WKU Department Head Leading
Ecology Expedition
March 22, 2004
Bowling Green, Ky. - Dr. David Keeling, head of Western Kentucky University's Department of Geography and Geology, headed to Senegal in West Africa on Monday to participate in an ecology expedition by ship from Dakar, Senegal, to Lisbon, Portugal.
As a member of the American Geographical Society lecture team, Dr. Keeling has lectured on several expedition trips over the past decade to such diverse places as the Falkland Islands, the Chilean Fjords, Eastern Europe, the Danube and Rhine rivers, the British Isles, and the waterways of Western Europe.
He is also a strong promoter of study abroad programs for Western Kentucky University students and has led programs to Ecuador, Brazil, Australia, Mexico and the British Isles.
"One of the benefits of lecturing on an expedition trip such as this one to West Africa is the opportunity to promote a geographic perspective on issues such as human-environment alteration of the landscape, political change and resource degradation," he said.
According to Dr. Keeling, the 85 passengers on this expedition will be exposed to a variety of issues, including resource management problems in the Senegal, drought and famine challenges in the Cape Verde islands, tourism and ecology in the Canary Islands, Islamic culture in Morocco, the politics of Gibraltar, and the implications of the North Atlantic Oscillation for climate and agriculture in the western Mediterranean.
Not only does Dr Keeling represent the American Geographical Society (www.amergeog.org), on these trips, he also promotes Western Kentucky University and its programs.
For information about department study abroad programs, the American Geographical Society or expedition trips around the world, contact David Keeling at
(270) 745-4555 or email david.keeling@wku.edu.
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