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This map shows how food flows between counties
in the U.S. Each line represents the transportation
of all food commodities, along transit routes,
like roads or railways.
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Geography Realm: Maps that put a Twist on Global Population - "The following four maps are examples of the creative ways that population can be mapped." Via Caitlin Dempsey.
Mapbox Blog: Create location-based stories with minimal code - "Today we’re releasing a 'Storytelling Template' to provide a plug-and-play format for quickly publishing interactive experiences with high-quality map visuals. Simply input copy, select the elements of the map you want to feature for each 'chapter,' and publish." I'm sure many educators will want to give this new tool from Mapbox a look.
BBC: Could the world cope if GPS stopped working? - This article is part of the 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy series from the BBC. The title is also an interesting essay question for geospatial technology students.
UMichigan: Maps highlight Michigan cities, groups that will bear brunt of climate change effects - "'The maps—available online as an interactive tool, The Mi-Environmental Project—will help policymakers and community organizations focus their efforts on strategies that help cushion the blow of changing climate,' said Trish Koman, research investigator at UM’s School of Public Health and first author of the study published in Health and Place."
Hartford Patch: Connecticut Science Center Premieres New Climate Change Exhibit - "Our Changing Earth exhibit, presented by the Pitney Bowes Foundation, provides ways to understand Earth's core, confront extreme conditions" Way to go PB!
YouTube: Port Colborne High School students present at the Toronto Esri User Conference, 2019 - "A group of students talk about their professional survey work, at the DSBN Adventure Campus." Via Susan Campo and Jonathan Fletcher.
University of Richmond: Digital Scholarship Lab Awarded National Digital History Prize - "The Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond has been awarded this year’s Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Innovation in Digital History from the American Historical Association for American Panorama: An Atlas of United States History." Via Donna Genzmer.
GeoSlam: Capturing the Reality of Tunnel Warfare with 3D Mobile Laser Scanning - "... a group of researchers at Virginia Tech is bringing the battlefield to classrooms and museums with the help of reality capture and virtual reality (VR) technologies."
UPenn: Stopping Disease in its Tracks: How Geospatial Mapping Protects Pennsylvania’s Producers - "At the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, researchers harness the power of real-time geospatial information systems (GIS) to safeguard Pennsylvania’s farms and food supply." Part of my vacation was on a small farm in Illinois that raises heritage hogs. The red wattle hogs don't interact with any other hogs nor many people since they are "out in the boonies." That seems to be a good way to keep them safe and healthy. Geography matters!
Washburn Review (Washburn University, Topeka, KS): Lone geography professor inspires students - "Jia Feng is Washburn’s only geography lecturer because Washburn does not offer a program to major or minor in the subject. The history department has officially become the history and geography department." The article goes on: "While urban and regional planning are a focus in China, the United States does not have the same focus."
Northern Star: Geography class partners with City of DeKalb - "Six of [Geography professor] Gallaher’s students [at Northern Illinois University] are working alongside the co-founders of 350Kishwaukee, Sandra and Dave Davis, to create a greenhouse gas inventory for the city. A greenhouse gas inventory aims to identify the greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions within a geographic region, to understand emission trends and to set goals for emission reduction, according to the Environmental Protection Agency." I appreciate the correction to the article that notes the title originally said "geology."
OC Register: CSUF’s All Points of the Compass highlights rhino conservation, wildfire detection, travel - "...the event, which showcases research by CSUF geography students, faculty and alumni" was held Nov 2.
CSUN Today: CSUN Library Unveils New Home for Oviatt Library Map Collection - "The Oviatt Library Map Collection at California State University, Northridge provides access to thousands of flat maps, atlases and reference materials, as well as study and consultation space and a public geographic information system (GIS). The collection is now open in room OV26, located on the garden level of the Delmar T. Oviatt Library."
CSU Signal: Geography Program Brings Accessible Events to Hispanic Community - This bit is pretty normal: "The Geography Program is gearing up for their [sic] annual GIS (geographic information systems) Day. The theme this year is Geography Meets Humanities: A Focus on Social Justice." This bit distinguishes the event from many other! "GIS Day this year will be bigger due to a California Humanities grant for the event and was planned by Dr. José R. Díaz-Garayúa, Geography Professor and two Humanities Experts, Dr. Shannon Stevens, Communication Studies, and Dr. Brenda L. Ortiz Loyola. The grant has made a bilingual, Spanish and English, panel and podcast possible."
Education News
Chronicle of Higher Ed: Do Students Really Learn Nothing From a Lecture? - Well, not nothing, but not as much as when actively involved. Active learning for the win!
ArcWatch (Esri): Geospatial Brain Power - "Does learning GIS improve spatial reasoning capabilities in high schoolers? A team from six universities is studying the students—and their brains—to find out."
Inside Higher Ed: Rural Students Gain but Lag in College Attendance - "Students in rural areas have lower average rates of college enrollment and degree completion compared to nonrural students, according to findings in a new study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst." The study is behind a paywall.
Inside Higher Ed: Open Education… Is Closed - The 16th Open Education Conference, a meeting place for advocates of open education, was held in Phoenix last weekend. David Wiley, chief academic officer of Lumen Learning and the conference's organizer since its start, announced he'd no longer be at the helm. The conference grew from 40 attendees in 2003 to 850 this year. Different goals seem to be causing a split.
Money
HERE: HERE and Garmin Celebrate 20-Year Strategic Relationship - To celebrate each company donated $20,000 to the United Way of Greater Kansas City. The funds will be used for STEM outreach, an effort championed by both companies. Very cool.
Career Resources
AAG: Careers in Geography - The site hosts fifteen short video profiles of different jobs.
HBR: Data Science and the Art of Persuasion - My favorite quote: "...data scientist Hugo Bowne-Anderson found interviewing 35 data scientists for his podcast; as he wrote in a 2018 HBR.org article, 'The vast majority of my guests tell [me] that the key skills for data scientists are….the abilities to learn on the fly and to communicate well in order to answer business questions, explaining complex results to nontechnical stakeholders.'" Focus on those soft skills!
Certification News
USGIF: USGIF Offers First Entry-Level Geospatial Intelligence Certification - USGIF piloted The Essentials exam in partnership with 10 of its accredited college and university programs. The new exam is intended for recent graduates and young professionals in the GEOINT field to demonstrate their knowledge across the foundational competencies outlined in USGIF’s GEOINT Essential Body of Knowledge.
Programs and Courses
The Journal Times: GIS Factory, expanded lab open this fall at [UW] Parkside - "The GIS Factory, like the App Factory, gives students a chance to complete projects for real-world clients and to get paid for their work. Students in the App Factory create computer applications, while those in the GIS Factory do computer mapping." I'm collecting UW campuses. I was at UW-Milwaukee, UW-Platteville and UW-Madison on my vacation. I'd not heard of Parkside until I read this article.
The Journal Times: GIS Factory, expanded lab open this fall at [UW] Parkside - "The GIS Factory, like the App Factory, gives students a chance to complete projects for real-world clients and to get paid for their work. Students in the App Factory create computer applications, while those in the GIS Factory do computer mapping." I'm collecting UW campuses. I was at UW-Milwaukee, UW-Platteville and UW-Madison on my vacation. I'd not heard of Parkside until I read this article.
Augusta Chronicle: BHS’s Human Geography course outperforms nation, state on Advanced Placement exam for second year - "During the 2018-2019 school year, a group of students from the Barnwell High School freshman and sophomore classes took Advanced Placement Human Geography, and 72 percent of those students scored a 3 or higher. The BHS passage rate exceeded the state average by 20 percent and exceeded the national average by 24 percent, as well as the global average by 23 percent."
The Pacer (Univerity of Tennessee, Martin): UTM prepared to train future farmers - "UTM offers an entire GIS certification program for students to take to prepare themselves for the industry [precision ag]. The program gives students hands on experience with state of the art technology like drones to look at erosion, or infrared sensors to study nutrients in the soil." Is it a certification program or a certificate program? I suspect it's the latter.