon MacKenzie, Geography were recognized on December 7, 2007 at the Honors College Winter pre-commencement ceremony.  Each received a medallion recognizing their accomplishments. 
• Spenser Larsen, a Regional Development major, was named as an academic all American with a 3.7 GPA.  He is also one great football player.

November 2007: GRD excels at ISPE-Fest Poster Competition

GRD graduate students Erika Wise, Ashley Coles, Shoshana Mayden, and Kiyomi Morino took four of the six awards given out at the November, 2007 ISPE Fest, held at the University Marriott.

November 2007: GRD grad students selected as CATTS fellows

Congratulations to Alison Macalady and Shoshana Mayden who were selected as CATTS fellows for the 2008-09 academic year. This is an NSF-sponsored program designed to enhance science and technology training in local K-12 schools.

And congratulations also goes to current CATTS fellow Christine Hallman, who was awarded a rare, second year fellowship with the program.

November 2007: Regional Development majors win scholarship

Congratulations to this Spring's winners of the Society for Industrial and Office Realtors scholarship award — $1000 to Jason Zell, Nicholas Sexton, and Michael Toveg, all Regional Development majors in GRD!

October 2007: GRD wins awards at APCG annual meeting

Geography and Regional Development had a major presence at this year’s annual meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, with 14 graduate students and four faculty in attendance. Several of the graduate students came away with major awards for their research, including:

• Shoshana Mayden, who won the Committee for the Regional Geography Award for her work on sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica,
• Erika Wise, who won the Harry and Shirley Bailey Award for the outstanding paper in physical geography for her work on precipitation signals from tree rings, and
• Vanessa Massaro, who won the Tom McKnight and Joan Clemon’s President’s Award for the most outstanding student paper at the conference, for her work on fire protection services in poor neighborhoods of Philadelphia.

October 2007: Urban Land Institute scholarship winners

GRD, together with the Planning Degree Program, is pleased to announce the winners of the 2007 Urban Land Institute scholarships, provided by the Arizona Chapter of the ULI:

• Nicholas Sexton (Regional Development)
• Aaron Lien (Planning)
• Nicole DiSante (Geography)
• Davita Mueller (Regional Development)
• Vincent Vasquez (Planning)

GRD and PDP thank ULI Arizona for its support of our students. The chapter's mission is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment, a goal it shares with GRD's own mission statement. These scholarships are intended to enhance the stewardship of Arizona's and the Southwest's lands, both urban and rural.

2007 newsletter:

The 2007 Department of Geography and Regional Development annual newsletter has arrived! You can view it at http://geog.arizona.edu/news/GRD_News_2007.pdf. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view the newsletter.

August 2007: you are here celebrates 10th issue

GRD announces the 10th Anniversary issue of you are here: the journal of creative geography. Congratulations to this year’s editor, Shoshana Mayden, and to all of the past editors and other graduate students who have worked on the journal over the past decade.

August 2007: Rachel Franklin named AAG Deputy Director

GRD alumnus Rachel Franklin was recently appointed as the deputy director for the Association of American Geographers. During her Ph.D. studies, Rachel worked with David Plane and Brigitte Waldorf. She has since worked as a geographer in the population division of the Census Bureau and, more recently, has been teaching graduate statistics courses at the University of Maryland.

August 2007: YISA-GRD collaborate on new geography study abroad program in China!

Yangtze International Study Abroad (YISA) is collaborating with the University of Arizona's Study Abroad Program and the Department of Geography and Regional Development to initiate a new study abroad program in China. The new program will begin offering courses in Spring 2008. Download the program flyer (pdf file) or visit the YISA website to learn more.

June 2007: GRD collaborates on new Urban Land Institute scholarships

This month GRD announces a new scholarship program established in collaboration with the Planning Degree Program (PDP). The scholarship is funded by the Arizona Chapter of the Urban Land Institute, and was set up with the help of PDP faculty member Gary Pivo and Urban Land Institute's Ken Abrahams. ULI Arizona is very active in helping the national organization achieve its mission of providing responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment, a goal it shares with GRD's own mission statement. ULI's nonpartisan research and education has made it one of the world's most respected and quoted organizations in urban planning, land use and development. This coming year five students will be provided merit-based funds to assist them in their studies. On behalf of our students, we thank both SIOR and the ULI for their support. These are intended to be long running scholarships that will enhance the stewardship of Arizona's and the Southwest's lands, both urban and rural.

May 2007: GRD graduate students garner prestigious Fulbright grants

We are proud to announce that graduate students Heidi Hausermann, Sara Smith, Katie Meehan, and Brian Marks have been awarded prestigious Fulbright-Hays doctoral dissertation grants. Geography swept the awards process this year, as these were the only Fulbright-Hays grants received throughout the University of Arizona.

March 2007:

Geography major Eleanor (Nell) McCallum writes the following from her study abroad in Paris: "I am taking a class called "Mapping Controversy"..., which is a science studies class that takes a scientific issue that has not been resolved, for example, the disappearance of the Gulf Stream, and maps out all of the actors within the controversy, scientific and political, and links them together with the history of the issue. You can literally come out with a "map" at the end that shows the way the various parties are linked. It's quite interesting and is taught by a fairly well known French social scientist, Bruno Latour." BRUNO LATOUR!!! Hurry back, Nell, and teach us what you know!!

March 1, 2007: Janisse Ray: Lessons from the Lost Glaciers: Nature, Community & the Politics of Wholeness

Ray is the celebrated author of such books as Wild Card Quilt and Pinhook, and has essays and poems published in a diverse array of outlets. She received a number of notable awards, including the Southern Environmental Law Center Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment and the Southern Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.
7 PM (with reception at 6:30), Tucson Room, UA Student Union
Read more

February 2007: GRD faculty awarded U.S. Department of Commerce grant

Lay Gibson, the Department's University Distinguished Outreach Professor and Director of the Economic Development Research Program, recently received a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration for a project to study how to close the industry-community gap through community engagement. Lay's project, which is collaborative with Bruce A. Wright, Associate Vice President for Economic Development at the University (and an instructor in GRD's Regional Development program), will examine high tech's new frontier: economic development in low and moderate income communities.

February 2007: The Janice Monk Visiting Distinguished Professor Lecture

Cindi Katz gave the annual Janice Monk Visiting Distinguished Professor Lecture at 3:30 on Thursday, February 15 in Biosciences West, Room 301. Cindi is a Professor of Geography in Environmental Psychology Graduate Center at the City University of New York and presented a lecture entitled 'Roof, Money, Job, Water': Katrina and the Scoured Landscape of Social Reproduction.

January 2007: UA students awarded real estate scholarship

The Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS® (SIOR), Southwest Chapter and The Department of Geography and Regional Development are pleased to announce that John Bunting, Vincent M. Vasquez and Mathew E. Stuart, students at the University of Arizona, have been awarded a $1,000 Scholarship to assist their studies in the field of real estate. The intent of the scholarship is to assist college age students in following opportunities to participate in the commercial real estate field. Bunting and Stuart are majors in Regional Development; Vasquez is a masters candidate in the Planning Degree Program.

The Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS® is the leading professional commercial and industrial real estate association. With more than 2,800 members in 480 cities in 20 countries, SIOR represents today's most knowledgeable, experienced, and successful commercial real estate brokerage specialists. The Southwest Chapter of SIOR is comprised of 53 office and industrial specialists located in Tucson, Phoenix, and El Paso, Texas.

January 2007

New faculty member, Connie Woodhouse, joins GRD
GRD white papers now available online

December 2006: Jack Dangermond awarded honorary doctorate of science

Geography and Regional Development is proud to have been a co-sponsor of a three-college effort to award Jack Dangermond, Founder and President of ESRI, an honorary doctorate of science at the University's December 2006 commencement. ESRI is the world's fourth largest privately held software company, and is recognized as the world's technical and market leader in GIS software. The company has the largest GIS install base in the world, with over one million users in government, industry, and the non-profit sectors.

Jack's degree was the result of an nomination process that cut across four units and their associated colleges: Geography and Regional Development in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; the School of Natural Resources and the Office of Arid Lands Studies in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and the School of Landscape Architecture in the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

After the graduation ceremony, Jack joined a number of friends and colleagues for a reception in the Sonoran desert. In addition to several members of the GRD community, Jack was joined by a handful of geographers who were graduate students at UC-Riverside during the early years of the GIS revolution, when Jack was getting his start in GIS.

December 2006: National Phenology Network announced at UA

The USGS recently announced that it has established a National Phenology Network (NPN) at the University of Arizona. Phenology is the study of the annual cycles of natural events, such as the first appearance of flowers and animals during the spring season. Data regarding these phenomena are important for understanding changes in the long established cycles of plant and animal life as disrupted by climate change. The NPN was attracted to the University through the collective efforts of many individuals, particularly that of affiliated faculty member Julio Betancourt. Geographer Mark Losleben (MS, Colorado) has been hired to serve as the NPN's associate director. Click here for an announcement (PDF).

2006 newsletter:

The 2006 Department of Geography and Regional Development annual newsletter has arrived! You can view it at http://geog.arizona.edu/news/GRD_News_2006.pdf. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view the newsletter.

May 2006: Sarah Elwood Departure

Assistant Professor Sarah Elwood recently announced her departure to the Department of Geography at the University of Washington. The faculty and students of Geography and Regional Development have enjoyed Sarah as both a colleague and teacher over the past couple of years, and, though saddened by her move, wish her the best in her new position in Seattle.

New faculty:

Several new faculty members are joining us to strengthen our expertize in geographical techniques and human geography.

• Carl Bauer joined the faculty in Fall 2006. Carl has a PhD degree from the University of California at Berkeley (Jurisprudence and Social Policy, 1995), and come to the Department as an Associate Professor and Associate Director, Water Resources Research Center. He was previously a fellow at Resources for the Future in Washington, DC, where he specialized in water law, policy, and management, particularly in Latin America and the Western United States. He has focused on issues of water rights, water markets, privatization and regulation, hydroelectric power, river basin governance, and property rights.
• Sandy Dall'Erba joined the faculty in Fall 2006. Sandy has a PhD degree from the University of Pau in France (Economics/Regional Science, 2004), and begins as an Assistant Professor. He was previously in the Department of Spatial Economics at the Free University of Amsterdam, and he also spent time at the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. His expertise is in the spatial modeling of regional growth and decline, assessing the impact of regional policy initiatives, and analyzing the impact of the EU on European convergence.
• Christopher Scott joined the faculty in Fall 2006. Chris has a PhD degree from Cornell University (Hydrology 1997), and comes to the Department as an Assistant Professor, with a joint appointment with the Udall Center for Public Policy. Chris arrived from NOAA, following years of experience with the International Water Management Institute in Hyderabad, India and Guanajuato, Mexico. He also has extensive US AID experience. Chris' work is on the interactions between river basin hydrology, land use transformations, and aquifer depletion, and includes additional field work in the Middle East in addition to extensive experience in both India and Mexico.