Department of Geography University of Missouri Fall 2010

Gail Ludwig’s Retirement farewell as written and presented by Joe

Hobbs.—May 2010

As one of the geezers in this Room and in this Department, I can say proudly

that I have known Gail for a rather long time.

I’m indebted to Gail in so many ways. In the last few years, she’s been my steady mentor, my go-to person on every imaginable question related to the job of being chair. She hired me for my first job – the one I still have. By the way, for my interview dinner, we went out to Taco Bell with her two kids. At the

time, this was the best Mexican restaurant in Columbia.

Columbia has changed. I guess Gail has changed too. When she came here from Northern Colorado in 1977, she was hired as MU’s Geography Extension Specialist. She ran all kinds of workshops, in-services and seminars and doled out geographic data to businesses and governments. During a two year leave during which she served as the Geographer-in-Residence for the National Geographic Society, she earned a national reputation as a guru of Geographic Education. She played out that role vigorously as Coordinator of the Missouri Geographic Alliance. It’s fair to say she had, directly or indirectly, a positive and permanent influence on virtually every K-12 educator in the state – and many college instructors too – at a time when Americans’ ignorance basic facts about geography was making national headlines. It’s shameful to see that we haven’t made much progress as a geographically-aware nation since then. But to complete the circle, and also once again raise our hopes for a brighter future, we can thank Gail for hiring Shannon White, who has just re-

launched the Missouri Geographic Alliance with our Department as its home.

Gail is also a technology guru, and we’ve all benefitted from that. I think it was years after Gail put her first course on the web that any of us the rest of us did. Even today, if you want to talk about how to teach with cutting edge technolo-gies, you could go talk to Mike Watson at A and S if you want– but better yet, talk with Gail. And don’t forget to ask her about that spy camera thingy she

just got for sixty bucks and might be filming you right now.

Lately the long arm of Gail’s influence doesn’t just reach through the web. She’s going the distance personally. She’s already done semesters of teach-ing in Korea and Vietnam, and guess what she’s doing this summer and fall?

Teaching in Korea and Vietnam.

With Gail’s retirement we are losing a Geographer. Think of our major subfields, and Gail has taught in them. She gets students introduced to mapping sciences. In her senior seminar, she gets them ready for careers, using their MU Geography skills to get jobs in the real world. You might say she gets them ready for life in the next world: who else do you know who teaches a class on

the Geography of Cemeteries?

There are a lot of things each and all of us could say about Gail. I remember our Dean, Mike O’Brien, saying ―I like Gail. Gail is a good person.‖ Gail, you know Mike always nails it: you ARE a good person. Thank you for all you have done from the good-ness of your heart for so many of us, for so many years. We are

really going to miss you.

From the Chair’s Chair

Happy autumn to all of you!

It’s been an eventful year for MU Geography since the last Meridian was published. There have been some big losses in our community. Margery Wheeler passed away, as did former students Jeff Spooner and Will Pollock. Gail Ludwig retired (with a big smile on her face, I might add), but is already teaching again – this semester in Vietnam, and last summer in Korea. Our beloved Administrative Assistant Nancy Burke also retired. Mark Cowell stepped down after eight years of

service as our Director of Graduate Studies.

But we have also had some big gains. Cuizhen Wang was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Soren Larsen has been busy since May as our new Director of Graduate Studies. Dina Weaver, our new Administrative Assistant, has been working closely with Dianne Roberts in the office, and is the talented hand behind this issue of the Meridian. We have welcomed a remarkable group of new graduate students, some of whom you will meet here in the newsletter, and have

seen our numbers of undergraduate majors grow.

So far we are weathering the ―Great Recession,‖ in part through your generous donations to the Department. All indi-cations are that MU faces even tougher times going into fiscal year 2012. But we also have all of the indicators of a healthy

department that should help us through hard times.

Thanks to all of you who have helped Dina to update our alumni files, and who have sent us your news. Please keep that information coming in (to WeaverDR@missouri.edu). Come and see us when you are able. You can also see what’s happening with MU Geography on our website (http://web.missouri.edu), and tell us more about yourself on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?

gid=124351819247&ref=ts).

-with best wishes from Joe Hobbs

Milestones 2

What have we been doing? 4

Graduate Students 5

Alumni News 6

Recent Losses 11

Inside this issue:

Joe Hobbs thanks Gail for years of lead-

ership and friendship in the department

Zach Rubin earned 100% of the Outstanding

Graduate student Teaching Award

Mark H. Palmer began an ad-venturous year last summer (2009) with a presentation, at the Delta Research and Global Observation Network (DRAGON) global summit conference in Siem Reap, Cambodia, entitled Toward Hybrid Science: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Geographic Information Systems. Many contacts in SE Asia emerged, and I hope this builds into international research op-portunities. My independent research agenda is further emerging

around the concept of

indigenous mapping and GIS, identifying methods and proc-esses for achieving such constructs. At present I am investigat-ing how Indigenous knowledge systems can assimilate GIS into their fabric. Exploratory research has led to an article on indige-nous mapping/GIS methods accepted for publication by Carto-graphica. Other publications include a forthcoming chapter in a book entitled, Mapping Native America: Cartographic Interac-tions between Indigenous Peoples, Government and Academia, University of Colorado Press and American Indian Culture and Research Journal is reviewing another research article. In March, I served as a Ford Foundation pre-dissertation, disserta-tion, and post-doctoral fellowship panelist. It was a great learning experience and academic networking opportunity. And finally, my first graduate student at Mizzou, Jack Hanney, successfully defended his thesis entitled, Mediating Indigenous Geographies: Analysis of Chickasaw Media Discourses. Whitney Alrick is

making great strides on her thesis topic tentatively entitled, Exploring the Proc-ess of Developing a Community-Integrated GIS on American Indian Lands. And Scott Kraushaar will be conducting research on the National Weather Service (NWS) and emer-

gency management use of GIS.

GRC received a grant to map broadband availability across Mis-souri as well as continuing funding to map structures, roads, streams, and other features within the New Madrid Seismic Zone. We also received notification of funding for a cultural mapping research topic. Total of these awards is over $3 million to be dis-

bursed over the next 2-5 years.

Tim Haithcoat received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mid America GIS Consortium represent-ing eight states in the Midwestern

region of the nation.

The Council of the Association of American Geographers has ap-pointed Matt Gerike to the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Commit-tee for the term beginning 1 July

2010, and running for three years.

Nancy Burke—Retires—This tribute to Nancy Burke was writ-ten by Kit Salter and read at the May event by Nancy's good friend, Diana Hallett "When you are driving on an unknown blue highway at night, you grow very fond of your headlights. For you they provide direction and continually suggest hope that you can find your way. For others who come to that road, your lights are the beacon of welcome or of uncertainty--depending on the nature of the lights. For Geography, Artist, Mother, Wife, and Creative Administrative Assistant Nancy Burke has been like the most brilliant and embracing headlight a driver can see. When you come into the office, she has a smile, an expectant look, a willing and productive response to almost any questions. To the deer in the headlights, it becomes a fun experience...and this is not often the case in other offices at the University. And if you are on the same road as Nancy, she knows the way, she knows the curves and tricky corners, and she makes every moment seem to work toward a productive conclusion of the journey. She is magic. She has been magic. Her magic has graced the MU Department of Geography for too few years--we would like to extend her trip, her tenure, her Leader of the Pack role for ten more years at least. But, from all of us who have been illuminated by her pas-sage here, we give thanks for that and we send her on with love and delight that we have had our pathways shone upon by the light that she is."

Milestones 2010

Working with Matt Foulkes and Amy Thompson, Soren Larsen finished the fieldwork for the NSF grant in Colorado, which examines how new residents are (or are not!) learning about the environment and natural hazards as well as how they use this knowledge to make modifications to their relatively large (35 acres or more) properties. Some of the first manuscripts from this research have been submitted for publication. Soren is also working with Jay Johnson at the University of Kan-sas on an edited book and journal project entitled ―A Deeper Sense of Place: New Geographies of Indigenous and Academic Collaboration.‖ All three sessions associated with the project were great at the annual AAG meeting in Washington, with fan-tastic conversation and exchange of ideas. The whole family--

Kristi, Jonah, and Eli--is well and enjoying life in Columbia.

Diana Hallett offers her tribute to Nancy Burke

Kirsten Seaberg receives the Walter Schroeder Undergraduate Award from Professor Schroeder himself!

And Mark Palmer ―books‖ M.A. Graduate

Jack Hanney

Zach Rubin is ―booked‖ by Soren Larsen for graduating

Matt Foulkes, along with colleagues in rural sociology, sociology, and nutritional science, has received a $400K USDA grant to look at

how food pantries impact food pantry clients’ obesity levels. Matt is nearing completion of the 2nd edition of the Missouri Hunger Atlas and in a possibly unrelated incident he has applied to have his office declared a federal disaster area.

Joe Hobbs reports: In December USAID asked if I would go to

Hanoi the following month and spend a half-day briefing 90

Vietnamese government officials on how they could use GIS to

anticipate and plan for the impacts of climate change on their

country. Perhaps foolishly I said ―yes;‖ I was of the last geogra-

phers on earth not conversant about GIS. I hunkered down for

a few weeks, including during Christmas ―vacation,‖ with a pile

of books, the net, and lots of advice provided by Shannon

White and Tim Haithcoat. The presentation in Hanoi went

well, I think -- and by the way, it’s really shocking to see what

the models say will happen to Vietnam with 65, 75 and 100 cm

sea level rises. ) Tim Matisziw kindly allowed me to sit in on his

GIS I course in the spring, and I was the student who bothered

Whitney Alrick with the most questions during labs. We are

continuing to host the Vietnam Institute in the Department –

have a look at what’s going on there at the Institute’s website,

http://vietnam.missouri.edu. In March and again in October

2010 I did field work in the Eastern Desert of Egypt on pastoral

nomads’ uses of Acacia trees (see http://desert.cultland.org/?

document_id=41&doc_id=41)

Matt MacDonald plans to graduate Fall 2010 with Geography/GIS B.A. and continue for a Masters in GIS/GEOINT. Matt received the first GeoEye Scholarship for MU Senior Geography Majors inter-ested in GIS. He has worked in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Student Internship Program and at the MU Center for Geospatial Intelligence (CGI). Matt is also working on a 2nd Degree Black Belt from USA Judo at Mid Missouri Judo in Columbia, MO.

The Missouri Geographic Alliance (MGA) returned to the De-partment of Geography after last being hosted at Drury Uni-versity. Shannon White is the new alliance coordina-tor. The MGA is part of a larger network of geographic alli-ances in 51 US states and territories partially funded by Na-tional Geographic. The alliances focus on K-12 geographic education in partnership with geographers and educators in institutions of higher education. Shannon has been appointed to the Research Committee of the National Council for Geographic Education for the next two years.

Matt Foulkes describes the Geography

Club’s many activities this year

Matt McDonald responds to earning the “Larry Hall ‘On the Bubble’ Award” with Larry Hall (center) and Larry Brown looking on.

Larry Brown is a part of a collaborative team, the World Religion in Mid-Missouri working group (with MU’s Department of Religious Studies, Department of Education and Policy Studies, and the Center for Re-ligion and the Professions). A grant from the Missouri Humanities Council was se-cured in order to conduct a pilot workshop for public K-12 teachers focusing on the religious diversity in the Mid-Missouri region and its implications for public school education. This two-day workshop and field trip was held in June of 2010 which educated teachers about the cul-ture, history, and geography of religious diversity in Missouri and modeled a local-to-global approach. Evaluations were very posi-tive and plans are underway to conduct a similar workshop in St. Louis in 2011. The team looks forward to working with the Mis-

souri Geographic Alliance.

Larry Brown congratulating John Gardner for the Jesse H. Wheeler Undergraduate Achievement

Award

Shannon White is happy to have brought the

Missouri Geographic Alliance back to MU!

Grant Elliott and his family have really enjoyed our first year back in Columbia and are looking forward to at least one more year in the Depart-ment. Manuscripts stemming from my dissertation research have been published or accepted for publication in Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Re-

search, Global Ecology and Biogeography, and the Annals of the Association of American Geographers. In addition, I am a co-author on a paper in press with Tree-Ring Research. I gave a presentation at the AAG Meeting in Washington, D.C. and won the AAG Biogeography Specialty Group Ph.D. Stu-dent Paper Competition and was elected to the Executive Board of the Mountain Geography Specialty Group.

Joshua Bley is awarded the Geospatial Intelligence Certifi-

cate by Tim Matisziw

In April 2010, mem-bers of the Depart-ment of Geography Faculty & Staff Larry Brown, Matt

Gerike, Tim Haithcoat, Jason Hinsen, and Shannon White along with geography graduate and undergraduate students Meredith Dorneker, Sam Burke, Jess Scott-Green, Zach Rubin, and Tommy Larsen participated as judges, modera-tors and timers/score-keepers at the Missouri Geography Bee. This- event is part of the national semi-finals and is held in every participating state on the same day. Each state win-ner advances to the final round to be held at National Geo-graphic Society in Washington, DC.

Tim Haithcoat and the GRC

In order to collect a large amount of information from Missouri residents for the Broadband Project, the Broadband Mapping Team decided to visit the Mis-souri State Fair in Sedalia, Missouri. The 2009 Missouri State Fair had an estimated attendance of over 340,000

people, therefore with such a high attendance this event would be useful for data collecting. The Broadband Mapping Team (BB Team) had two locations at the fair; one was in the Mizzou Central Building in the MO-

AG Theater organized by the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Re-sources. Inside the MO-AG Theater was the main location for the BB Team where an informational slide show continuously played and signage was dis-played throughout the booth area. This was the survey location where Mis-souri residents would be asked to fill out a form about their internet service. The other location was on the lawn outside of the MO-AG Theater, where a Mizzou Tent was assembled daily and tables were set displaying a large Mis-souri map divided into four quadrants. Each of the four quadrants repre-sented different regions of Missouri, northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast. At this station, Missouri residents were able to physically place a colored pin on their home location. The color would vary depending on if the person had broadband availability in their area. At both areas, the

broadband speed test cards were handed out to residents after filling out a survey or placing a pin on one of the four maps.

The BB Team, affiliated with Department of Geography, was the first Arts and Sciences dis-cipline to be represented with the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the Missouri State Fair. Charly Clendenning—GRC Staff

It was hot! We had a booth in the MU building and then staged our tent right outside. Most of the people we talked to were very nice and interested in the project. There were so many people and so little time that could be spent with each person that we were unable to sit down at the computers and enter in points and information as we originally planned. Thanks to Shannon White we had paper forms to fill out. After we filled out forms we handed out the speed test cards and asked people to check at home. I hope this method will also collect data that will be helpful. The tent outside had our big MO maps. We asked people to put pins in where their residence was located. This was a big hit. People really enjoyed putting pins in and then also looking at other pins around their areas. Heather Schafer—GRC Staff

Charly Clendenning and Heather Schafer hosting the booth inside the Mizzou Central Bldg

Summer 2010 Geography Field Course

Professors Mark Cowell and Grant Elliott led a class of a dozen students through the heart of the Dust Bowl region and into the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico and Colorado in an effort to see first-hand the role of climate and climatic change in shaping biogeographic landscapes. After spending the first night in the Cross Timbers of east-ern Oklahoma and visiting the Nature Conservancy’s Tall Grass Prairie Preserve outside of Pawhuska, we drove the length of the beautiful (and under-appreciated) panhandle to Boise City, OK – the scene of “The Worst Hard Time” (and the name of our engaging textbook by Timothy Egan). Throughout the two-week adventure, student groups were responsible for preparing presentations on topics such as “Pinyon-Juniper communities in Great Sand Dunes National Park,” “Fire climatology and drought: Ingredients for mayhem,” and “Paleoclimatological dynam-ics of upper tree line.” Another main goal of the class was to get a strong sense of the nature of landscape changes in each biome visited by taking repeat photographs of scenes originally shot by the USGS in the 19th century (see examples below). In all, we covered 2,577 miles, camped near bear tracks and snow packs, learned a lot, and had a great time.

Crede, Colorado: 1905 and 2010

Upper Twin Lake, Colorado (Sawatch Range): 1873 and 2010

Meredith Dorneker—This summer, Meredith worked as a crew leader for the Student Conservation As-sociation/Friends of the Forest Preserve summer conservation program. She spent eight weeks coordi-nating and carrying out restoration projects with a crew of high school students and naturalists at the Little

Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in Cook County, IL. She had a great first year in the geography department at Mizzou and spent many of her Peace Corps service hours Spring semester working with the Red Cross Mid-Missouri Chapter as a part of the Disaster Action Team, responding to fire and other emergency calls. She was nominated by her peers in the geography department for the GSA Graduate Student Award. This year

she is serving as the President of the Graduate Student Association (GSA).

Ngan Thuy Le - I graduated in 2009 from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with a BA in geogra-phy, majoring in cartography, remote sensing and GIS. Then, I worked as a teaching assis-tant in my department and assisted in a re-search project about urbanization and climate change in the Mekong Delta. My interest is the application of GIS and remote sensing for research on the effects of climate changes on

coastal zones.

Scott Kraushaar - I’m originally from south-ern Minnesota, and graduated in 2009 from St. Cloud State University with a BA in Geography and GIS. My time at Mizzou has been well worth it as I prepare to tackle my career goals. I am currently focusing on ―volunteered geo-graphic information‖

for my thesis research and also have inter-ests in GIS, remote sensing, national secu-

rity, and the weather.

Courtney Richter - I am originally from Kansas, but came to Missouri for my undergraduate degree from Westminster College in Fulton. I studied Anthropology, Sociology, and Religious Studies, and was fortunate enough to volunteer in Eastern Europe and Thailand, and spend one semester in Beijing, China. All of these experiences have led to a passion for learning about different cultures around the world. While at MU, I plan to study Human Geography, focusing on tourism, religion, and refugees

in Asia, and also hope to explore the field of GIS.

Cadey Segard - I am from the small town of Belmont, Michigan. I graduated from Aquinas College in 2010 with a BA in Geography, Interna-tional Studies, and French. I have had the amazing oppor-tunity to travel throughout Europe and study abroad in France, which has fueled my passion for travel and inter-est in other cultures. After working for a medical organiza-tion in the Dominican Republic I decided to focus my stud-ies on the international political relations between Latin American countries and the global North as defined in geographical terms. While at UM I hope to further delve

into these topics.

Wei Zhang - I come from Beijing, China. I got the bachelor’s degree from Capital Normal University,

focusing on Geographic Information Systems. From 2007 to 2008, I participated in the students’ scientific research projects in my university on selecting locations for retail based on GIS, which sparked my interest in the area. Be-sides, I had an internship on the change of national wetland reserves under the application of GIS and RS, which

caught my interest about the combination of GIS and RS. So I plan to learn much knowledge about them in this field.

Amy Thompson - This is my second year as a Master's student here, and I graduated in 2009 from Mizzou with a

BA in geography. I'm origi-nally from the Kansas City area. I love to travel, and had the opportunity to participate in Semester at Sea during my undergraduate career. My research interests include urban gentrification and

sense of place. During my free time, you'll find me riding my bike or salsa dancing. I spent the summer in Kansas City working on my thesis research. My project is about how residents of downtown Kansas City perceive the gentrification happening there and how they

express those perceptions through photography. Jessica R. G. Scott, BS Environmental Science, Metropolitan State College of Denver, 2005.

Second year graduate student, enjoyed being a TA under Dr. Brown and Dr. Larsen for Regions and Nations I & II last year. Travelled almost 7,500 miles over the summer, most were logged during the Maymester course taught by Dr. Cowell and Dr. Elliott that took grads and undergrads through Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colo-rado, and Kansas. Drove through parts of North Dakota, South Da-kota, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas visiting fam-ily and friends. Graduate Student Representative for this school year.

Working on thesis entitled, “EDCs in the Environment: Mapping the Probability of Contamina-tion in Missouri Streams” Currently working with the City of Columbia Office of Sustainability as a project coordinator on a team evaluating a LEED neighborhood development plan for an area near downtown.

Jed McKee - hometown: De Soto, MO - I grew up in rural Missouri on a small horse farm. My father is a horse shoer (farrier) and my mother is a teacher. I have two brothers - one older and one younger. After leaving the military in 2006, I began a BA program here at MU, studying history and political science. In January of 2010 I began full-time coursework in a MA program with the department. Last summer I finished my field work in Am-man, Jordan, where I set up focus groups with young Jordanians to under-stand their perceptions of the U.S. geopolitical presence in the Middle East. When I'm not caught

up (or catching up) in school work, I focus on my girlfriend/family, grunge music, and comic books.

Meet some of Geography’s Graduate Students

1973 David Robert—My first real job was teaching Geography and Cartography at the University of New Orleans with a couple of other MU graduates: Bob Aalberts and Rose McCall Sauder. I met and married Suzanne Heurtin and our adventures have taken us to San Francisco and Washington, DC. After stints with a photogrammetric engineering firm and Shell Oil Co., during which I received a BS in Computer Information Systems, I landed my dream job as a Cartographer with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, CA. I rose through the ranks and relocated to

Reston, VA, where I managed the orthoimagery program. This program acquired the medium and high resolution imagery subsequently pur-chased by Google and Microsoft and available to the public through GoogleEarth, VirtualEarth, and the USGS datastore, GeoData.gov. My current position is with the Department of the Interior Budget Office, where I am the Budget Analyst for the U.S. Geological Survey and the Office of Insular Affairs, the office that manages the U.S. territories. This is a recent (2007) and exciting change for me as I manage these two budgets through the budget process, negotiating budget changes with the Office of Management and Budget, and advocating the budgets of the Geological Survey and Insular Affairs with the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees. My wife, Suzanne, is a Medical Anthropologist at the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute. My son Nicolas, 28, is a Montessori school teacher in Reston, VA. My daughter Marguerite, 20, is a rising Senior at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and just returned from a semester in Paris, France, through the Academic Year Abroad program. Last year we bought a house in old Silver Spring and are currently in the process of remodeling and refurbishing it.

Alumni News—by Graduation Date:

1939 Warren R. Dalton, Jr.- graduated from the University of Missouri during the Great Depression. He briefly managed a store in Marshall before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1943 as an Ensign. He served in the Pacific on LSTs and was discharged as a Lieutenant in 1946. After returning to Columbia, Mr. Dalton managed Suzanne’s, Inc., and eventually purchased controlling interest in 1964. Mr. Dalton’s first book, A Time of Life, chronicles his life from age 17, when he wrote his autobiography in high school, and concludes with his life at age 87. His second book, a health book entitled It Is Never Too Late, was published in 2007. In December of 2009, he co-authored a book entitled Historic Downtown Columbia. His fourth book, Between the Columns, will be published in October 2010. All four books were edited by his son, Dick, and are available in all Columbia libraries. He is in his fourth year writing a bi-weekly history column for the Columbia Daily Tribune and teaches 1800 History at Osher Lifelong Learning Center. At 93, Mr. Dalton is one of Columbia’s most noted historians.

1966 Dr. Aaron Williams - In August 2009, I retired from full-time teaching at the University of South Alabama (USA) after 43 years in geographic and meteorological education. I attended MU from 1965-67 after finishing my undergraduate work in meteorology at Florida State. Those were two wonderful years at MU with Wheeler, Schroeder and Kostbade. I started at USA in March of 1967 after completing my M.A. at Missouri. After two years as an Instructor in Geography, it was off to the University of Oklahoma where I received my Ph.D. in 1971. Although I have been teaching since 1967, I began a weather broadcasting career in 1979 that continues to this day. In 1988, I founded the Coastal Weather Research Center on the USA campus. The Weather Center is a fully-operational forecast and warning service (subscription) that now serves well over 100 industries in nine states. Our clients include such companies as Exxon/Mobil, Chevron, CSX Railroads and Cargill. In 1992, I

started the first undergraduate meteorology program in Alabama that has grown to the 8th largest such program in the nation with over 100 majors. Following Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Katrina, I produced two DVDs that were designed for educational use. Profits from ―Hurricane Ivan, A Portrait From Earth and Space‖ and ―Hurricane Katrina, America’s Costliest Storm‖ totaled over $100,000 and went directly to our meteorology scholarship fund. Today, I am still involved with USA as Director of the Coastal Weather Research Center and also teach a class in climatology. Recently, I was honored with the title of Associate Professor Emeritus. In addition to radio broadcasting, I am involved with expert witness work in meteorology across the central Gulf Coast. Presently, I live in Montrose, Alabama on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay (since 1980) . Jane (a USA geography graduate) and I have been married for more than 30 years. We have four daughters whose ages range from 18 to 27.

1973 M. Scott Christy - I live in Anchorage, but have wilderness land east of Seward just in from the ocean and on a proglacial lake. Flying in is

the only real access. I have built a cabin and recre-ate there mostly in the summer. It is always cooler than Anchorage in the summer, since the five mile long lake is full of large icebergs. Each evening colder air settles down off the Sergeant Ice Field and cools the air down to the high 30s to low 40s most summer nights. I much prefer living in a cool climate and can always add another layer if needed. I remember the super heat and humidity of Columbia in late August into September.

1971 Fred Moore - Fred began a 21-year career with StorageTek as the first systems engi-neer and concluded as corporate vice president of Strategic Planning and Marketing. In 1998, Fred Moore founded Horison Information Strategies in Boulder, Colorado, a data storage industry analyst and consulting firm that specializes in executive briefings, mar-keting strategy, and business development for data storage suppliers and end-users. Fred served as Editor of Storage for Computer Technology Review magazine and has written numerous books, articles and reports for the storage industry. He is a 1989 re-

cipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award and a 2004 recipient of the Arts and Science Scholar-In-Residence Award at the University of Missouri, Columbia where he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in computer applications in physical geography. A sought-after motivator and keynote speaker at IT events worldwide, Fred completed the Berkeley Executive Program in 1997. He currently serves on a few select boards in the storage networking industry.

1982 John Patralia - Playing golf, gardening, and traveling. Picture is at Chichen Itza ruins, Mexico, 2010

1975 Darrell Napton - I am returning to full-time teaching at South Dakota State University after devoting 80 percent of my time to a USGS research project for the past 11 years. The national Land Cover Trends Project focused upon understanding the rates, trends, causes, and consequences of recent U.S. land use and land cover change (http://landcovertrends.usgs.gov/). A highlight was being able to go on more than 20 of the 84 field trips associated with the project. Land Cover Trends is nearing completion, and I will continue as a Visiting Scientist after returning to cam-pus. During my time with the USGS, I taught only one graduate seminar each semester, so I will be busy with new class preparations and con-verting classic geographical ideas to digital presentations. My most recent publication is Land Changes and Their Driving Forces in the South-eastern United States (Regional Environmental Change 2010, 10(1): 37-53). Luanne has retired from 18 years of nearly full-time, volunteer environmental work in South Dakota where she served as lobbyist, newsletter edi-tor, and president (often concurrently) of the South Dakota Resources Coalition. She has returned to college where she has been taking courses in French at SDSU and regularly attending the Concordia College French Language Village camp. We continue to drive to Missouri regularly to visit our families and spend time at the Napton farm near Drexel.

1977 Rich Waugh - "I have been a faculty member in the Geography Program at the Uni-versity of Wisconsin-Platteville for about 20 years. My interests are historical, cul-tural, and environmental geography, and my research interests have taken me from Peru to our own county here in Wisconsin. Our department emphasizes field based education, and the best part of my job is getting students out in the field - especially an annual field course that I teach in the western US. Todd Stradford, another Miz-zou graduate, teaches here as well and has the office next to mine. Therese, my wife, is also a Mizzou graduate, and we have two daughters - one who just finished her MFA in Studio Art and the other who is a Senior at UW-Madison in linguistics."

1979 Elizabeth Cook - Con-tracting for, processing, and develop-ing applica-tions for use of High-Resolution Elevation Models de-rived from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data have been new challenges the past 3 years at work. Husband Gene Gardner and I are looking to retire in about 3 years when our daughter completes her MS Architecture from KSU. We are looking forward to more time for travel.

1980 Ann Wright - Assistant Principal, Archbishop O'Hara High School, Kansas City, Missouri. I also teach Geography of the United States and Canada and Physical Geography for Park University in their on line division. My supervisor there is David Fox, another MU alum.

1991 Sonny Sanders - Our son Royal Sanders, age 12 ½ , participated in the 2009 session of the Sum-mers@Missouri Geo-Tech camp at Columbia. He enjoyed it so much; he is enrolled

to attend the 2010 session this year. If you want your child to get a better handle on what their parents do for a living, this camp sure helps and is highly recommend. We are also proud of Josie, our 4 ½ year old daughter. She is also exhibiting an interest in geography. She has created several interesting maps. On a more interesting side note, I’ve become somewhat of an expert trapper on my 2.5 acres in southern Columbia. I’ve trapped 5 raccoons and two opossums, and one cat. All after wreaking havoc in my garage. You’ll be glad to know I re-leased all of them many miles from my home, perhaps near yours!!. We’re also blessed with natural blackberries and have become experts in baking blackberry pies from scratch, producing some really great jams and even developed my own limited production of Blackberry wine. We even made persimmon pie from the persimmon tree we planted 7 years ago.

1992 Quinto J. Lotti - – I just completed my 14th year as a Geography instructor ay Alexandria Technical and Community College in Alex-andria, MN. The picture attached is of a recent family vacation to Glacier National park.

1993 Severin Roberts - I’m actually using my geography degrees working at Grinnell College as the Director of the Pioneer Fund. I’ve been working here for 5 ½ years; it’s essentially marketing. My daughter Da-vian is nearly a year and a half old. She’s a great little traveler, which is a good thing for how her life is likely to go! We like to camp, swim, tromp out-side, garden, walk, ride the bike and Burley, and visit friends and family. I currently only serve on the board for the Grinnell Community Day Care Center and Preschool – Davian’s school. When I get free time again, I still enjoy drawing a great deal thought painting is my favorite activity of all of my numerous hobbies. If you travel through Iowa on I-80, feel

free to drop in!

1998 Dave Lashway - I'm living in Chicago, where I work at PDI Global, a consult-ing firm chiefly serving the accounting industry. I proofread tax guides and newsletters that the firm creates for its clients to use in their marketing strate-gies. In my spare time, I like to do research as an amateur historian. I have a grand total of one (1) published article under my belt, so I'll stick with the day job. But I expect to go back to school in the years ahead -- part-time, this time. As a retirement career, I'd enjoy teaching a course or two in geography and/or history. davelashway@hotmail.com

1993 Steve Wolfe - After earning my M.A. in Geography at MU in De-cember 1993 and continuing to teach there through summer 1994, my family and I moved back to Oregon. I began teaching Geogra-phy part time at Chemeketa Community College in 1995, and then entered the Ph.D. program in Geography at Oregon State University in 1996. In 1999, I was hired full-time at Chemeketa, at which time I quit working on my Ph.D. My wife Shawna and I have three daugh-ters (Ashley is 19, Marissa 17, and Audrey is 5). We live in Salem, Oregon in the heart of the beautiful Willamette Valley and within a few hours' drive of most of our family. We love the Pacific Northwest, and I'd be happy to show visitors around if you come up this way!

1995 Steve Muller - My most recent employment using the BA & MA that I received from MU DoG was at the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado - Boulder where I worked as a Professional Research Assistant. However, since leaving that position, I spent several years working as a professional mountain guide before settling into my current career as a House-Guy (i.e., Stay-at-Home Dad). My wife Cammie and I have two children ages six & three.

1996 Kevin Klingbeil, Bachelor of Arts, Geography and English, Dec. 1996 - Kevin has served as an attorney working in the fields of environmental, international trade, human rights, water, housing, construction and Indian law for the past ten years in Seattle, New York, Denver, Kenya, South Africa, Peru and throughout the western United States. From 2006-2009, he served as general counsel for several public and tribal housing authorities in Colo-rado and the Northern Plains while working as an associate at a small law firm in Denver, CO. He is currently the Regional Manager for Quality Assurance for the 10-state Denver Region of the U.S. Census Bureau during the 2010 Census. Kevin has been married to Suzanne Iantorno (now Klingbeil) for almost three years and, while he has no children at this time, his 75-pound dog Sheila has admirably filled the void by chewing up all portable electronic devices and chasing away trespassing squirrels.

1997 Beth Schlemper (PhD Geography, UW-Madison 2003) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Plan-ning at the University of Toledo. She has been active in both geography education and historical/cultural geography through research, teaching, and outreach activities. Beth was principal researcher for the AAG’s ―Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education (EDGE) in Geography‖ project, and is currently a co-PI for the second phase ―Beyond the Ivory Tower: Researching and Improving Geography Graduate Education for STEM Careers in Business, Government, and Non-Profit Organizations,‖ funded by the National Science Foundation. (http://www.utoledo.edu/as/geography/facultystaff/deptfaculty/Schlemper.html)

1995 Doug Hurt - was recently awarded tenure and promoted to associ-ate professor at the University of Central Oklahoma. He also fin-ished a long-term research project on changing interpretations of the Washita Battlefield in western Oklahoma that was published in the July 2010 issue of The Geographical Review.

1996 Jill Morris She and her husband Paul Mad-son have a 20-month old girl, Chloe Rose. She is still practicing employment law at Ogletree Deakins (39 offices across the country) and Paul works with the reverse mortgage program at James B. Nutter in Kansas City. They enjoy keeping up with their daughter, traveling and maintaining our 101 year-old home in Hyde Park.

2000 Karl Marschel - My wife, Laura Marschel (University of Illinois, 2000) and myself (University of Missouri, 2000) welcomed our first child, Zoe Ann on June 4, 2010

2000 Andy Gredell — Vista Manufacturing Company, Vice President Since graduating from MU I went to work at my family’s manufactur-ing company, where we fabricate just about anything out of metal and plastics. In July 2009 I started powered paragliding (PPG) as a hobby, logging 58 flights and 40+ hours to date. We fly about once a week near Bonner Springs, KS. All are welcome to join us.

2002 Ryan Rimkus – In June 2009, I started my career at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in St. Louis, Missouri as a Photogrammetric Cartographer. At present, I have just began a one-year rotational role as Executive Officer for my division, Precise Imagery. Prior to working for NGA, I was

employed with the Surdex Corporation in Chesterfield, MO for seven years (June 2002- May 2009) performing feature extraction, orthorectification, and project lead du-ties. Outside of work, I have been married to my wife, Julie, for three years, and we have our first child on the way (due in February). In my free time, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, traveling, music, bowling, and Cardinals baseball.

2002 Tara Vansell - Family Blog vansell.wordpress.com

2003 John Lyman—BA Geography, May 2003 - I assist veterans and Active Duty Service men and women getting approved for VA Home Loans. (while that isn't particularly Geography related, the critical thinking skills and practices I learned through under-graduate and graduate studies have really helped out). I am also Assistant Scoutmaster, Boy Scout Troop 5 - based out of the Missouri United Methodist Church (downtown, by Shake-

2003 Dan Kogan is married to Sarah Kogan (BA Social Work ’06, MSw ’07). Dan is a Global Supply Chain Analyst with Garmin International and will be completing his MBA in October. Dan and Sarah live in Olathe, Kansas (only 15 minutes from the Missouri border!) with their dog, Tayah.

2002 Raymond Danner - I’m a 2002 grad of the MU Geog Dept (as an under-grad) and look back with fond memories of learning from Salter, Schroe-der, Hobbs, Kinman, and Ludwig, and discussions with the other fac-ulty. I’m currently a Predoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and a PhD Candidate in the Dept of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech. My dissertation examines how migratory sparrows sur-vive the harsh winters in coastal marshes of North Carolina, and how that can drive evolution. In addition, I help my fiancée Julie Castner (also a PhD student) study how culture (bird song) can drive bird speci-ation in the high Andes of Ecua-dor. Of course, both of these pro-jects are geography inten-sive! Please find a photo attached of us between two field sites, on Papallacta Pass (~13,000 ft.) in Ecuador, with Antisana Volcano in the background.

2004 Ryan Robert McKay; AICP - Ryan graduated from the University of Missouri in 2004 with a B.A. in Geography. Upon graduating, Ryan attended Kansas State University where he received a master's degree in Regional and Community Planning in 2006. Since 2006, Ryan has been an Urban Planning Consultant for BRR Architecture headquartered in Merriam, KS. Ryan is an AICP certified planner and also serves as a Pastor Leader at Wornall Road Baptist Church. Ryan is married to April McKay and they live in the Brookside area of Kansas City

2009 Michael Sunde—BA GI-S 2009 - I’m working at MORE-net and I started coursework this summer for my Mas-ter of Science in Forestry (here at Mizzou’s CAFNR).

2006 David Spriggs - I work on a variety of projects from Defense and intelligence to Commercial projects large and small. In all cases I work as a lead technical resource to implement, inte-grate and develop ESRI technologies within the clients infra-structure and based on their needs. Most recently I was in the BP command center in Louisiana, helping to stand up and de-ploy ESRI technology to aid in the oil spill recovery effort. Other notable past projects include similar efforts for the Haiti and Chile earthquake responses at the federal level. We have 4

wonderful children (Jordan, Haley, Megan, Addison) and are expecting our 5th (a boy) in December. http://twitter.com/davidspriggs http://www.linkedin.com/in/dspriggs

2007 Amy Lampe - I work for the non-profit eco-nomic development agency of the City of St. Louis. The largest functions of our agency are providing business loans and incentives and serving as the land-holding agency for the City. Most of my job consists of EPA grant management to assess and remediate land which we own or which is part of an upcoming development. I have also earned a reputation as the "map-maker" in my office, which is great. http://amystravelogue.shutterfly.com

2003

Ryan Cooper works as the Geographer for the National Park Service at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. The trail has been collaborating with Jim Harlan and the GRC on map-ping the historic channel of the Missouri River and the cultural

and tribal sites along the Lewis and Clark Trail.

2007

Kari Rott About one year ago I moved from Columbus, Ohio, back to Missouri and started down a path of living intentionally within communities (www.ic.org) at Danc-ing Rabbit EcoVillage in NE Missouri and at Ratna Ling Retreat Center in Northern California. I've learned *lots* about natural building, food production, voluntary sim-plicity, and human-scale technologies. I traveled in the Pacific Northwest, visiting geography departments and looking for a new home. I'm planning to apply to gradu-ate programs this fall where I'd like to study community and rural planning, food systems, water systems, and

degrowth.

2008

Matt Kohler has settled into a house in St. Louis, MO and is working for Surdex as an Orthophoto

Technician.

Facebook site

Join our Facebook group and you can keep track of what’s going on in MU’s Depart-ment of Geography. We would love to hear from current students, faculty, staff and alum. Post your pictures, tell us what you have been up to, look for former class-mates and friends. We are just a click away! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124351819247

The Department mourns the passing of Margery Wheeler, the wife of MU Geography's most cherished figure, Jesse Wheeler. Even after Jesse’s death in 1994, Margery con-tinued to be a very strong supporter of our Department. Following are details on her life from the Columbia Trib-une. Margery Ellen Gray was born in the small town of Un-ion, W.V., on Oct. 2, 1922. Her father, Robert Gray, was the pastor of Union Presbyterian Church for almost 40 years, and also served as principal of Union High School during the 1920s. Her mother, Lucy Leach Gray, assisted her husband in his ministry and also taught Latin at Union High. After graduating from Union High School, Margery entered Agnes Scott College. Majoring in English and French, was selected for the honorary society Phi Beta Kappa, played on the field hockey team, and graduated in 1942. While at Agnes Scott College, Margery met her fu-ture husband, Jesse Harrison Wheeler Jr. He had grown up in the town of Scottsboro, Ala., and graduated from Au-burn University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English. When they met, he was teaching English at Boys’ High School in Atlanta. Jesse had joined the ROTC program in college and was preparing to begin his Army service. He was sent to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, for training with artillery in September 1941. Jesse and Margery became engaged dur-ing her graduation week in May 1942. They were married by her father on Oct. 3, 1942, in Union. Margery spent the next three years living near Army posts in Austin, Texas (where their first son, Robert, was born in 1943), and in Rolla, San Luis Obispo, Calif., and Fayetteville, N.C. Jesse was the supply officer for a field artillery battalion. He par-ticipated in the final drive of the U.S. Army across south-ern Germany and into what was then Czechoslovakia. Af-ter returning to the U.S. in the summer of 1945, he was sent to Japan after that country’s surrender, and served in the Army of Occupation there. Their second son, David, was born in 1946. During his wartime experience, Jesse had decided to pursue a career in Geography. Eligible to receive further education under the G.I. Bill of Rights, he entered the University of Chicago to pursue a Ph.D. in Ge-ography. Upon completing this work, Jesse accepted a po-sition in the Geography Department at MU, and the family

moved to Columbia in 1949. Their third son, Charles, was born in 1953. Margery was active in the Women of the Church and in the Columbia Council of United Church Women (one of the first interracial groups in Columbia), as well as teaching Sunday school at First Presbyterian Church. She was one of the first two women deacons elected by the congregation the year that the General As-sembly voted to allow women to serve, and later served as an Elder. Margery was also very active in the Friends of the Public Library in Columbia. She traveled widely with her husband, often in connection with meetings of geogra-phers across the U.S. and the world. Particularly memora-ble was a Cape-to-Cairo tour of Africa in 1975, led by her sister Virginia. Jesse retired from the University of Mis-souri in 1988. He and Margery celebrated their 50th wed-ding anniversary in October 1992, back in Margery’s hometown of Union. Margery is survived by her son Robert, a retired professor of mathematics at Northern Illinois University, and his wife Kathy; her son David, a sen-ior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Wash-ington, D.C., and his wife Katrinka; and her son Charles, a lawyer in San Diego, and his wife Beth. She is also survived by David’s three daughters, Robin, Laurie, and Kristen, and by Charles’ two sons, John and Thomas. Margery will be remembered for her endless curiosity about the world, exemplified by her active use of the internet in her later years; her tolerant appreciation for people of all cultures and faiths; her loving engagement with the lives of her children and grandchildren; and her own grit and determi-nation in confronting serious and debilitating illness over a period of many years. It is suggested that memorial dona-tions be made to the Jesse H. Wheeler Jr. and Margery E. Wheeler Opportunities for Excellence Endowment in the Department of Geography/Geographic Resources Center. Donations should be sent to the University of Missouri Office of Development, 109 Reynolds Alumni Center, Co-lumbia, Mo. 65211, with an entry: “Memorial for Margery Wheeler for the Wheeler Scholarship” on the memo line. This endowment supports deserving students in the De-partment of Geography, the focus of Jesse’s and Margery’s lives for a great many years.

We are saddened by the death on January 25, 2010 of William C. Pollock, at age 28. Born in Tuscumbia, MO., Will was a 1999 graduate of Helias High School and a 2003 graduate of MU with degrees in Anthropology and Geogra-phy. He began the M.A. Program in our Department, and in summer 2003 was a much-liked classmate in our “Geography of Ancient Maya Caves” field course in Belize. At the time of his death, Will was employed as a planner with URS Corp., a Department of Defense contractor, at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. He was married to April Dunn on June 14, 2008, in the Bahamas.

We also mourn the death of Jeffrey D. Spooner on January 19, 2010. Jeff received his M.A. in Geography at MU in 1991. He then received a Ph.D. in Geology and Geophysics (2002) from the University of Missouri-Rolla. When he left Columbia in 1991 he went immediately to be employed with the title of “Geographer” at the U.S. Geological Sur-vey Mid-Continent Geographic Science Center, in Rolla, and remained there until his death. He also taught courses at the University of Missouri-Rolla. His research interests were the geology of ecosystems, and the landscape response to global climate change. He was well known as an expert on Ozark karst. He was 51 years old.

Recent Losses of Geography Alumni and Friends

Newest Geography Family Member

Well, after 41 weeks of a very difficult pregnancy, Mia Rose Matisziw is now here! She weighed in at a sturdy 9lbs 10ozs and 20.5 inches. Mia, mom, and big brother are all doing great! Dad (Tim Matisziw) is still a bit stunned.. things happened more

rapidly that I was prepared for;)

I would like to take a minute to introduce myself and say ―Hello.‖ By

now you have seen my name, probably more than once and perhaps

have already corresponded with me. I am the Department of Geog-

raphy’s new Administrative Assistant, Dina Weaver.

About me: I have three wonderful, grown daughters and one grand-

daughter with two more grandchildren coming that last of February

from my two oldest daughters. In addition, my extended family in-

cludes two step-daughters and one step-son. Between these two girls I have and additional three

granddaughters and one grandson (born July 23 of this year and the only boy thus far). The kids are

spread around the mid-US so I am not able to spoil them as much as I like though my husband, Gerry,

and I try to see them as much as possible.

I moved to Geography June 1, 2010 having had many years of experience within the University of Mis-

souri. I hope to bring a new perspective to the department to serve the needs of the faculty, staff, stu-

dents and the Alumni. My plans for the near future in Geography include many updates to our Facebook

page to facilitate current activities within the department and encourage more people to visit and ―friend‖

us. I will also be working on the Geography website to update the appearance, add current and upcom-

ing events and put some ―Wow‖ in it. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions, concerns,

comments, ideas or things that you would find useful or interesting that will help me to help you! I have

truly enjoyed my short time with Geography and look forward to everything to come. I hope all enjoy

reading this issue of the Meridian as much as I have enjoyed putting it together for you. Dina

Keep an eye out for: Changes will be coming soon to our Facebook page

and our Geography Website. Come visit these

sites often and watch as they grow and expand.

Additions, such as Alumni News, Faculty and

Graduate student profiles, and current events will

be posted so that you can keep up with what’s go-

ing on in your beloved department of Geography.

http://geog.missouri.edu

University of Missouri Department of Geography The Geographic Resources Center 8 Stewart Hall Columbia, MO 65211

Keep an eye out for: Changes will be coming soon to our Facebook page

and our Geography Website. Come visit these

sites often and watch as they grow and expand.

Additions, such as Alumni News, Faculty and

Graduate student profiles, and current events will

be posted so that you can keep up with what’s go-

ing on in your beloved department of Geography.

http://geog.missouri.edu

Please send any news, updates, address changes, comments or questions to:

University of Missouri, Department of Geography, 8 Stewart Hall, Columbia, MO 65211

You can also contact me directly at WeaverDR@missouri.edu or

573-882-8370. An alternate email is umcgeog@missouri.edu and visit our website at http://geog.missouri.edu

This school year will be bringing about many changes with the decision to think more globally and take advantage of the tech-nological resources that are available. We would love to have your email address, if you have one, to send updates, notices and any otherwise interesting information. I feel that we can become a very close family, spanning many generations and years of graduation if we can keep in touch. I want very much to share my excitement about the department of Geography with everyone that I can reach. Dina

Geography’s infamous Administrative Support Team,

Dianne Roberts and Nancy Burke sharing their last

moments as office mates before Nancy’s retirement

begins. You can almost read their minds! I sense a

“WooHoo!” on one side and a “What am I gonna do

now?” on the other side. Best Wishes Nancy!

Gail bids farewell!