document

It’s commonplace to think of departments as organizations providing courses and granting degrees. As this Newsletter shows, however, departments are more than that.

We have changed who we are, how we do things, and for whom we do things. For example, with the GIS distance programs, we have nearly as many students enrolled in distance education as we do in resident education. With computer labs, we can accommodate fi fty students working in the virtual world of geography. With the CAUSE course to South Africa, with Alan Taylor’s group working in California, and with Lucky Yapa’s Philadelphia service learning program, we have more students ‘out in the fi eld’ than ever before. The S.W.I.G. group has brought middle and high school girls to the department. We have as many people ‘outside’ of the tenure track line as are ‘on’ the tenure track. We have as many graduate students supported by research funds as by teaching assistantships.

But while I’m all in favor of change with a purpose, it’s worth asking whether there are parts of the department that have not changed and should not change.

In some contexts, departments become associated with scholars: UC Berkeley with Carl Sauer or Northwestern with Brian Berry. While we’ve had remarkable colleagues—Wilbur Zelinsky, Peter Gould, Peirce Lewis—I don’t think that you strongly associate a particular person with Penn State. Some departments are renowned for specialties: GIScience and UC Santa Barbara or economic geography and Clark. Perhaps we are becoming the home of geo-visualization but again,

I would argue that you do not (as yet) see Penn State as the home of a part of geography.

So is there a core to Penn State geography? Being here for an unimaginable 35 years, I’ve watched us at work through good times, challenging times, and quiet times. Through it all, Penn State geography has shown a remarkable capacity to accept change, and to get out ahead of change. We think of ourselves as a family or community. That metaphor comes close to the core. Families are not always happy and communities are not always stable. But they are resilient and they provide homes in which people can grow and thrive.

Throughout change, one measure of success is the sense of belonging. In this Newsletter, you can read about alumni giving fellowships so that others can share the experience of Penn State geography. You can see increasing numbers of alumni sharing updates of their life. You can read Peirce Lewis’s reminiscing about being hired by Will Miller in 1958. You can read about a group of UnderDOGS wanting to visit Centralia and Jodi Vender driving a van on a weekend so that they could do so. You can also read about a record number of inductees for Gamma Theta Upsilon.

The core, then, is a commitment to learning about geography in a neat part of the world, to learning to do geography in different ways, and to going out in the world to practice geography for the benefi t of others. As Doug Miller writes, “At the core of this experience is the profound sense of accomplishment when participating in activities and projects that create a benefi t for the society that has ultimately underwritten one’s work.” That captures Penn State geography at its enduring best.

Roger Downs, Department Head

Contact us:The Pennsylvania State UniversityDepartment of Geography302 Walker BuildingUniversity Park, PA 16802Telephone: (814) 865-3433Fax: (814) 863-7943E-mail: [email protected] site: http://www.geog.psu.edu

In this Issue:2005-06 Graduate Class...........2

Undergraduate News.................3Graduate News.........................4Activists & Aviators....................5

Faculty News............................6Department Staff & Outreach......7

Alumni News........................8-9Alumni Serve Communities.....10Profiles in Philanthropy............11Endowments & Scholarships......12

Research in Geography from:Doug Miller............................13Chris Benner...........................14Valerie Trouet.........................15

Calendar of Events..................16Volume 4, Issue 1Winter/Spring 2006

From the Head

The Dave_G project allows users to interact with a GIS through spoken words, hand gestures, and eye movements.

Seth DixonBrigham Young UniversitySeth was voted most likely to become a priest—and became a Mormom priest!

Joseph GyekisPenn StateJoseph is not only immersed in his graduate studies, but he’s learning Chinese too.

Kevin GrovesGeorge Washington Univ.Kevin once tore the rim off of a regulation basketball hoop.

Dana CuomoPenn StateA gymnast for fi fteen years, Dana can still walk down the hallway on her hands.

Shaunna BarnhartUniversity of IllinoisShaunna escaped up a tree from a charging cow as a child on her family farm.Jason BeeryJohns Hopkins UniversityJason once got lost traveling the back streets of Cairo; he was mapless.

Jessica AcostaUniversity of Puerto RicoJessica is an arachnophobe. She’s been afraid of spiders since childhood.

Adrian CoxPenn StateThough he grew up in New York City, Adrian was actually born in London.

Liv DetrickMount Holyoke CollegeLiv has ridden horses for more than sixteen years. Rafael Diaz-TorresUniversity of Puerto RicoRafael once analyzed the geography of “WWF” wres-tling on Puerto Rican TV.

Jessica Hayes-ConroyUniversity of VermontJess knows how to hula from her days living in Hawaii. She also owns fi ve bicycles.

Andrew PierceDartmouth CollegeSleeping tentless one night, Andrew awoke to an intru-sive black bear in his camp.

Brian TomaszewskiSUNY-Buffalo UniversityBrian is a vexillologist. He also juggles, plays the banjo, and rides the unicycle.

Adam TerandoUniversity of DelawareAdam has memorized word-for-word four seasons of the TV show, The Simpsons.

Kean Huat SoonUniv. of Tech., MalaysiaKean is often mistaken as Korean. What is he? He claims he’s a geographer!

Thomas SiglerUniv. of S. CaliforniaThomas ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. He also speaks Hungarian.

Jairus RossiBucknell UniversityJairus worked as a snapping turtle catcher in the Adirondacks for a summer.Valerie SebestyenUniversity of WyomingValerie spent a month tracking lions and elephants in Kenya last winter.

Twenty-one new graduate students joined the department this past September from as far away as Malaysia to as close to home as right here in State College. Find out what university our new graduate students hail from and some of their unusual talents and stories.

2 Penn State Geography Winter/Spring 2006

Undergraduate hometowns in Pennsylvania; one of a larger series of maps created by Adam Naito, a junior majoring in geography.

Mapping Hometowns This fall, Gould Center Intern

Adam Naito created a map showing the hometowns of the department’s undergraduate and graduate students. Students’ homes from Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico, and New Jersey to Nigeria are represented on the map.

The map is interactive, with views of individual states and countries, and with layering capabilities to view interstate highways and urban areas.

To view the complete set of maps, access, http://www.geog.psu.edu/im-a g e s / D O G H o m e t o w n s _ 2 . s w f .

Clark Knighton SeiptUniversity of VirginiaClark travels as an inter-preter for doctors in the Do-minican Republic.

Lisa GillUniv. of Colorado, BoulderLisa still fi nds the Magic School Bus quite educational.

Jin ChenUniversity of Toledo, OhioJin sees a bright future for his now unpopular hobbies: crick-et raising and pig chasing.

For more information, access our Web site, http://www.geog.psu.edu/grad/incoming0506.html.

Introducing the 2005-2006 Graduate Class

-- “I have been so far ‘out of my box’ so many times during this trip that I’m going to have to redefi ne ‘my box’.”

The success of this trip has strengthened AESEDA’s commitment to sponsor future undergraduate fi eld research experiences in Africa. Plans are already underway for a 2006-07 course on “Globalization and Sustainable Livelihoods in Africa.” Access our Web site, http://www.geog.psu.edu, for more information.

CAUSE 2005Dr. Chris Benner led

sixteen students on an intensive three-week international fi eld experience to South Africa this summer as part of a two-semester course on environmental justice sponsored by the Center for A d v a n c e m e n t of Studies and E x p e r i e n c e (CAUSE), and the Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Development in Africa (AESEDA). Students traveled to three coastal communities in South Africa to explore issues including land reform, urban vulnerability, and community-based tourism.

“For the students, the education-

al experience of this whole course expand-ed their global knowl-edge and opened up signifi cant new educa-tional and career op-portunities for them,” says Chris Benner.

Read the stu-dents’ im-pressions of their ove r se a s e x p e r i -ence in the excerpts be-low:

-- “My opinions, viewpoints, and values have all been challenged, and in turn, evolved on this trip.”

-- “Women responded during interviews that they eat only every other day. I felt so helpless. This experience made me want to make a long-term commitment to fi ghting poverty.”

We’re looking forward to more guest speakers, potlucks, fi eld trips, and an excursion to New York City in the spring semester. Keep up to date on all of our events by accessing our Web site, http://www.geog.psu.edu/underdogs.

Thanks to UnderDOG co-presidents, Susan Kaleita and Devin Yeatman, for contribuing this article.

The UnderDOGsThe UnderDOGs, Penn State’s

student-run undergraduate geography organization, kicked off the fall semester in grand fashion. Our introductory meeting attracted over thirty-fi ve students; all in attendance got to mingle and feast on pizza. Throughout the semester we hosted many speakers. Professor Brent Yarnal spoke about the process of selecting and applying to graduate programs, and Professor Adam Rose spoke about fi nding and making the most of internships. We also welcomed Katie Hess and Tara Aims, two department alumnae, to discuss employment opportunities

at their company, Dewberry.Social activities, such as our

renowned potluck dinners and fi eld trips, are also an important facet in the life of an UnderDOG. In October, we attended the Association

Penn State and University of Cape Town students and faculty in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

of American Geographers Middle States Meeting in Chautauqua, NY. Our team came in fi rst place in the division’s Geography Bowl. We also ventured to the hottest town in Pennsylvania, Centralia. This tiny spot on the map is home to the

U.S.’s longest-burning underground mine fi re. While in the area, UnderDOGs took a steam train ride and subterranean mine tour.

UnderDOGs members at a road fi ssure on old PA Route 61 in Centralia, PA.

Gamma Theta UpsilonThis fall, the Penn

State Alpha Tau Chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon, the international geography honor society, inducted twenty-fi ve new members. Founded in

1951 by Professor E. Willard Miller, the chapter plans to institute a peer tutoring program and host other events in the spring semester.

Students discuss urban issues with residents of Cape Town’s Masiphumelele township.

Undergraduate News

Winter/Spring 2006 Penn State Geography 3

Tim Frazier (Ph.D.)Tim was awarded

a research assistant-ship for $28,000 from the U.S. Geological Survey to study “Cur-rent and Future Vul-

nerability of Maui County, Hawaii to Climate Variation and Change.” The offer for the assistantship came after a presentation of a portion of his master’s thesis at the 2005 An-nual Meeting of the AAG in Den-ver, CO. Tim will travel to Maui this summer to begin fi eldwork.

Alistair Geddes (Ph.D.) and Morgan Windram (M.S.)

While accom-panying her during her trip to the U.K. this summer to conduct her thesis research, Alistair proposed to Mor-gan in London.

And, she accepted! The wedding is set for June 24, 2006 in Kennett Square, PA. Congratulations to both Alistair and Morgan!

Adrienne Gruver (M.S.)Adrienne gave

birth to her son, Finnean Bay Gru-ver, 7 lbs 15 oz, 21 in, on October 11th. Adrienne is a sec-ond-year master’s

student with research interests in cartography, geovisualization, and epidemiology.

Kristen Hychka (Ph.D.) This spring Kris-

ten will be funded through the Society of Woman Geogra-phers fellowship. The fellowship is offered

once a year to a woman Ph.D. stu-dent in each of fi ve geography de-partments.

Anthony Robinson (Ph.D.)Anthony received

funding from an EMS Centennial Research Award and a Young Scholar Travel Grant on behalf of the U.S. National Committee

for the International Cartograph-ic Association (ICA), as well as a U.S. Geo-spatial Intelli-gence Founda-tion scholarship. He also won fi rst prize for the graduate student category of the College of Earth and Mineral Sci-ences summer photo contest.

Kolson Schlosser (Ph.D.)Kolson received the Dissertation Re-search Scholarship offered by the Te-resa Heinz Scholars for Environmental Research. Kolson’s

research interests include nature-society relations, political geogra-phy, and political ecology.

Jin Chen (Ph.D.)Jin Chen led his

team to earn fi rst place in the InfoVis 2005 Contest for their submission titled, “Space-Time-Attribute Analysis

and Visualization of U.S. Company Data.” Other team members include Diansheng Guo, former GeoVISTA Ph.D. student and postdoc who is now faculty at the University of South Carolina Geography Department, and Penn State GeoVISTA Center Director Alan MacEachren.


Graduate News

Anthony’s winning photograph of A Coruña, Spain.

Women Win Volleyball Championship

Womyn w/ Latitude, the Department of Geography’s intramural women’s volleyball team, won their championship game, 2-1, on November 15th. The team, consisting of female geography students and friends of the department, competed in the Women’s Major IM Volleyball League throughout the fall semester; their record was 11-1.

Back row: Valerie Trouet, Tiffany Bogich, Dina Leslie, Debora Saibene, Beth Bee; Front row: Denise Bauer, Lauren Snedeker, Clark Knighton-Seipt; Not pictured: Tina Klug and Adrienne Gruver.

S.W.I.G. Reaches Out to Local Students

As part of Ge-ography Aware-ness Week, Sup-porting Women in Geography (S.W.I.G.) host-ed “Supporting Young Women in Geography” Day on November

18th. The event attracted twenty-fi ve students, grades six through twelve, from regional middle schools and high schools.

A student holds the world at her fi ngertips.

Twin Sisters Author Book

Jessica Hayes-Conroy, a Ph.D. student in the department, has co-published a book, held a conference to inform residents,

and found her passion in life; all accomplished side-by-side with her identical twin sister Allison.

Jess grew up in Riverton, NJ where she became concerned with the suburban sprawl that was surrounding her town and threatening the local agriculture.

Both Jess and her sister received their B.A.s in growth and structure of cities at Bryn Mawr College with a concentration in the environment. After graduation, the sisters parted ways, and Jess went to the


Activists and Aviators: Grads Making a Difference

University of Vermont to study rural geography.

At Bryn Mawr, Jess and her sister wrote their book, South Jersey Under the Stars: Essays on Culture, Agriculture, and Place (Fairleigh Dickinson University, 2005). “It was fun and it really drew us together,” she says. The project was an academic and activist endeavor in protest to the “conversion of farmland to sprawling suburban housing and strip-mall development.”

In the book, the sisters seek to uncover what is happening to the once rural south Jersey landscape and what they believe should be done about it. In Part Two, Jess discusses

Air Force Pilot Hunts Hurricanes

Dena Schulz, a student in the Master of GIS de-gree program at Penn State, is an Air Force pilot on the WC-130J “Su-per Hercules.” She

fl ies with the 53rd Weather Recon-naissance Squadron, also known as the Hurricane Hunters.

As a pilot, Dena is responsible for fl ight planning and fl ying the aircraft safely to and from the storm, and in the storm environment. The pilots also help the Aerial Recon-naissance Weather Offi cer (ARWO) with observations they see from the cockpit windows (e.g. lightning, heavy rain, a break in the clouds).

During storm season, Dena works long hours. With Hurricane

Katrina, for example, she and her squadron were alerted for the mis-sion at 10:45 p.m., arrived at 11:45 p.m., were briefed on the mission, per-formed their prefl ight duties and planning, and took off at 2:00 a.m. They fl ew for 9.3 hours, landed, debriefed, and went for lunch. Dena explains that storm fl ights typically last between eight and ten hours, although she has fl own a 12.5 hour mission and heard of longer ones.

“At the end of my second year of fl ying into storms, Katrina is the most memorable,” she says. “It was my fi rst time in a category fi ve storm and seeing a well-formed eye and eyewall. The hurricane also threat-

ened our home base (Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS) and many of my squad-ron mates’ families and homes,

which made it personal.”

Dena fl ew the hurricane while it intensifi ed from a category three to a category fi ve with a central pressure of 902mb and winds upwards of 150 knots (173 mph).

Dena is hoping that her master’s degree in GIS will

provide her with options in several different industries. “I have varied interests, and GIS, which can be used for numerous types of applica-tions, opens doors to many different career fi elds,” she explains.

For more information on Dena’s squadron, access http://www.hurri-canehunters.com.

the history of farm markets pre-1950, the birth of roadside markets, and the continued development of

farmland. The book also boasts a foreword by Yi-Fu Tuan.

Jess and Allison held a conference called, “Reconnecting Our Lives to the Land” at Bur-lington County Community College attended by 100 citizens last year. By looking at the roots of agriculture in the state and its future viability, they discussed the potential for a reinvigoration of rural identity among the residents. “I want to help

small farmers maintain the viability of their farms,” Jess says. She also wants to encourage agricultural linkages within the local school systems.

Dena and her crewmates breakout into the eye of Hurricane Katrina.

Jess and Allison’s co-authored book.


Mary EasterlingMary’s work in

the Cooperative Wet-lands Center earned her a promotion to senior research assistant.

Amy GlasmeierAmy was inter-

viewed in Novem-ber on the local PBS channel discussing her new atlas, and on NPR discussing hun-

ger in America. She was the keynote speaker at the Swedish Institute for Growth Policy Studies conference and was selected by the Appalachian Regional Commission to serve as the John D. Whisman Scholar for fi scal years 2006–07.

Alan MacEachrenAlan received the

International Carto-graphic Association Fellowship. He was co-editor of the book, Exploring Geovisu-

alization (Oxford, 2005), published this past summer. Alan was also a panel member on a national research agenda report from the National Vi-sualization and Analytics Center.

Stephen MatthewsOn July 1st, Steve

started an appoint-ment as associate professor of sociol-ogy and anthropol-ogy, retaining his administrative posi-

tion as director of the geographic information analysis (GIA) core at the Population Research Institute. One day later, his wife Valarie King gave birth to their second daughter, Celine Janelle Matthews (7 lbs 8.5 oz, 21 in).

Petra TschakertPetra was fea-

tured in the “Profi le of a Scientist” section of Global Change Newsletter (Septem-ber 2005).

Denice WardropDenice was pro-

moted to senior re-search associate. She was also selected as the Pennsylvania

Governor’s appointee to the Chesa-peake Executive Council’s Scientif-ic and Technical Advisory Council (STAC).

Faculty News

Department Head Roger Downs gives a talk at Coffee Hour.

Petra Tschakertshares her research with local middle and high school stu-dents.

Mark Gahegan talks to parents about the use of online maps during Parents & Families Weekend.

Emeritus Professor Receives Honors

Peirce Lewis, professor emeritus of geography at Penn State, was honored at the P e n n s y l v a n i a

Geographical Society Annual Meeting on October 28th with the Distinguished Scholar Award, given for substantive research, publications, and professional development in geography. Peirce also received the Ruby S. and E. Willard Miller Lifetime Achievement Award for his exemplary, long-term dedication to the fi eld of geography.

“I am particularly gratifi ed to receive the Ruby S. and E. Wil-lard Miller Lifetime Achieve-ment Award,” says Peirce. “Wil-lard Miller hired me to work at Penn State in 1958 and I am greatly pleased to be recognized both by my peers in the col-lege and university community, as well as by a large number of public school geography teach-ers,” he says.

Peirce was also interviewed on a History Channel program aired in September featuring the Hurricane Katrina disaster and the future of New Orleans. All this emerges from the second edi-tion of his book, New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Land-scape (University of Virginia Press, 2003). The book won the Association of American Geog-raphers’ J. B. Jackson Prize for distinguished books written by geographers. He was also inter-viewed by fi lmmakers of a PBS special on the history of New Orleans.

Faculty Share the World of Geography

alumna Erin Greb—and strengthening its commitment to out-reach through car-tography. The center designs numerous specialty maps of the Penn State cam-pus as well as maps of the Centre region for clients across the University and State College.

For more infor-mation about the Gould Center, ac-cess the new Web site, http://www.geog.psu.edu/gouldcenter/, or call (814) 863-4562.


Department Staff & Outreach

Paying the Bills Susan Spaugh doesn’t speak

Spanish, but she manages just fi ne. When faculty members and grad-uate students travel to conferences or conduct research in such foreign destinations as Spain or Africa, Su-san processes all their receipts and reimbursement forms – sometimes in English, sometimes in other lan-guages. Strange alphabets or not, Susan ensures everyone gets paid.

Originally from Indiana, Su-san’s husband’s work as a Baptist minister brought her and her three children to State College in 1986. A decade later, Susan began work-ing full-time as the graduate staff assistant for the School of Music at Penn State. She was hired in the same capacity by the Department of Geography in May of 2002, but soon moved into her current posi-tion as the budget staff assistant.

“I’ve learned so much here be-cause of the cross-training the de-partment offers,” Susan says. “Ev-eryone in the offi ce trains on the responsibilities of the different po-sitions, not only to fi ll in for others if they’re absent, but to learn new skills and develop professionally.”

Susan is the department’s book-keeper. She processes fi nancial forms, invoices, travel reimburse-ments, wages for wage payroll, and is generally responsible for all the inputs and outputs of the depart-

ment. Susan took on double duties for fi ve months during the spring and summer while Graduate Staff Assistant Noelle Capparelle was away on maternity leave. Volun-teering for additional responsibili-ties, though, is commonplace for Susan. She served on the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Staff Advisory Council for the past

three years, and generously assists in planning and supporting depart-ment and college events such as the Dean’s Luncheon, college-wide ice cream socials, and the department’s United Way fund-raising campaign.

She was also recently ap-pointed to the Penn State Commission for Women, a University-wide fo-rum for exchanging ideas and advising the Presi-dent on improving prac-tices that support women at Penn State. Geography faculty members Denice Wardrop and Cindy Brew-er recommended Susan for the position.

“Susan’s work for the EMS College on the Staff Advisory Council has been well regarded by the Dean,” says Cindy. “I

felt her strengths—calm, smart, and a good problem solver—would be a good addition to the Commission.”

Susan’s able handling of fi nan-cial affairs, dedication to service, and commitment to her work sup-port everyone in the department, wherever in the world geography takes them.

Susan’s door is always open to assist the depart-ment’s faculty, staff, and students.

Gould Center forEducation and Outreach

Peter R. Gould was a world-re-nowned geographer and former faculty member in the Penn State Department of Geography. He

passed away in January of 2000 af-ter a year-long battle with cancer. In honor of his dedication to education and service, the department created the Peter R. Gould Center for Edu-cation and Outreach. The center is

guided by three goals: to expand student access to the department via distance education, to promote active learning in geog-raphy courses, and to foster outreach efforts to all of the department’s con-stituents.

The Gould Center has recently undergone an overhaul in staff and responsibilities, hiring a year-long intern—junior geography major Adam Naito—a new cartographer,

Peter R. GouldThe forthcoming Medlar Field as seen on the campus map.


Gregory Fulton ( B.S. ’75)Gregory is the President of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association (CMCA), an organization representing the trucking industry within Colorado. He and his wife have been married for twenty-four years and have three boys, Whitney, 20, Corey, 18, and Kevin, 16.

Karl Harig (B.S. ’90)Karl retired from the Pennsylvania State Police in January 2004.

John Harner (B.S. ’86)John was promoted to associate professor at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 2004. He has been both a visiting and Fulbright professor at the Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico for all of the calendar year 2005. The fourth edition of his co-authored book, Human Geography in Action (John Wiley & Sons), will be published in 2006.

Mike Hermann (B.S. ’95) During the summer, Mike attended the Eastern Historical Geographers Conference in Battle Harbour, Labrador, Canada.

Jenni (Whitnack) Hesterman (B.S. ’86)

Jenni is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. She spent a year as a senior National Defense Fellow at the Center for Strategic and In t e rna t i ona l

Studies, a think tank located in Washington, DC. She also wrote a book titled, Transnational Crime and the Criminal-Terrorist Nexus: Synergies and Corporate Trends (Air University Press, 2005).

Alumni News

Jeff Allen (B.A. ’73)Jeff is a partner in the Gold Group, a business development and marketing fi rm in Clark, NJ. He resides in Saddle River, NJ.

Christopher S. Anderson (B.S. ’86) Christopher is the Planning Director for Jasper County, GA. He was also certifi ed by the American Institute of Certifi ed Planners in 2004.

Robin (Radzinski) Astifan (B.S. ’96) and Brian Astifan (B.S. ’96)Robin and Brian gave birth to their

second son, Issac James Astifan, on September 3rd. Their other son, Ethan, turned 2 - y e a r s - o l d on November 16th.

John D. Bardugone (B.S. ’98)John is a software/data/consulting salesperson for Claritas. He lives in San Diego, CA, and he enjoys golfi ng and surfi ng.

Joel R. Burcat, Esq. (B.S. ’76)Joel published an article in February on legislative fairness and justice in the Environmental Law Reporter.

Wayne Brew (B.S. ’81)Wayne received tenure as an assistant professor of geography at Montgomery County Community College in the fall of 2005.

Bryan Cope (B.S. ’05)Bryan is employed by the Urban Research and Development Corporation in Bethlehem, PA.

Tim Egenrieder (B.S. ’99)Tim is an account representative for Genesis Consolidated Services, Ins. in Burlington, MA.

Robert K. Kennedy (B.S. ’79)Robert retired from the U.S. Army in August 2000 with the rank of Lt. Col. after twenty-one years of service. He is now in his sixth year in charge of the U.S. Army Junior ROTC program at Junction City High School in Junction City, KS. He and his wife have two daughters, Erin, 24, and Katie, 21.

Tony Kirvan (B.S. ’95)Tony and his wife Becky gave birth to their fi rst child, Michael James, on June 29th.

Rachel Kurtz (Ph.D. ’03)Rachel is the Acting Landsat Data Acquisition Manager for the Landsat Project of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Ken Lerner (M.S. ’74)Ken has been a professional planner since 1975 and is the Zoning Administrator for the City of Burlington, VT. He lives in Charlotte, VT with his wife and two sons.

Axel Linde (B.S. ’82)Axel is employed part time for Lancaster County’s local school district as the Adult Agricultural Coordinator. He also raises animals on her 105-acre family farm—85 dairy heifers, 11 sheep, 55 turkeys, and 100 broilers.

Adria Liszka (B.S. ’00)Adria married Will Reutzel, also a Penn State alumnus, on October 22nd in State College, PA.


Christine Mares (M.S. ’03)C h r i s t i n e started a new job as the Fire E d u c a t i o n Specialist for The University of Arizona

Cooperative Extension, Tucson, AZ. Christine and her husband Marty also gave birth to their second son, Max, in July 2004. Joe Scarpaci (M.S. ’78)Joe is a professor of geography at Virginia Tech. He received the Phi Beta Kappa’s Outstanding Faculty Book Award in 2005 for his book Heritage Tourism and Globalization in the Latin American Centro Histórico. He was also named book review editor of the Journal of Latin American Geography.

Bob Schellhamer (B.S. ’89)Bob is the Project Manager for Spotts, Stevens, and McCoy in Reading, PA.

David G. Smith (B.S. ’89)David is employed by Synergist Technology Group, Inc. as Vice President of Geospatial Information Technology. During the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes, his company provided hurricane-response support to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Offi ce of Emergency Management.

Todd Smith (B.S. ’99)Todd is employed by Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) in Exton, PA.

Kristian Stokke (Ph.D. ’92)Kristian recently published two books: Democratising Development: The Politics of Socio-Economic Rights in South Africa and Politicising Democracy: The New Local Politics of Democratisation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).

Derek Swingley (B.S. ’04) Derek received a promotion—GIS Tech to GIS Analyst—at CALIBRE Systems, Inc. in Fort Rucker, AL.

Steven Valvano (B.S. ’03)Steven married Jennifer Biroc on September 30th in Stroudsburg, PA. He is employed by Destiny Resources Inc. as a GIS analyst.

Alumni News

For more Alumni News, access our Web site: www.geog.psu.edu/alumni, or contact Alumni Relations Coordinator Jodi Vender at (814) 863-5730, or via e-mail at [email protected].

Interested in being a mentor, speaking at Coffee Hour or another event, or updating your information?Contact Jodi Vender.

-----

The Department of Geography would also like to extend its appreciation to all alumni involved in helping with the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

A Poem byJeff Allen (B.A. ’73):

“My nickname is Mariner... I admit being a geography

junkie. I guess I have life-time

tenure as a geographer when explanations of why this city is located in a spot and how it grew is met with... ‘There he goes again.’

My excitement about an outcropping, uplift, or tipped plain elicits ‘not again Dad.’ My collection of road maps spans the nation and the world.

My National Geographic Atlas is displayed prominently and used often. I can spend hours considering Dakar or Detroit.

Despite their GPS systems and detailed MapQuest downloads, my friends and colleagues call me for directions.

My wife, after twenty-six years of marriage, is no longer amazed that I can fi nd my way around São Paulo with the same ease that I negotiate New Jersey.

My son, now 19 and a sophomore at Northeastern University, loves to tell of the one time I led the Boy Scouts the long way back to camp and was ‘temporarily dislocated.’ In his version, I went in the wrong direction and admitted to being lost. NEVER!

My nickname is Mariner... I admit being a geography

junkie.”

Kristian Stokke’s new books.

Jay worked for six months as the project engineer for the construction of the Afghan Regional Brigade Military Base in Kandahar, Afghanistan—a project that entailed the coordination of some 3,000

Afghan workers constructing more than ninety buildings. Jay and his men routinely endured thirteen-hour days, seven-day work weeks, temperatures in excess of 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and occasional rocket attacks. He faced even more challenging circumstances, however, four years earlier in his own country.

Following the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, Jay and his ACOE Emergency Operations Response Team were deployed to Ground Zero to assist with debris removal. He vividly remembers the event.

“I remember driving down Hudson Parkway toward Ground Zero in a procession of fi re engines and other emergency vehicles; the highway was lined with people cheering. The mood of the city was solemn during the fi rst month after the attacks, but you could always see the hope,” Jay recalls.

Jay is currently serving in New Orleans as part of the continuing relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina. We wish him success and safety in his service to the country.

Alumna Starts Her Own Business

Erin Greb

graduated from Penn State in 1999 with a B.S. in cartography, GIS, and remote sensing. She then

attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she earned her M.S. in geography, studying the topic of National Atlas Design on the Internet.

After graduate school, Erin worked for MapQuest for two years. “I learned a lot while I was there, especially about the business aspect of printing maps and how a big company is run,” she says.

Since then, she has moved back to State College and opened a business in her home, called “Butterfl y Maps and Design.” Erin is solely responsible for the business and is able to meet with each of her clients on a one-to-one basis.

“This gives me the opportunity to be more creative with my work,” she explains. Erin creates maps for invitations of special occasions with the same style, colors, and fonts as the invitation and includes information such as hotels, restaurants, stores, and landmarks in the area.

Erin also maps out the historical migration of music and dance in West Africa, which she has been studying for six years. She is developing an atlas that will show how the rhythms and dances have changed over time as the people migrated. She hopes to create a CD to accompany the atlas with the dif-ferent rhythms.

Erin is thankful to Cindy Brewer who has offered support and advice in developing her business.

To learn more about “Butterfl y Maps and Design,” access http://www.butterfl ymaps.com.


Alumni Serve Communities At Home and Abroad

Serving in the Wake of Disasters

The Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) covers a lot of territory: hazardous waste cleanup, fl ood protection, disaster

response, and homeland security. Equipped with a degree in geography from Penn State and a bundle of determination, Jay Hershey was well prepared to confront and overcome any task the Corps threw his way.

The ACOE hired Jay the summer before his fi rst year of college. He traveled the northeast as a land and hydrographic surveyor. After graduation in 1997, Jay joined fellow geography alumni Steve Norman and Matt Beaty for a summer of fi eld work in California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park (part of Dr. Alan Taylor’s research) before returning to the Corps, this

time in the Construction Division. He has since traveled throughout the U.S., as well as to Guam, Germany, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan, and most recently to Afghanistan to assist in military construction operations for Operation Defending Freedom.

Remains of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in September 2001.

Soviet anti-aircraft weapon overlooking the city of Qalat. Soldiers carrying loaded rifl es and stockpiles of live ordnance are commonplace in war-torn Afghanistan.

Don RichardsonDr. Don Richardson, a 1977 graduate from the Penn

State Department of Geography, established the Dr. G.D. Richardson Scholarship in Geography to provide recog-nition and fi nancial assistance to outstanding geography undergraduate students.

“I am happy to be able to help undergraduate students in geography at Penn State,” says Dr. Richardson. “I know that without fi nancial support during my undergrad years, I would have never been able to afford to go to college.”


Profiles in Philanthropy

The BalmatsBalmat family tailgates at Penn

State football games are a great tra-dition. The delicious food, camara-derie, and good nature of the hosts attract a potpourri of personalities. Geographers are always among those in attendance.

Bruce and Ruth Balmat gradu-ated from Penn State in 1970 with degrees in mechanical engineer-ing and elementary education, re-spectively. The couple developed strong ties to the University both as active students (Bruce was captain of the wrestling team) and alumni. It was their children, however, who introduced them to the geography community at Penn State.

“Our son Jeff started out in the College of Engineering. But, after two years and a lot of soul searching he came to us one day and said, ‘What would you rath-er have, an unhappy engineer or a happy geographer?’” Bruce remem-bers. “Once Jeff was accepted into the Department of Geography, we were amazed at the positive outlook, excitement level, and stories we be-gan to hear about the department, the visits to professors’ homes, and the personal attention given to each student. Someone was always avail-able,” Ruth recalls.

Following a summer work ex-perience in France and after pursu-

ing majors in education and com-munications, the Balmats’ daughter, Ali, took her older brother’s advice to enroll in a geography elective. She soon found a similar love of the discipline which ultimately led to her fi rst job after graduation at the National Geographic Society.

In 2002, after both of their chil-dren had graduated from the depart-ment, the couple created the Balmat Family Scholarship in Geography.

“We thought it would be ap-propriate to make a donation to the department that had done so much to help our kids while they were at Penn State,” Bruce says. “Since both Ali and Jeff ended up in the Department of Geography after try-ing other majors, we thought that a scholarship for similarly situated students might be a good idea. Who knows how many other ‘unhappy engineers’ are out there just wait-ing for the world of geography to be opened to them,” Ruth says.

The endowment has since helped numerous undergraduate students to pursue a geography edu-cation. The department extends its sincere thanks to the Balmats for their warm friendship over the years and for their generosity in helping students to discover the world of geography.

The Balmat family (clockwise): Ali, Bruce, Ruth, and Jeff. Jeff now works in Tucson, AZ with the Sonoran Institute, and Ali is in medical school at Northwestern University studying to become a physical therapist.

Rob and Rebecca Brooks

Dr. Rob Brooks reached his 25-year milestone as a faculty member at Penn State this year. To celebrate the event, Rob and his wife Rebecca established the Robert P. and Rebecca P. Brooks Endowment for the Cooperative Wetlands Center. The endowment will help support future graduate and undergraduate students who are conducting research through the Cooperative Wetlands Center (CWC).

“Becky and I are deeply committed to providing the best possible educational, research, and outreach opportunities for future graduate and undergraduate students,” says Rob. “We hope substantial funding can accumulate over time to support student efforts to understand wetland ecology, and to conserve these important aquatic ecosystems.”

Devin Yeatman, 2004-05

scholarship recepient.


Ronald F. Abler Award in Geography: to assist outstanding undergraduate and graduate students in presenting the results of their research at a scholarly geographical society meeting.

Balmat Family Scholarship in Geography: to support outstanding undergraduate sophomores and juniors.

Erickson Fund in Geography: to enrich the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences by providing monies to enhance the academic quality and general welfare of students, faculty and staff of the department.

Peter R. Gould Memorial Fund: to support the Peter R. Gould Center for Geography Education & Outreach.

Geography Alumni Scholars Award: to assist undergraduate and graduate students who have exhibited exemplary achievement.

C. Gregory Knight Endowment in Geography: to support research, faculty and student travel, equipment, and lectures.

E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Lectureship in Geography: to support lectures by outstanding geography scholars and professionals who are not currently Penn State faculty or students.

Ruby S. Miller Endowment for Geographic Excellence: to improve the quality of the department by providing fi nancial assistance to graduate students.

G.D. Richardson Scholarship: to provide an annual award to outstanding undergraduate students enrolled in the department.

Glenda Laws Endowment: to provide general support for the Department of Geography.

Jeff Gockley Memorial Scholarship: to support an undergraduate student in the area of geographic information science.

Robert P. and Rebecca P. Brooks Endowment for the Cooperative Wetlands Center: to support future graduate and undergraduate students conducting resarch through the Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center.

For more information about our scholarships and endowments, contact us at (814) 865-4562, or via e-mail at [email protected].

Endowments & Scholarships: Supporting Students & Faculty

Spring Alumni Event in Washington, D.C.

The Department of Geography will host an Alumni/Development event from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 at L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event will provide alumni an op-portunity to meet with one another, and will serve as a kick-off event

to a Department of Geography Devel-opment Campaign that will raise funds for the following goals: travel and re-search expenses for undergraduate and graduate students, scholarships for un-dergraduate and graduate students, andsupport for Coffee Hour speakers.

Invitations will be sent to alumni who work within fi fty miles of Washington, D.C. If any alumni are not within this radius and wish to receive an invitation, contact us at (814) 863-4562, or via e-mail at [email protected].

We look forward to seeing you this spring!

The Department of Geography installed a memorial bench for Jeff Gockley on October 20th. Jeff Gockley, a 1997 graduate of the department, passed away in February 2005 at the age of 29.

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.


By Doug Miller

How do education and service activi-ties within the Depar tment of Geography and the Col-lege of Earth and Mineral

Sciences serve the needs of citizens in the Commonwealth and beyond? This question is at the core of my daily activities in both the depart-ment and the EMS Earth and Envi-ronmental Systems Institute (EESI), where I direct the Center for Envi-ronmental Informatics (CEI).

The broad training that I have received as an earth scientist has led to many valuable experiences in interdisciplinary research at Penn State over the past twenty-nine years. At the core of this experience is the profound sense of accomplish-ment when participating in activi-ties and projects that create a benefi t for the society that has ultimately under-written one’s work. While basic science has a critical role to fi ll in developing our understanding of the world’s physi-cal, biological, and social processes, it is applied science that will be “in the trenches” working to solve our most basic environmental, eco-nomic, and societal issues.

Five years ago I was appointed to the graduate faculty in the Department of Geography. In this time I have worked in two areas: the formation of CEI and the creation of the new Master of Geographic Information Systems (MGIS) degree program within the department.

CEI participates in research and outreach projects that cover

a wide spectrum of the natural sciences. We collaborate with agronomists, biolo-gists, climatologists, entomologists, plant pathologists, soil sci-entists, geographers, and meteorologists to create information re-sources and tools that can be used to effec-tively manage natural resources in environ-mentally sound ways. We recently developed a web-based risk management tool for wheat fu-sarium head blight that provides a daily risk forecast for wheat farmers in the U.S. wheatbelt for this costly fungus. We have developed web-based tools for integrated pest man-agement in the Northeast and forage production in Pennsylvania. CEI serves society with the best infor-mation and range of solutions from the research of Penn State scientists and our collaborators in government

and industry. Since July

2004 I have also been help-ing the depart-ment to de-velop an online p ro fe s s iona l master’s degree program in GIS that meets the growing de-mand for non-t r a d i t i o n a l forms of grad-

uate education. We are creating a program that recognizes the current daily demands on geospatial tech-nology professionals in the work-place and their need for continuing education and a terminal degree in the discipline.

We have fi fty-eight MGIS candidates enrolled in the program and our application rate is steady at around fi fteen applicants per

quarter. Our MGIS candidates come from a wide range of backgrounds. Many of our students serve in local or state government agencies, where they are called upon to apply their knowledge of geospatial information to solve challenges ranging from emergency support services to water and sewer infrastructure system maintenance. Our students also serve in numerous federal agencies where they participate in activities as widespread as geospatial intelligence and hurricane hunting. About one-third of our students work in the private sector, often serving side-by-side with colleagues in public service to jointly solve problems requiring GIS.

What does all of this have to do with geography? Solutions to the complex problems that now face our society require diverse perspectives. Geography is an ideal discipline through which to integrate the wide variety of natural and social science disciplines required on interdisciplinary teams devoted to solving these problems. I can think of no better personal situation than that which I now enjoy: applying geographic knowledge to a variety of environmental challenges while simultaneously helping to equip a new generation of GIS professionals to better serve society.

Find out more about the Center for Environmental Informatics at their Web site, http://www.cei.psu.edu/.

Research in Nature/Society Geography“Education and Service”

A wheat fusarium head blight risk assessment tool developed by re-searchers at the CEI.

Geography has an important role in helping to manage Pennsylvania’s rapidly changing landscapes.


Research in Human Geography“Africa EMERGENCE: Tele-mediated Work and Sustainable Livelihoods in Africa”

By Chris Benner

On July 22, 2002, sub-scribers to The New York Times discov-ered that tick-ets written out on New York City streets

were being scanned and sent as digital photographs to computers in Ghana’s capital city Accra, where more than one hundred workers transcribed the handwritten scrawl of New York police offi cers into searchable databases. All across the African continent, thousands of people—many of whom spend their nights in homes without electric-ity and running water—spend their days using advanced telecommu-nications networks to answer tele-phone inquiries, provide technical support, and sell products to cus-tomers located thousands of miles away in the U.S. and Europe.

The digital information revolu-tion is transforming Africa as much as, or perhaps even more than, the rest of the world. Indeed, the Afri-can island nation of Mauritius claims to be the fi rst country worldwide to provide complete nationwide broadband wireless Internet access, and across the continent the number of cell phone users has increased 58 percent a year for the past fi ve years, the fastest rate in the world. To what extent can these new tele-communi-cations links contribute to improved job opportunities in African nations, and thus contribute to addressing the desperate poverty that so many residents of Africa face?

That question is at the core of the research I have been conducting for the last four years on telecommuni-cations and sustainable livelihoods, fi rst in South Africa and now ex-panding to other countries in Africa. The dramatic improvement in infor-mation and communication technol-

ogies has led to rapid world-wide growth in new forms of “tele-me-diated” work—work that is carried out at a distance from an establish-ment and primarily entails process-ing information transmitted by a telecommunications link. Examples include: back-offi ce processing of data related to fi nancial transac-tions, interactive “contact centers” that handle customer service, and professional services ranging from medical tran-scription to tax p r e p a r a t i o n . Though most tele-mediated work remains in the country of origin, there has been signifi cant growth in the ‘off-shoring’ of this work to developing na-tions. By some estimates, this “offshore out-sourcing” is growing by 30 to 40 percent a year, and will be a $150 billion dollar industry by 2008.

Many African governments are eagerly pursuing this type of invest-ment, with the hope of rapidly ex-panding employment in this labor-intensive work that requires little capital investment. South Africa has garnered the vast majority of Africa’s share of this work. Some 60,000 to 80,000 people are already employed in the country’s call center industry, and international business is esti-mated to result in up to 100,000 new jobs and $200 million in new foreign direct investment by 2008. This work is beginning to grow in other nations as well. At least ten outsourcing fi rms in Ghana employ nearly 5,000 people, and Kenya has attracted at least one major call cen-ter, employing 200 people.

A number of factors affect the extent to which tele-mediated jobs can contribute to growth in sustain-able livelihoods in Africa. First, the scale of work relocation may be smaller than predicted, since com-mon cultural norms, national regu-lations, and a need for periodic face-to-face communication limit the ability to relocate e-work to develop-ing nations. Second, many efforts to relocate work overseas have failed.

Unexpected com-plications, poor infrastructure, and rising costs have undermined the benefi ts sought by moving off-shore. Finally, the quality and sustainability of tele-mediated jobs, ranging from low-skilled back offi ce processing to highly skilled fi nancial analysis and software pro-gramming varies signifi cantly.

Developing a greater understand-ing of the factors

that shape the growth and sustain-ability of e-work in Africa is essen-tial for developing more effective policies and development strategies for promoting sustainable liveli-hoods, which is the ultimate goal of my research.

Geography undergraduate stu-dents will participate directly in these research efforts as part of an intensive fi eld-research course on Globalization and Sustainable Live-lihoods in Ghana in the 2006-2007 academic year, conducted in collab-oration with Penn State’s Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering and Development in Africa (AESEDA). Find out more about Chris’s re-search on his Web page, http://www.geog.psu.edu/people/benner/.

An advertisement for the call centre in-dustry in Cape Town, South Africa.


Research in Physical Geography“Tropical Tree Ring Analysis in the Miombo Woodland of Southern Africa”

By Valerie Trouet

The recent devastating ef-fect of Hurri-canes Katrina and Rita has reminded us of the vulner-ability of soci-ety to extreme

weather events and climate anoma-lies. The impact of short-term cli-mate anomalies as well as low-fre-quency climatic phenomena as El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on societies is even more extreme in regions where infrastructure is poor and socio-economic development is low, as is the case for major parts of southern Africa. Food security for millions of people in this area depends on early warning systems to predict the effects of ENSO in the re-gion. Long-term re-search of interannual climate variability is necessary to allow the development of such systems. Instrumen-tal climate records in southern Africa, how-ever, are very limited. Proxy climatic data, derived from various systems indirectly re-cording climate vari-ability (e.g. ice cores, corals, tree rings), of-fer a potential solution to this problem.

Tree ring data in particular have a fi xed annual resolution and can produce absolute time series. These characteristics allow tree rings to be used for the reconstruction of chang-es in atmospheric temperature, sea surface temperature, precipitation patterns, and streamfl ow. Tree ring analysis (or dendrochronology) is a well-documented discipline for temperate, arctic, mountainous, and arid zones. It has provided a reli-

able climate record for regions in the Northern Hemisphere and strong teleconnections with ENSO. Other dendrochronological applications include archaeological and art his-torical dating, and the reconstruction of forest fi re occurrences (as studied in the Vegetation Dynamics Lab of

the Department of Geography).

The occur-rence of climate-sensitive, annual rings in tropical trees, however, is a controversial is-sue. Annual rings are restricted to regions with alternating wet and dry seasons, where the extreme seasonality of pre-cipitation induces dormancy. Al-though major parts

of the tropics have a seasonal climate, relatively few ecological and clima-tological studies have used the po-tential offered by tree ring data. For my Ph.D. study, I evaluated the den-droclimatic potential of trees from the Miombo woodland in southern Africa. The Miombo woodland is the principle forest type of this re-gion, characterized by a tropical wet and dry climate. It is subject to a dry season of minimum fi ve months during which the dominant tree spe-

cies shed their leaves. I investigated the occurrence of annual tree rings in six species of the Miombo wood-land in Zambia and found distinct rings in all species. The tree ring patterns of individual trees could successfully be matched and seven-teen site- and species-specifi c tree ring chronologies were developed. Matching patterns were found for sites as far as 1300 km apart.

We found that water availabil-ity was the limiting factor to radial growth at all sites. The infl uence of climate on tree growth in the Miombo woodland is strongest at the core of the rainy season, when precipitation rates are highest. Dur-ing this time-period, the ENSO-ef-fect on rainfall variability in south-ern Africa is strongest. During the warm El Niño phase of the ENSO-cycle, rainfall is generally lower than normal leading to a decrease in tree growth. In the subsequent La Niña phase, positive rainfall and tree growth anomalies occur.

The study has demonstrated the possibility to construct a den-drochronological network for the Miombo region in southern Africa. Such a network can add to the ex-isting instrumental climatic records that are essential to the understand-ing of climatic variability.

Find out more about Valerie’s research in the Vegetation Dynam-ics Lab at http://www.geog.psu.edu/vegdyn/.

Valerie collecting samples in the Toiyabe National Forest, CA, for her postdoctoral research in the Vegetation Dynamics Lab.

Distribution of processed global tree ring data. Note the limited data in tropical regions. Map generated by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, 2005.

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITYDEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY302 WALKER BUILDINGUNIVERSITY PARK PA 16802-5011

This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State is committed to affi rmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.U.Ed.: EMS 06-31

2006 Calendar of Events

Spring Classes Begin...............................................January 9

Earth and Mineral SciencesExposition (EMEX)...............................................February 25

Graduate Student Conference................................February 25

Spring Break......................................................March 6-10

AAG Annual Meeting...........................................March 7-11

Alumni/Development Event........................................April 25

Spring Classes End................... ................................April 28

Spring Semester Final Exams.....................................May 1-5

EMS Undergraduate Commencement........................................................May 12

EMS Graduate Commencement....................................May 14

GEMS Seminar.................................................September 14

The Department of Geography requests that you

‘Save the Date’

for the 2006 Department of Geography GEMS Seminar:

“Mapping for the American Public”

Thursday, September 14, 20061 – 4:30 p.m.Auditorium

(located in the Hetzel Union Building)

A reception will follow the seminar.

For more information, access our Web site: http://www.geog.psu.edu