Department Gears Up For Nat'l Geography Awareness Week '09

The week of November 15-21 is National Geography Awareness week. The Geography Department will host several events to celebrate the event. Career-related events for students include a panel discussion with geography faculty about how to apply for graduate school on November 18th from 12-1pm in 103 Davis Hall. We will be hosting a GIS Night event from 6-8:30pm on November 18th in 114 Davis Hall (See last year's blog entry concerning GIS Night '08). Our celebrations of Geography Awareness Week culminate on November 20th with an annual Career Day event for students, alumni, and friends of Geography and Meteorology, that begins at 1pm in 121 Davis Hall.



Career Day is a long-running tradition in the Geography Department, when our alumni return to talk about the importance of geographic knowledge in the real world, share information about their work experiences, advise faculty and students on the status of geographic and meteorological careers, keep us abreast of educational requirements in these fields, and recruit students for internships and other career related experiences. This year, we are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the commencement of our Ph.D. program in January 2010.

The National Geographic Society also sponsors activities related to this years theme of "Get lost in mapping: Find your place in the world!" From November 15-21, go to GeographyAwarenessWeek.org for games, activities, and lessons about mapping that you can do at home or at school, brought to you by National Geographic and partner organizations. Explore maps big and small, high-tech and low-tech!

At GeographyAwarenessWeek.org, you can piece together a poster-size map for your bedroom wall or a giant map for your school gymnasium. Take a virtual world tour with Google Earth and watch a video that explains how today's geospatial revolution is changing everything from shipping to warfare. Test your skills with the Expedition 2 game and a Mystery Location quiz. You can even join 100,000 "map activists" by participating in a blog-a-thon, hosting a Geography Awareness Week event, or signing up for the new GeoMentor program.

Post contributed by Dr. Sarah Blue

Students and Faculty Form NIU Geography Club and Revitalize GTU Honor Society Chapter

In an effort to better connect students and faculty both inside and outside the classroom, geography students have urged the formation of an NIU Geography Club. The club has already met several times this fall semester and has planned off-campus events and outreach activities to engage students and bolster membership. Current officers of the NIU Geography Club are: Joe Sepulveda (President), Andrew Bogda (Vice President), Rachael Poll (Secretary), Adam Rasmussen (Treasurer) and Trevor Edmonson (Public Relations Officer).

In addition to forming the NIU Geography Club, the department is revitalizing its Iota Gamma Chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU) which was established in 1965 but has been relatively dormant since the mid-1980s. GTU is an international academic honor society in geography that was founded in 1928. GTU's mission is to bring together university students who share a background and interest in geography and, more generally, support geographic knowledge and awareness.

We invite you to become active participants in these groups. Membership information is below.



Membership in the NIU Geography Club
Everyone is welcome to join who is a student at NIU. There is no cost for membership at this time. Anyone who is interested should join the club's facebook group (NIU Geography Club) or contact Dr. David Goldblum for additional information.

Membership in Gamma Theta Upsilon
Membership in GTU is a distinction that could, and should, be noted on a resume. Membership also qualifies you to apply for a variety of scholarships and offers the opportunity to hone your leadership skills through NIU's Iota Gamma Chapter activities and activities of the Geography Club. For more information about GTU, please see their website http://www.gammathetaupsilon.org. Membership in Gamma Theta Upsilon is based on academic performance and course work in geography. Your are eligible for membership if you have:

1) taken at least three geography courses (e.g., GEOG 105/106, 460 and 370);
2) achieved a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 in all course work; and
3) achieved a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 in all geography courses.

If you believe that you are eligible and would like to join NIU's GTU chapter, please email Dr. Andrew Krmenec your request. There is a mandatory initiation fee of $40. You would be responsible for $20; the other half of initiation fees to GTU will be paid through a one-time gift from a friend of the Department of Geography.

Post contributed by Trevor Edmonson, Andrew Krmenec and C. Scott Smith