Kansas State University

Geography faculty, graduate students present at national conference

Submitted by Chuck Martin

Faculty and graduate students from the department of geography participated in the annual Association of American Geographers meetings in Los Angeles, Calif. from April 9-13. The meetings are the largest annual gathering of professional geographers in North America. The following faculty and graduate students made presentations at the meetings:

Kyle Anibas, graduate student, presented "Land Cover/Land Use Classification in Eastern Europe."

Kevin Blake, professor, presented "Making Mythic Landscapes."

Lynn Brien, graduate student, and colleagues E.J. Danielson, S.B. Laska, J.P. Troutman, W.M. Boshart,  M.J. Giardino, M.A. Phillips presented  "Blending Geospatial Technology and Traditional Ecological Knowledge to Enhance Restoration Decision Support Processes in Coastal Louisiana."

Marcellus Caldas, assistant professor, and colleagues J. Bergtold, C. Brown, S. Sherwood, J. Peterson, and R. Graves presented "Farmer's Attitudes to Grow Biomass Energy Crops in Kansas."

Katie Costigan, graduate student, Melinda Daniels, associate professor, and colleagues J.S. Perkin, and K.B. Gido presented "Longitudinal Variability in Hydraulic Geometry and Substrate Characteristics of a Great Plains Sand-Bed River."

Kabita Ghimire, graduate student, and Douglas Goodin, professor, presented "Spatial Hierarchical Modeling for Understanding Geographic Distribution of Malaria in Nepal."

Douglas Goodin, professor, presented "An Individual-Based Sir-Type Model for Spatially Explicit Analysis of an Environment-Reservoir-Pathogen System."

Bartosz Grudzinski, graduate student, and Melinda Daniels, associate professor, presented  "Influence of Grazing Treatments and Riparian Protection on Stream Geomorphology and Sediment Concentrations in the Flint Hills and Osage Plains."

Brandon Haddock, graduate student, presented "Home Fires Burning: Rural Queer Lives and Modern Aspects of Community."

John Harrington, professor, presented "Maps and Locals: Understanding Land Cover Change at NSF LTER Sites."

Lisa Harrington, professor, presented "Toward Sustainability Studies and Sustainability Theory: Key Concepts."

Max Lu, associate professor, and colleague P. Duan presented "Population Migration and Regional Inequality in China."

Richard Marston, university distinguished professor, presented "Himalayan Glacier Changes as An Environmental Security Issue." 

Charles Martin, professor, presented "Recent Heavy Metal Contamination Along the Dill River, Central Germany."

Heidi Mehl, graduate student presented "Fractionalized Resources: Water Resource Management on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Reservation." 

Bimal Paul, professor, and colleague Mitch Stimers presented "Deaths by Damage Zone and Place: A Case Study of the 2011 Joplin, MO, Tornado."

Claire Ruffing, graduate student, Melinda Daniels, associate professor, and colleague K.A. Dwire presented "Influence of Disturbance Legacies on Geomorphic and Riparian Dynamics in Mountain Streams."

David Spencer, graduate student, and colleague D. Haukos presented "Lesser Prairie-Chicken Response to USDA Conservation Practices in Kansas."

Gina Thornburg, graduate student, presented "Uneven Geography, Embeddedness, and Economic Instrumentalism in Oklahoma's Farm-to-School Program."

Bill Wetherholt, graduate student, and colleague L.J. Kulcsar presented "Trending Towards Oblivion: Endangered Towns and Their Demographic Landscape on the Great Plains."

Chuyuan "Carter" Wang, graduate student, and Marcellus Caldas, assistant professor, presented "Fragmentation Patterns in Land Reform Settlements: A Case Study in the State of Pará, Brazil."

The following geography department faculty and graduate students served as discussants or chairs for panels at the conference:

John Harrington, professor, chair for session "Climate Literacy 1: "Do You Believe in Global Warming?" and chair for session "Land Systems Science Symposium: Issues in Land Systems Science II."

Max Lu, associate professor, chair for "Population Specialty Group: Lifetime Achievement Award for Bill Clark " and organizer, chair and panelist for "AP Human Geography: Moving Beyond 100,000 Students." 

Richard Marston, university distinguished professor, organizer and leader for fieldtrip "Tour of Dodger Stadium" and discussant for "International Encyclopedia of Geography Editorial Meeting."

Heidi Mehl, graduate student, chair, and Marcellus Caldas, assistant professor, co-organizers for panel session "Control of Water and Indigenous Societies: Setting Management Priorities in the Face of Cultural Conflict."  

Lisa Tabor, graduate student, panelist for "Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education in Geography (EDGE) Grants for Outreach and Professional Development."

Gina Thornburg, graduate student, organizer and leader for fieldtrip "Ag in the City: Farmland and Ranches in the West San Fernando Valley" and organizer and introducer for "Community Food Security and Anti-Hunger Approaches in Los Angeles: Voices from the Front Lines."