Along with Stanley D. Brunn, and Donald J. Zeigler, Professor Hays-Mitchell and Associate Professor Graybill co-edited the Sixth edition of Cities of the World: Regional Patterns and Urban Environments.

The publisher notes: ‘This edition focuses specifically on urban environmental issues, social and economic injustice, security and conflict, the history of urban settlement, urban models, and daily life. Building on 2015 as the Year of Water, the book introduces urban water concerns as a common undercurrent running through all chapters. The contributors explore how water affects cities and how cities affect water—from glacier loss to growing aridity, sea-level rise, increased flooding, potable water scarcity, and beyond. Vignettes of key cities give the reader a vivid understanding of daily life and the “spirit of place.” ‘

Congratulations!

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The Picker Interdisciplinary Science Institute (Picker ISI) recently announced the 2015-2016 grant awards supporting interdisciplinary approaches in innovative research. The grants bring together Colgate faculty and other researchers with complementary expertise to open new areas of study and to tackle existing problems in creative new ways.

Professor Jessica Graybill (Geography and Russian & Eurasian Studies) and her collaborators Andrey Petrov (University of Northern Iowa) and Gleb Kraev (Moscow State University) have received a one-year award of $37,430 for their project “Tundra Tracks: Mapping Community and Carbon Mobilities in the Russian Arctic”. Vehicle tracks have a long term impact on the tundra in Arctic Russia. Unused tracks remain recognizable from satellite images ~40 years after creation. The tracks damage plant cover, compact and disengage soil layers and change energy and matter fluxes. Their impact on large scale climate is unknown. They are also intertwined with human activity and community in these regions. This project will explore how carbon fluxes vary on or near tracks, how the tracks vary in density and distribution and how their presence interacts with nearby human communities.

Professor Michael Loranty and Heather Kropp (Geography) and their collaborators Nick Rutter (Northumbria University, UK) and Chris Fletcher (University of Waterloo, CA) have received a two-year award of $136,545 for their project “Impacts of boreal climate feedbacks on climate change”. Boreal forests represent approximately one-fifth of the Northern Hemisphere land surface and strongly influence global climate. Declines in the duration and extent of seasonal snow cover across the boreal region increases the absorption of solar radiation, which amplifies climate warming. The strength of this positive feedback varies widely between climate models because it is difficult to represent complex snow-forest-climate interactions. This project will confront climate model representations with field measurements and satellite observations of boreal forest-snow energy dynamics. The researchers aim to improve the understanding and climate model representation of interactions between boreal forest structure, snow cover, and climate dynamics.

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Last spring, Samuel Diaz ’16, was selected to be part of the 2015-2016 class of Capital Fellows, as a fellow in the Executive Fellowship Program.

The Capital Fellows Programs are administered by the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento, and are an outstanding opportunity for college graduates to engage in public service and prepare for future careers. Fellows work 10-11 months as full-time staff members in the California State Assembly, California State Senate, California Executive Branch or the California Judiciary. They participate in policymaking, program development, and program implementation. Fellows gain first-hand experience in the governance and leadership of the most diverse, complex state in the nation.

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Associate Professor Simon Forrest, Elder-in-Residence and former director of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University, gave two talks at Colgate.

The first was “Gnalang Boodjar. Gnalang Nyitting: Our Land. Our Truths.” It was held on November 18, 2015, as a special Environmental Studies Brown Bag in the Ho Visualization Lab.

The second was titled “Carrolup goolanga wirn korl koolark Nyoongar boodjar:* Repatriated artwork and our Responsibities”​ (*translated from Nyoongar: “The spirit of the children of Carrolup have returned home to Nyoongar country”). The talk was a presentation for the public on November 19, 2015, in the Ho Science Building auditorium.

Professor Forrest’s visit was co-sponsored by Peace and Conflict Studies, Native American Studies, and the Environmental Studies Programs.

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Each year Colgate’s Geography Department celebrates the induction of new members into Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU) the International Geographical Honor Society. As part of the celebration, on October 7, 2015, the department welcomed guest speaker Jessica Hayes-Conroy from Hobart & William Smith Colleges. During her presentation, Dr. Hayes-Conroy used perspectives from corporeal feminism, critical race theory, and visceral geography to expose the need for nutrition discourse that embraces socio-cultural differences. The presentation was co-sponsored by the Lampert Institute for Global and Civic Affairs.

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Professor Jessica Graybill was part of two large grant awards this spring.

The first is from the Belmont Forum/International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA) for $17,000 as a co-PI to write a synthesis regarding sustainability in the Arctic.  The project brings together an international team of expects from seven Arctic countries to develop an interdisciplinary synthesis and assess the state of knowledge about Arctic sustainability and sustainable development for the project “Arctic SUStainability: A Synthesis of Knowledge.”  Total award amount for the entire project is close to half a million Euros.  The IGFA is an agency that works proactively and on an action-orientated basis to enhance cooperation and coordination of global environmental change research. (More information here.)

Professor Graybill’s second award is for an National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Coordination Network (RCN) for the collaborative project “Arctic COASTal Community and Environmental Resilience International Interdisciplinary Research Coordination Network.”  The project will support the establishment of network for the science-policy interface among researchers, policy and decision makers, and young local and indigenous leaders to better understand and enhance resilience to ongoing dramatic changes in the Arctic.  Total award amount for the 4-year grand is about $500,000 USD.  (Details here.)

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The photo above shows Alex Pustelnyk ’17, Kevin Williams Memorial Fellowship winner, with Professors Kraly, Burnett and Loranty for the Awards convocation, April 28, 2015.  The Kevin Williams Fellowship was established to give selected students the opportunity to experience travel around another country.

Other Geography Department award recipients were Sarah Byer ’15 for the Shannon McCune Prize, and Kayla Weinstein ’15 for the Peter Gould Award.  The McCune Prize is awarded by the department to the senior geography major who has been judged to demonstrate outstanding academic merit and promise.  The Peter Gould Award is given by the department to the senior geography major who has enriched the geography community through exemplary leadership, service, and achievement.

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Lauren Roemke ’15 has been awarded a Hamilton Fellowship from Columbia Law School. The fellowship comes with a full tuition waiver, and she will be paired with a faculty mentor in environmental law, the specialization of her choice.

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Chris Esposito, 2014 McCune awardee, has been granted the Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

He comments that the fellowship has agreeable perks, including higher pay and relief from teaching requirements.  So Chris will be able to research full-time at his current institution, University of California-Los Angeles, once he finishes his course load. The fellowship includes 3 years of full support plus tuition remission, and an additional 2 years of ‘fellowship,’ during which he can apply for GRF-only travel grants, international research partnership grants, and other opportunities.

This year, NSF received over 16,000 applications for the 2015 competition, and made 2,000 fellowship award offers. (ref.)

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