News & Events
Opportunity for Students
Through the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystems Unit of the National Park Service and Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona), Dr. Allen has received funding for students to participate in fieldwork in the coming months. The fieldwork entails learning the Rock Art Stability Index and applying it to petroglyphs and historic buildings within PEFO National Park. Some GPS work will also be part of this effort. Fieldwork will be during one weekend in November, over spring break (2010), and at least two weeks in the summer (2010). Students will receive a stipend plus room & board and transport to/from the Park. They will also get to work alongside the Park’s Chief Archeologist and other Park Personnel. If you’re interested, please contact Dr. Allen by email (casey.allen@ucdenver.edu), or drop by his office, NC 3421.
welcome to our newest faculty member!!
Gregory Simon, Assistant Professor, teaches and conducts research in the fields of environmental planning and policy. He is particularly interested in how environmental policies are generated and enforced in the presence of uncertain science and alliances between development and conservation interest groups. His past and current research projects focus primarily on issues in India and the US West. In the classroom, Gregory finds it is important not to just describe the environmental issues we face today, but also to detail how and why economic, political and cultural forces create these issues and mediate the way we understand and respond to them. Gregory earned his doctorate in Geography from the University of Washington and comes to us from Stanford University where he served as a post-doctoral fellow for the past two years. Gregory is enthusiastic to engage UC Denver students in both his teaching and research endeavors.
find the lorax, win $50 (or more) contest
Congratulations to Brain Warren. Brian found the Traveling Lorax’s (aka TTL, aka "Teetle") hiding spot this semester. Teetle’s spot was a bench on the trail in Bear Creek Park. The $50 prize is from a group of GES professors. Teetle will be hidden again next semester with a prize of $50. Each semester, a different GES professor will be in charge of hiding Teetle, as well as giving clues to his location.
Check out the UCD GES/GIS club’s facebook page for more information: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56023209252. Teetle loves to travel would like to go with students on their adventures. Teetle can be checked out with Sue in the Geography office 3602 with only the request, pictures are posted for all to enjoy.
Brigadier General Rodgers Scholarship for Geography Majors
As a result of a generous fund established by Mrs. Rodgers in honor of her late husband Brigadier General William M. Rodgers, a former instructor in our department, the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences awards up to two $1000 scholarships each fall for geography majors. Please visit the Brigadier General Rodgers Scholarship website for further information.
Deadline for the 2009-2010 academic year is FEBRURAY 15, 2010 by 5pm! See link above for application details.
Congratulations to the 2008-2009 recipients!
Eric Ross
Kimberly Robinson
Two exciting international field experience opportunities for students with geography faculty
Dr. Deborah Thomas is co-directoring the UCD/CLAS Tanzania Field School in Human Origins, Climate Change & Adaptability with Dr. Charles Musiba in the Department of Anthropology from June 1-July 15, 2009! We are working on offering this as GEOG 4995/5995 for geography credit, but it is also currently available for 6-credits in anthropology. See the Field School Website for further information: http://www.cudenver.edu/clas/tanzania/
Dr. Casey Allen is offering an opportunity during Maymester in Sustainability In The
Caribbean
West Indies from May 19 - June 5, 2009, which introduces students to sustainability concepts through practical, hands-on experience in various field techniques, methods, and assessment with an international perspective. Check out the brochure by downloading here.
GIS lab moves into new space
Welcome to the NEW Facility for Advanced Spatial Technologies Lab (FAST Lab) space in North Classroom 5033 and 5032!! We hope you will enjoy it and the world of technology and mapping that awaits. The FAST Lab is a multi-disciplinary resource lab for teaching and research in Geographic Information Sciences. This supports the entire B.A. Geography Curriculum and Masters in Environmental Sciences Curriculum, the GISci Certificate, as well as faculty and student research. You can find more information on the FAST at http://fast.cudenver.edu.
three exciting new hires join GES department in Aug 2008-- welcome!!
Peter Anthamatten, Assistant Professor, focuses on the interface between public health and geography, particularly with respect to GIS applications in epidemiologic study. His dissertation focused on the interplay between environmental conditions and nutrition status among young children in Bolivia. He has always had a strong interest in teaching and has worked on a variety of projects dedicated to developing geographic teaching materials in different media for all levels of instruction.
Casey Allen, Assistant Professor, is a broadly-trained geographer who loves being in "the field". He has wide-ranging interests, skills, and proficiencies, and has also been trained in the art of academic advising. His experience also includes several administrative and service posts that focus on curriculum & program development and assessment. Traveling also plays a key role in his life, teaching, and research, and he has extensive foreign area experience. Currently, his research focuses on biological soil crusts, rock art management, and how people learn complex biophysical processes.
Ryan Sincavage , Instructor, comes to us with a career in geology, specifically seismic exploration for oil and gas and geophysics. This work took him all over the world in search of energy (Africa, South America, Europe, North Atlantic) for 5 week tours. After working offshore for over three years, he obtained his masters in geology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2003 and spent the summer of 2001 as an intern in New Orleans, LA, working as a geologist for Chevron in their deep-water exploration group. For the next 3 years, he worked as a geologist in the environmental field, after which he moved back to the energy business as a geophysicist and now to UCD as a full-time instructor!
saying goodbye to two appreciated faculty
The composition of the GES department changed significantly in the summer, 2008, with two faculty members leaving the department. We wish Dr. Joanna Wright all the best as she embarks on her new career as a geohydrologist in England, which is home for her. Students and faculty alike will miss her dedication and enthusiams for geology and paleontology! Dr. Herman Sievering retired after more than 25 years of service to the University of Colorado Denver, helping to build the Masters of Science in Environmental Sciences Program and conducting an active research agenda focused on bio-geochemical cycles. He is particularly passionate about climate change issues and will, no doubt, continue to engage with this important issue.
Acclaimed Antarctica Explorer, Dr. jack Weihaupt, retires
Dr. Jack Weihaupt retired from GES in summer, 2007, having dedicated more than 30 years to academia as a professor and to university administration. His geologic and geophysical fieldwork was mainly in Newfoundland, South America (the Andes and the Atacama Desert), the Arctic, and the Antarctic, involving nonferrous metals exploration, extensive geologic field mapping, petroleum exploration, a full range of geophysical techniques, underground mapping and exploration, continental ice sheet studies, subglacial topographic studies, glaciology, historic changes in ice covers, meteorite impact phenomena, and Martian impact and planetary fluvial features. As co-discoverer of the Wilkes Land (Gravity) Anomaly, his research focused on one of the largest (240 km diameter) potential impact craters on Earth. As discoverer of the glaciological significance of the Orontius Finaeus Map of 1531, he demonstrated the likely discovery date of the Antarctic continent was three centuries earlier than previously supposed. Mt. Weihaupt, in Victoria Land, Antarctica, has been named in recognition of Dr. Weihaupt's contributions to polar exploration and research; and he is a recipient of the Madisonian Medal, and several other awards.
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GES Signs Cooperative Agreement with National Park Service
The Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences (GES) has signed a long-term cooperation agreement with the national office of the Geologic Resources Division, National Park Service (NPS). Under this agreement GES students will intern with the NPS working on a project to support the Soil Resources Inventory (see http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/soils/index.cfm) and to assist the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program, Networks, Regions, Parks, System Support Offices, Program Centers, and Technical Divisions with the use of soils data and information to better manage park resources, as well as implement a tracking system to assess the current status of the development of the Soil Resources Inventory. Successful interns will be offered possibilities of long-term employment and professional progression in the agency.
Students present at regional and national meetings
Jesse Rozelle (undergraduate Geography Major) and Richard Streeter (Master of Science in GIS) presented papers at regional (GIS in the Rockies), national (Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting) and international (Six International Conference on Ecosystems and Sustainable Development) conferences this year. Also, they are coauthors with Dr. Rafael Moreno and Dr. Hovik Sadyadyan (Armenian State Agrarian University) on a peer-reviewed book chapter. Jesse developed a web-based GIS system using Open Source Software to contribute to the dissemination of information regarding the historical and present extent of the Armenian forests. This work was started as part of a class project in the course GEOG4095/5095: Deploying GIS functionality on the Web. Richard presented his work on classifying Landsat 5 satellite images to estimate the extent of the Armenian forests for three different dates, 1988, 2000, and 2006. This work was started as part of a directed study supervised by Dr. Moreno.
Dinosaur Tracks Exibit in North Classroom Building
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Dinosaur Tracks Museum a new exhibit has been installed in the North Classroom outside room 1539. The exhibit honors GES faculty and UC Denver administratrors who have made significant contributions to the museum and its scientific and educational missions. The exhbit shows Iguanodon dinosaur tracks from southeastern Colorado studied by an Master's student in the UC Denver program.
