Fall 2002
The Annual Newsletter of the Department of Geography and Geology at Western
Kentucky University.
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inside...
Welcome to the New Faculty..........................
Announcing Changes in the Geography Program Tracks..............................
Adventures in Geography and Geology ..............................
Faculty Activities..............................
Alumni News ..............................
Electronic Alumni News Form (SEND IT IN TODAY!)
..............................
Read the Fall 2003 Geogram..........................
Read the Fall 2001 Geogram..........................
A Letter from the Department Chair
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the 2001-2002 issue of our annual alumni newsletter. Throughout this year’s issue, you will read about
the outstanding accomplishments of our distinguished faculty and students. We are indeed proud of the levels of excellence attained in the Department and we appreciate all of the support, both
financial and otherwise, provided by our alumni.
This year, we welcome three new faculty members (Drs All and Wulff, and Kevin Cary), and we bid farewell to Dr. Conrad Moore, who moved
west to southern Arizona, and to Ellie Goeke, who went off to Iowa to study for her Ph.D. in geology. The Department also bid farewell to over forty students who graduated from the
Department during the past year. We wish you every success in your chosen careers and in your personal lives and we look forward to hearing from you on a regular basis. The Department
continues to build on the successes of its students and faculty and is extremely proud of the quality of teaching, research, and service that has become a hallmark of Geography and Geology.
Technology continues to play a significant role in the student-learning process for virtually all of the courses offered by the Department. During the
past year, the Department opened its new state-of-the-art instructional Geographic Information Science (GIS) laboratory in partnership with the Departments of Agriculture and Architectural and
Manufacturing Sciences. Over a hundred students have passed through, or are taking GIS classes in, this new lab and we’re excited about the possibilities that GIS offers for student-centered
learning, research, and public service. The Department also continued to seek funds to update equipment and software, and to provide students with access to the latest methodologies and technologies.
Excelling in student research and publications continues to be one of the hallmarks of the teaching and learning effectiveness of the Department's programs.
During the past year, over thirty students attended, or presented papers at, regional, national and international professional meetings and authored or co-authored research articles for publication. Many of
the Department’s majors are involved directly in applied research through the Center for Cave and Karst Studies, the Kentucky Climate Center, and the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute.
These research centers provide unparalleled research opportunities and experiences for students.
The Department’s Master's in Geoscience program continues to grow, with 25 students now enrolled in the program. This Fall, 12 students are enrolled in the
Geoscience Research and Literacy core course, the largest such enrollment in over a decade. The new program directed by Dr Groves that involves a partnership with the National Park Service to train
geoscientists is underway, with three students enrolled through this program. Curriculum redevelopment to provide relevant courses for the geoscience Master’s program has been completed, and the Department
now has a revamped suite of courses ready for the new 2003-2005 catalog. These changes are in addition to the new 12-hour GIS certificate program for undergraduates and professionals, and a complete revamping of the undergraduate curriculum.
In addition to their outstanding teaching contributions, the faculty continue to be highly productive in their research activities, external grant writing, and service. Collectively, the faculty have achieved a very high level of research productivity over the
past few years compared to previous periods. In addition, faculty members presented numerous papers at regional, national and international professional meetings--a testament to the professional engagement of the faculty.
External grant funding for Department research activities continued to be a high priority in 2001-2002, with grants awarded by several federal and state agencies (Kentucky EPScor, Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, National Science Foundation, Fish and Wildlife Service), as well as by other funding agencies. Other grants were derived from local sources and private corporations.
The students and faculty of the Department of Geography and Geology again have done exceedingly well during the past academic year. We have each and every one of you to thank for helping to build the Department into what it has become--the best in the state and one of the very best in the nation.
David J. Keeling (david.keeling@wku.edu)
Department Head
http://www.wku.edu/~david.keeling/index.htm
Home Page
FAREWELL TO COLLEAGUES
Conrad Moore Heads West
The Department bid farewell to Conrad Moore this past summer as he loaded up the wagon and headed west to Arizona. Although Dr. Moore retired officially on June 30, 2001, he taught in the Department during the Fall semester on optional retirement. Conrad and Elaine have constructed a hacienda in Sierra Vista, Arizona, and are looking forward to new adventures in the southwestern sun.
Elli Goeke Heads to the Midwest
Faculty and students also bid farewell to Elli Goeke has she headed off to Iowa to commence doctoral studies in geology. Elli filled the hard-rock geology position for a year as the Department underwent a national search for a tenure-track geologist (see story on Dr. Andrew Wulff in this issue). We wish Elli great success in her new adventure.
Shana Restall Heads to the Northwest
The Department also bid farewell this summer to Shana Restall, who has been accepted into the doctoral program in Geography at the University of Washington in Seattle. Shana taught several sections of World Regional Geography for the Department during the past academic year, as well as an experimental course titled “Women, Geography, and Development.” Everyone wishes Shana great success in the Evergreen State!
Memorial for Dr. Deborah Kuehn
Click on Memorial for the full text.
Welcome New Faculty!
Introducing Dr John All
Dr. All has a PhD in Geography and Global Change, a JD in International Environmental Law, and a Master’s Certification in Environmental Ethics. Dr. All’s primary interest is at the boundary where science and policy intersect. In finding ways to bridge the two, his research has been directed towards natural resources and ecosystems that cross international boundaries: especially those that are impacted by climate variability or climate change. He has recently completed a holistic examination of Colorado River usage in the United States and resulting impacts upon Endangered Species in the River’s Delta (located in Mexico). Dr. All developed several innovative techniques for monitoring vegetative change in wetland/delta environments in Mexico using remote sensing imagery. He has also worked on watershed management issues and fire management in the western US.
Societal impacts of Global Climate Change are a crucial part of Dr. All’s research. He is helping to organize a UN research program under the auspices of WHO, WMO, UNEP, and FAO. This program will focus upon the impacts of climate variability and change upon human health, including vector-borne disease, food production, and clean water security. Also, he is addressing a heretofore neglected aspect of climate change research - the potential impacts on agricultural pests. Dr. All is conducting research on the changes in distribution as increased nightly and winter temperatures create favorable habitat in formerly adverse locations. He is also encouraging others to examine this problem in a variety of professional media outlets.
Locally, Dr. All is examining radon in the Western Kentucky region with Dr. Wulff and others in the Department. Physical studies of radon distribution are being combined with a policy analysis to help inform local stakeholders. Also, they are working to create a radon evaluation scheme that other communities can utilize when addressing this issue. Water quality is also a key local issue that Dr. All examines; as the karst environment create a variety of problems. Long-term planning strategies that maximize water quality while minimizing the cost to individual stakeholders is the goal of this work.
In his scarce free time, Dr. All is an alpinist who has climbed on three continents using technical rock, ice, and aid-climbing techniques. He is a certified Rescue Diver, a triathlete, a nature photographer, and spent several years on Southern Arizona Search and Rescue.
Introducing Dr Andrew Wulff
Dr Andrew Wulff comes to the Department after serving on the faculty at U. Iowa and as Chair of the Geology Department at Whittier College and Director of the Whittier Geology Field Course. He is currently teaching mineralogy and physical geology, and will be teaching petrology in the spring. Prior to the “academic” portion of his career, Andrew worked for the Maryland Geological Survey on various projects including mapping lands for potential mineral resource development, investigating radon content in saprolitic soils, and methods of evaluating the
strategic mineral concentrations in offshore sediments. Recent research has focused more on the use of mineralogical, petrographic, and geochemical data to develop petrogenetic histories in igneous environments.
Andrew took three undergraduates with him last January to work on the Descabezado Grande-Cerro Azul volcanic complex in the Chilean Andes. They collected lavas from vertical stratigraphic sections and then obtained complete major and trace element geochemistry, isotopes, and dates from them in order to detail the eruptive history of this large strato-volcano. He also is planning to take two under-graduates with him to sample lavas from the Cima Volcanic Field and the Little Cowhole Mountains in the Mojave Desert. Other undergraduate projects he is involved in include: using trace element signatures in chert artifacts to examine trading and travel routes for Native Americans; using clay mineralogy and particle size analysis to refine stratigraphic units of the southern Des Moines Lobe; analysing airborne particulates from various counties in Iowa and Kentucky, examining the relationship between airborne particu-late quartz and lung-related disease in those counties; and using petrography and geochemistry to identify relative emplacement times for mafic dikes in the Mojave. He is finishing a paper on the geochemical characteristics of mafic dikes in Greenland.
Much of Andrew’s research is based on analysis of earth materials and he is excited about developing analytical techniques at the Materials Characterization Center and training undergraduates in the use of the XRF, XRD, LA-ICPMS. He is working to find another XRD for the north side of campus (within the Geography-Geology or Chemistry Departments) to be used primarily for undergraduate research and teaching. He is also working with Fred Siewers and John Andersland (Biology Dept.) to purchase an IXRF-EDS system for the SEM in order to obtain quantitative analysis of mineral compositions.
Andrew is active in developing innovative teaching strategies for all levels of education and recently participated in the Iowa Chatauqua Program Science Teachers Workshop, helping twenty Korean earth science teachers develop instructional modules, lecturing on a variety of topics, and leading several fieldtrips.
On a completely different note, Andrew took time off from science for a career in opera, singing in many major houses both in Europe and in the U.S. He still performs (concerts, plays, musicals, radio work) and has directed more than twenty plays or musicals. He hopes to plug into the performance scene around Bowling Green in the coming years. He climbs, hikes, and is willing to (try to) play any sport available.
So, a chaotic summer has brought a pack of Wulffs to Bowling Green. Rachel is in first grade, John is now three months old after being born on Memorial Day (6 weeks early!), and Joan is very successfully keeping all organized and on-track, in addition to unpacking and remodeling, and everything else!! They are all glad to be here!
Introducing Mr Kevin Cary
Kevin Cary joins the faculty as the new Geographic Information Systems Manager for the Department, as well as an instructor in GIS. He will teach courses in the GIS certificate program and work on projects and contracts in the new GIS facility. His interests are in the development and application of GIS in the economy and environment. Kevin received his B.Sc. in mathematics from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, and his M.Sc. in Geoscience from Western. His Master’s thesis investigated the diurnal distribution of hourly precipitation
rates and spatial patterns of mean seasonal precipitation rates in Kentucky.
Kevin comes to us from the Myrtle Beach area in Conway, South Carolina. As Conway’s GIS Specialist, his duties included designing and coordinating the development of the city’s first GIS and incorporating it into the various depart-mental needs of the local government. His duties also included mapping spatial features with a GPS unit, which gave him a thrilling opportunity to map a 2000-acre fire in North Myrtle Beach from the air, in a Cessna 172, and on the ground, on a Honda Fourtrax 450. He also has over three years of teaching experience at Bowling Green Community College and has successfully taught introductory physical geography, world regional geography and meteorology. In addition, he has served on the GIS staff at the Barren River Area Development District (BRADD) in Bowling Green. Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to drop by the GIS facility in the Industrial Education Building to introduce themselves and to get involved in ongoing GIS projects.
Welcome New Graduate Students
The Department also welcomes several new graduate students into the Department. Some are familiar faces from the undergraduate program, while others are new to the campus and to the Department.
Joel Thomas, Mark Graham, Michael Briggs, and Angela Castelli come to the MS in Geoscience program directly from undergraduate programs at WKU. Sara All, Christina Henry, AJ Iovanna, and Timothy Coates join the program from out-of-state programs, while Jenna Harbaugh and
Margaret Leachman are returning to graduate student after several years in the “working” world! We extend a very warm welcome to all our new graduate students and we look forward to some educational, fun, and interesting experiences over the next couple of years.
DR KEN KUEHN BECOMES A "DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR"
Click on Full Story to read about Dr. Kuehn's appointment
as a WKU Distinguished Professor
Dr Fred Siewers Wins the Ogden College Award for Outstanding Teaching
The Department of Geography and Geology was once again honored for its excellence in teaching. Dr Fred Siewers, Assistant Professor of Geology, won the 2001-2002 Ogden College of Science and Engineering Faculty Award for Teaching.
The award, which carries a cash prize and a certificate, was presented to Dr Siewers at the annual University awards banquet in April, 2002. The award, which is highly competitive, recognizes Dr..Siewers’ outstanding teaching abilities and his efforts to
advance the education of his students. As one former student wrote in a letter of recommendation for the award, “Dr Siewers has been a major influence on me as a student here, and I plan to attend graduate school in the fall. I owe part of my enthusiasm
for geology to the enthusiasm that he has displayed as a professor here at Western Kentucky University. Dr Siewers is one of the best professors I have ever had, and I have walked away from every class with more confidence and a much greater
knowledge and understanding of geology.” Dr Siewers feels honored to have joined the ranks the Department’s other recipients of the Odgen Faculty Teaching Award: Professor Emeritus and former State Climatologist Glen Conner and Distinguished
Professor and geologist Kenneth Kuehn. Department Head, Dr David Keeling, writes that “Dr Siewers has excelled in teaching and student mentoring since joining the Department four years ago. He represents the very best in quality instruction that
Western strives to provide for its students and he has committed himself to building geology at Western into the finest program in the Commonwealth. Students are fortunate to have Dr Siewers in the classroom.”
ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
A Very Spatial Place
The GIS Lab is NOW Open to Students:
The Department of Geography and Geology received funding last year, along with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Architectural and Manufacturing Services, to develop an inter-departmental computer graphics and geographic information systems facility. Funding for the project approaches $300,000. Dr Stuart Foster chairs the committee charged with designing and overseeing the project. Dr Katie Algeo, Kevin Cary, and other GIS faculty also represent the department on GIS matters.
The new GIS facility is located in the Industrial Education Building on the third floor. Renovation work began in early August 2001 and included installing new carpet, adding interior walls and doors, and performing electrical work. Now complete, the GIS facility includes two computer classrooms, each equipped with 20 workstations, a conference and seminar room, a research production room, and an office area and study lounge. The full complement of GIS software from the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), including ArcView, ARCGIS, and ArcInfo, is available for use by students and faculty.
The new GIS facility provides excellent opportunities for the Department. It accommodates our expanded course offerings in geographic information systems and supports instruction in other techniques courses. In addition, the facility enables faculty and students to become more active in applied research. GIS courses now offered include Introduction to GIS, GIS Applications and Development, and GIS Analysis and Modeling. Stop by and visit the facility the next time you are back home at Western.
WKU Homecoming 2001
October 25-26, 2002
Special Invitation to All Geography and Geology Alumni
Please join us on campus this year! The Department has some special Homecoming activities planned just for you! Please let us know by email or phone if you plan to attend. This year’s schedule of events includes:
Friday October 25, 2002
Event: Homecoming Parade & Big Red Street Fest
Time: 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 pm
Location: Big Red Way/Practice Field
Event: Big Red's Roar
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Colonnades
Saturday, October 26, 2002
Special Event: Geography and Geology
Departmental Tour (Including our new GIS lab and Centers for Applied Research)
Time: 1:00 - 2:00pm
Location: Meet on 3rd Floor EST Building
Special Event: Homecoming Tailgating
Time: 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Location: DUC South Lawn - Join us at the Geography and Geology Set-up.
Enjoy good food and old friends. Meet the departmental faculty and current students.
Event: Football vs. Indiana State
Homecoming Event
Time: 4:30 p.m., Location: L.T. Smith Stadium
Contact: WKU Sports Information (270- 745-4298)
Outstanding Geography Students, 2001-02
The Department of Geography and Geography takes pride each year in the quality of its graduating seniors.
Students graduating from the various program tracks offered by the Department must pass rigorous course requirements, satisfy applied skills components, and maintain their overall GPAs. All this is often in addition to outside employment demands, public service, family duties, and service to the Department and College. Each year, the Department recognizes its outstanding seniors at a public presentation by presenting them with awards and certificates.
The recipients of the Department’s highest honors also receive recognition at the Ogden College Awards Ceremony.
For the 2001-02 academic year, Timothy Perkins received the Outstanding Geology Senior Award, presented by Dr Fred Siewers.
For the 2001-02 academic year, Justin B. Watt received the Outstanding Geography Senior/Ronald R. Dilamarter Award, presented by Dr David Keeling.
Pictures of the 2001/2002 Awards Ceremony held on May 1 can be viewed online.
Congratulations to ALL our Outstanding Students!
VISIT THE DEPARTMENT'S WEBWORLD
The Department’s homepage continues to undergo significant updating each year. A new university server now hosts the website, so please update your bookmarks to the new address (www.wku.edu/geoweb/). In addition to accessing the outstanding Kentucky Climate Center site, developed by Glen Conner, our State Climatologist Emeritus, the homepage also provides access to complete program and course information, with links to myriad geography and geology related pages. For instance, pointing your browser to http://www.wku.edu/geoweb/ will take you to the index page. From here, you can link to all the different types of courses offered by the Department. Many of the course descriptions will have the current syllabus attached, along with links to the Professor’s personal homepage, to a variety of study guides, and eventually to interactive activities. From the homepage, you can also explore all of the different program tracks offered by the Department and link back and forth to the individual course descriptions within each track. There is much more construction yet to do, but we hope you find the material available so far informative and useful. Email us with your comments!! We’d love to hear from you.
NEW PROGRAM TRACKS IN GEOGRAPHY
View the New Tracks document in Word format.
ADVENTURES IN GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY
The Birthplace of Meteorology
by L. Michael Trapasso
It is difficult to pinpoint where, exactly, meteorology (or, for that matter, climatology) originated as a science. There are many roots to follow, all leading out along different tangents and all worthy of some distinction. Some, including myself, would designate ‘the Bergen School’ in Norway as the birthplace of modern meteorology. Certainly the work of Bjerknes (mid-latitude cyclones), Rossby (the jet stream), and Bergeron (rainfall processes) all originated there in the 1920s and 30s. Many people, however, feel that the roots go much farther back, to the Italian Renaissance in the 1600s. It was Galileo who invented the thermometer and Torricelli who invented the barometer. Thus, monitoring the atmosphere began during this time. Truly, several other countries can claim their share of the development of atmospheric science. For example, England could be a contender; this is where Hadley and Walker developed their theories of global circulation. Or perhaps Germany, where Fahrenheit developed his temperature scale, or France where Coriolis first explained the strange spinning of our weather systems. However, when it comes right down to it, the science of meteorology goes back even father in time.
To discover the oldest roots of atmospheric science, we must consider one of the oldest civilizations on Earth - i.e., the Ancient Greeks. Around 400 b.c.e., Hippocrates (often called the Father of Modern Medicine) wrote “Airs, Waters, and Places.” This treatise was about weather and geographical location affecting human health. Some 50 years later, ca. 350 b.c.e., Aristotle wrote his “Meteorologia,” the first book about weather science. As far as I am concerned, this is as far back as you need to go to find the actual origin of the science many of us hold dear.
In October 2001, I participated in an international conference and workshop sponsored by the International Society of Biometeorology that convened in the province of Halkidiki in northern Greece. [If you look at a map of the area, you will see three finger-like peninsulas sticking out into the Aegean Sea. The middle peninsula, Sithonia, was where the conference was held and the region connecting the peninsulas is Halkidiki.] This coastal area on the Aegean Sea was a beautiful setting for scientific meetings and workshops. On the last day of the conference, those who so chose were taken on a full-day field trip into the region. This field trip was a geoscientist’s dream. Wave action processes worthy of mention in any coastal geomorphology book or chapter riddled the spectacular coastline (stacks, arches, and promontories were abundant). The limestone bedrock of the region offered some great karst features as well. For example, the cave at Petralona was remarkable for both its geomorphologic features (the dripping cave is still actively forming) and its archeological finds (which included caveman burials, and the oldest known evidence of the use of fire, dating back 1,000,000 years).
One of the highlights for this group of atmospherics scientists was the birthplace of Aristotle. The city of Stagira, where he was born and wrote some of his treatises, still exists in the northern hill country. Today, in the acropolis* at Stagira, a white marble statute commemorates this genius and his great works of science and philosophy. Staring at a statue may not seem like a fun thing to do, but while surrounded by my colleagues (all of us owing our livelihoods, at least in part, to this great man), something of pride and honor filled us all. This was the last stop on our field trip and it seemed a bit ironic to end the conference in the place where it all began.
* The term acropolis (the highest part of a community) is very common to all Greek cities. When we see or hear the term, we usually think of the Acropolis of Athens complete with the famous Parthenon. Keep in mind, almost every city had an acropolis, it served as a natural defensive position in times of war and a place to worship the Gods, and honor great accomplishments in times of piece. The statue of Aristotle is well placed on the Acropolis of Stagira, the city of his birth.
Global Reach -- Article about Dr. David Keeling
Click on Global Article to read a feature on Dr
David Keeling that appeared in the Spring 2002 Issue of the Western Scholar Magazine. You'll need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader to
read this file. You can download the free Adobe software online.
Geoscience Students in the Land Down Under
by Debbie Kreitzer
The culminating event of the academic year for Debbie Kreitzer and 20 students was the study abroad trip to Australia. Students from geography, geology, history, recreation, photojournalism, and nursing participated in this trip of a lifetime. Flying across the international date line and the equator was an experience in patience and endurance. The real fun began when the group arrived in Cairns (Queensland, Australia). Cairns has a population of about 100,000 and the economy relies mostly on tourism and sugarcane plantations. This coastal city and its surroundings are a virtual paradise during the dry winter months.
The group spent eight days in the Cairns area, experiencing natural wonders like pristine beaches, the Great Barrier Reef, Cape Tribulation, tropical rainforests, and the Great Dividing Range. The many things they studied included coral bleaching and the potential effects of global warming, the environmental effects of sugarcane farming and tourism, deforestation, the efforts to protect and even reinstate the rainforest in this region, and the preservation of the flying fox and the almost-extinct cassowary. Then it was time to leave this tropical paradise and fly north.
The next six days were spent in the Northern Territory (or the Top End). In this region the group spent all but one of the nights in tents. They flew into Darwin in the evening and spent a few hours the next day touring the city. Then the bus left civilization. Everyone knew they were in the "bush" when they saw their first crocodiles later that day. The group spent three days and nights in Kakudu National Park, two in Jabiru, and one at Gunlom Falls (featured in Crocodile Dundee). The next two days were spent in the Katherine area visiting thermal springs, Cutta Cutta Caves, and canoeing at Katherine Gorge. On the last day the group visited Litchfield National Park, which featured gorgeous waterfalls and impressive termite mounds. Some of the issues studied in this region included National Park and World Heritage Site management, aboriginal rights, the problem of invasive species, and the effect of tourism on sensitive environments. The Top End adventure ended with a red-eye flight to Sydney.
Most of the group agreed that Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The first couple of days were spent getting familiar with Sydney and the many things to do there. Everyone visited beautiful Sydney Harbor and the famous Opera House. Many students found their way to famous areas in Sydney like Darling Harbor, the Rocks, and Chinatown. Others visited the AMP Tower, the Australian Museum, the Sydney Aquarium, or took a tour of the harbor by boat. The next few days were spent visiting Sydney Harbor National Park, several beaches, Canberra, Katoomba and Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains, and the Hunter Valley Vineyards. The students were able to study a variety of urban and rural conservation and planning issues in this region, including planned cities, public vs. private transportation, air pollution, water pollution, and park management. Our Australian adventure ended, not when we left Sydney, but when we arrived back in Nashville 31 hours later on the same day (thanks to the International Date Line). This was a wonderful experience for all who participated!
