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Monday June 07, 2010

Children map the world, US students win International Competition

A map submitted by students, Landon Parish and Joy Jackson, to the 2009 Barbara Petchenik International Map Competition won for the youngest age group.

Hundreds of children around the world create maps for the international map competition hosted biannually by the International Cartographic Association.

Tanya Buckingham, the National Coordinator for the competition, and Assistant Director of the UW Cartography Lab in the Geography Department, stated "It is always difficult to select only five maps to send to the international exhibit from the more than 100 entries that I receive.

The children had a complicated theme to work with this year: 'Living in a Globalized World'."

The Barbara Petchenik Award was created by the International Cartographic Association (ICA) in 1993 as a memorial for Barbara Petchenik, a past Vice President of the ICA and cartographer who had a lifelong interest in maps for children.

The aim of the award is to promote children's creative representation of the world. 2009 brought the ninth competition held in Santiago, Chile.

This year's entries will be added to the web exhibition (http://children.library.carleton.ca) at Carleton University Library, Ottawa, Canada.

Category: Humanities & the Arts
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Geography honors students with awards

The Geography Department honored a number of outstanding students for their achievements this spring:

Douglas Steeples – Clarence W. Olmstead Award for Excellence of Scholarship in Geography. (Recognizes growth in the Geography major within the Department)
Kevin McGrath – Clarence W. Olmstead Award for Undergraduate Achievement in Cartography. (Recognizes growth in the Cartography major within the Department)
ViolaDan Wandersee – Department of Geography GIS Certificate Program Achievement Award. (For outstanding achievement in academics and application by a GIS Certificate Program student)
Jamie Foster – Clarence W. Olmstead Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant. (Recognizes an outstanding teaching assistant based on student evaluations and length of service.)
Jacquelyn Gill – Clarence W. Olmstead Award for Outstanding Publication by a Graduate Student. "Pleistocene Megafaunal Collapse, Novel Plant Communities, and Enhanced Fire Regimes in North America." Recently published in Science.
Chris Muellerleile – Clarence W. Olmstead Award for Outstanding Grad Presentation at the 2010 Student Symposium. "Derivative Geographies: Chicago, Financial Derivatives and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission."
Genevieve Schaad – Clarence W. Olmstead Award for Outstanding Undergrad Presentation at the 2010 Student Symposium. "The Geography of my Viola: How to enhance your interests, for Geographers."

Map Awards

Bricknell MapMichael Bricknell – Barbara Petchenik Memorial Graduate Award in Cartography Design: First Place
Wang MapPing Wang – Barbara Petchenik Memorial Graduate Award in Cartography Design: Second Place
Forrest MapMatt Forrest – Barbara Petchenik Memorial Undergraduate Award in Cartography Design: First Place
Ignatowski MapSimon Ignatowski – Barbara Petchenik Memorial Undergraduate Award in Cartography Design: Second Place

Graduate Research Awards

Travis Tennessen – Whitbeck Graduate Dissertator Award. "Making the New Greenhouse Economy: Science, Markets & Expertise in Climate Policy"
Mark Cooper – Whitbeck Graduate Dissertator Award. "Making the New Greenhouse Economy: Science, Markets & Expertise in Climate Policy"

Trewartha Research Grant Awardees:

Andy Davey
Cathy Day
Fei Ma
Marigold Norman
Nancy Parker
Leslie Sinak
Katie Wirka
Emily Atkinson
Leif Brottem
Amanda Kolpin

For more information see Geography News.

Category: Biological & Physical Sciences
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Geography (Madison) to Geography (Beijing) linkages

UW Madison Professors Robert Kaiser, Matthew Turner and A-Xing Zhu were part of the delegation of UW-Madison faculty and staff to China that was led by University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin in spring.

This action-packed trip laid the foundations for the ongoing development of collaborative plans between the geography programs of UW-Madison and Beijing Normal University.

For more on the Chancellor's trip, see:

http://www.chancellor.wisc.edu/china/

Category: Biological & Physical Sciences
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Geography undergraduate Miller honored with Leadership Trust Award

Undergraduate student Ally Miller

Undergraduate geography major Ally Miller has received the Leadership Trust Award through the Letters & Science Honors Program.

The honor also provides funding to be used by the students to help plan, develop, and implement projects designed to improve the UW-Madison, the community, and/or the university student body.

In promoting healthy relationships with food and community, the Slow Food Friends project seeks to meet the needs of four interrelated organizations: Slow Food-UW, the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, Quaker Housing Inc for senior citizens and people with disabilities, and the South Madison Farmer’s Market. This campus-community partnership provides spaces for intergenerational and cross-cultural interaction while celebrating the many agricultural and environmental initiatives that exist within South Madison.

Category: Biological & Physical Sciences
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Thursday January 28, 2010

Geography research, team attracts global news coverage

Geography graduate student Jacquelyn Gill examining lake sediment cores.

Geography graduate student Jacquelyn Gill and Assistant Professor John W. (Jack) Williams led a study published in Science last November that attracted global news coverage.

The paper, Pleistocene Megafaunal Collapse, Novel Plant Communities and Enhanced Fire Regimes In North America, used fossil pollen, charcoal, and spores from the dung fungus Sporormiella to show that the extinction of ice-age mammals was followed by widespread ecological change.

Geography undergraduate Katherine Lininger, Guy Robinson at Fordham University, and Stephen Jackson at the University of Wyoming were co-authors.

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation, WARF and the UW Center for Climatic Research.

A new study by UW researchers shows the disappearance of North America’s large herbivores triggered a reshaping of the landscape. Illustration: Barry Carlsen.

Category: Biological & Physical Sciences
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Monday January 25, 2010

Geospatial Science Consortium builds stronger campus network

The Department of Geography is at the center of organizing efforts to build a strong network of faculty, staff and students working in the area of geographic information science (GIScience) on campus.

Operating through the established UW Spatial Information & Analysis Consortium (SIAC), staff in the State Cartographer's Office, Robinson Map Library, Cartographic Laboratory and GIS Certificate Program are working to foster interaction, information sharing, and collaboration among geospatial professionals on campus.

Staff recently unveiled a new SIAC website to highlight the many diverse geospatial resources available at UW-Madison.

The site is designed to enhance intra-campus communication, but also help those outside the University get a better understanding of the type of research, teaching, and outreach happening here.

It is a great way to learn more about the many centers and offices that develop or utilize geospatial technologies. Students will benefit from a comprehensive listing and description of GIS, Remote Sensing and GPS coursework offered through ten departments on campus.

How you can help? You can help strengthen the network by providing information about geospatial activities in which you are involved and your thoughts on how SIAC can assist in interdisciplinary coordination and support of geospatial activities and research on campus via this questionnaire.
[Read More]

Category: Biological & Physical Sciences
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Monday November 30, 2009