WKU Geoscientists Conduct
Overseas Research During Break

January 16, 2004

Bowling Green, Ky. - Although Western Kentucky University was officially closed over the holiday break, several geoscience faculty and students conducted research overseas as part of the Department of Geography and Geology's international programs.

Dr. David Keeling, department head, visited Manchester, England, to conduct research on urban redevelopment in the industrial suburb of Salford Quay as part of a long-term project to understand how cities are converting dilapidated industrial landscapes.

Geoscience graduate student Mark Graham continued his master's thesis research in Penzance, England, comparing urban transport responses to sprawl in that city with the experiences of Bowling Green.

Dr. Michael Trapasso, director of the College Heights Weather Station, conducted research in the central valleys of Mexico on the historical development of social networks, with particular attention to how weather and climate shaped indigenous people's lives.

Dr. Chris Groves, director of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, traveled to several areas of southwestern China to continue research on karst and water-related problems in that region. The department's China project is part of a long-term exchange relationship with the Karst Institute in Guilin, China, and involves research in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

For more information about the department's international research and study-abroad programs, contact Dr. David Keeling at (270) 745-4555 or david.keeling@wku.edu.

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-WKU-