Source: Chuck Martin, 785-532-6727, cwmgeog@k-state.edu
Hometown connection: Clyde, Lawrence and Manhattan, Kan.; also for Thornton, Colo.; Chicago, Ill.; Crescent, Iowa; Chappell and St. Edward, Neb.; Averill Park and North Tonawanda, N.Y.; Mantua, Ohio; North Scituate, R.I.; and Oshkosh, Wis.
News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-2535, bbohn@k-state.edu
Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011
A place at the top: Geography students earn honors at regional meeting
MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University geography graduate students made a strong showing at the annual Great Plains/Rocky Mountain regional meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Oct. 8, in Denver.
K-State students took first place in the student paper and poster competitions, and the K-State Geobowl team took second place in the Geobowl competition, earning the right to compete in the World Geobowl at the 2012 conference of the Association of American Geographers, Feb. 24-28, in New York City.
Students making paper or poster presentations and competing on the Geobowl team included:
Ben Detrixhe, junior in geography, Clyde, is a Geobowl team member and placed third in individual scores for the event.
Heidi Mehl, doctoral student in geography, Lawrence, presented the paper "Water quality and channel stability on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation."
Claire Ruffing, doctoral student in geography, Manhattan, presented the paper "Using LiDAR to assess local water resource concerns at a watershed scale."
Lisa Tabor, May 2011 master's graduate in geography, Manhattan, presented the poster "Stakeholder Adaptation to Climatic Change in Kansas: What Have We Learned?"
Savvi Neufer, master's student in geography, Thornton, Colo., is a member of the Geobowl team.
Bartosz Grudzinski, doctoral student in geography, Chicago, Ill., presented the poster "Impact of Cattle and Bison Grazing on Stream Morphology in a Tallgrass Prairie" with Melinda Daniels, associate professor of geography.
Brandon Weihs, doctoral student in geography, Crescent, Iowa, presented the poster "Terracette Genesis and Related Ungulate Activities in Western Pottawattamie County, Iowa."
Christopher Morris, graduate student in geography, Chappell, Neb., presented the paper "Tallgrass prairie pollen assemblages in mid-continental North America during the late Quaternary" with Kendra McLauchlan, assistant professor of geography. Morris is also a member of the Geobowl team.
Steven Sherwood, doctoral student in geography, St. Edward, Neb., presented the paper "Geographic reorganization of a female youth development organization: A Nebraska case study." He also is a member of the Geobowl team.
Jim Wells, doctoral student in geography, Averill Park, N.Y., is a member of the Geobowl team.
Tyra Olstad, doctoral student in geography, North Tonawanda, N.Y.,took first place in the student paper competition for "How to draw the Plains: Aesthetics and empty landscapes." Olstad also is a Geobowl team member, earning second place in individual scores at the event.
William Wetherholt, doctoral student in geography, Mantua, Ohio, presented the paper "Revisiting Antler, N.D.: Repeat photography in an emerging Northern Plains ghost town."
Katie Costigan, doctoral student in geography, North Scituate, R.I.,presented the paper "Damming the prairie: Human alteration of Great Plains river regimes" with Melinda Daniels, associate professor of geography.
Josh Mueller, Oshkosh, Wis., presented the poster "A 2,000-year fire history in the mesic forests of southeastern Wisconsin."
Chuyuan "Carter" Wang, master's student in geography, China, earned first place in the student poster competition for "The Comparison of Deforestation Fragment Patterns in Land Reform Settlements in the Brazilian Amazon," which he presented with Marcellus Caldas, assistant professor of geography.
