Christine Carrier won 1st place in student paper competition at AAG West Lakes meeting

NIU Geography graduate student Christine Carrier won 1st place finish in the student paper competition at AAG West Lakes meeting held in in Macomb, IL, Oct. 21-23, 2010. She did an excellent job in writing the paper and presenting it at the conference. She received the highest point total among all entries. This award carries a check of $150, which will be sent directly from AAG central office in Washington, DC. Congratulations, Christine!

NIU hosted the 54th annual American Society of Agronomy Region 3 Soil Judging Contest

Northern Illinois University hosted the 54th annual American Society of Agronomy Region 3 Soil Judging Contest on October 8 and 9. The contest took place in DeKalb and Kane Counties. Sixty-five individuals from six teams (Northern Illinois University, Purdue University, University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point) participated in the contest.

The contest was organized by Dr. Mike Konen (NIU). Soil pits were dug by Ron Collman (USDA-NRCS) and Zach Weber (USDA-NRCS). Mark Bramstadt (USDA-NRCS), Bill Kreznor (Kreznor and Associates), Bruce Putman (Putman Soil Testing), and Jennifer Wollenweber (USDA-NRCS) served as the official judges for the contest. John Begun, Dean Johnson, Eldon Gould, NIU, Dunteman Turf Farms, and Garfield Farm Museum were gracious hosts that allowed soil pits to be located on their property. Plaques were provided by the Illinois Soil Classifiers Association. Approximately 15 members and friends of the Department of Geography assisted with grading scorecards during the contest. Leonard Walther put the final touches on the design of the plaques and t-shirts.

NIU Geography soil judging team took home 3rd place in both the Group and Team events. Clint Bailey won 3rd place finish in the individual event. NIU team members included: Clint Bailey, Trevor Edmonson, Jacob Kruse, Jennifer LeVine, Wesley Poggenpohl, Ellyn Raimondi, Ryan Strelcheck, Ashley Warren, Norman Yackle. Alicia Lisowski and Steve Hamilton (both NIU graduate students) coached the team.

The highest scoring individual from an Illinois university and winner of the Burton W. Ray Scholarship Award this year is Clint Bailey from Northern Illinois University.

The top three teams are eligible to participate in the national contest that will be hosted in the spring of 2011 by Oregon State University near Bend, Oregon. This is the third consecutive year the NIU team has qualified for the national contest.

Congratulations to all of them! Thanks to the judges, coaches, and volunteers!

Dr. Konen has the following to say: "I think I can speak for everyone involved in thanking the volunteers and landowners for all their hard work and hospitality and as usual everyone learned a great deal about soils, landscapes, hydrology, vegetation, and land-use and had fun while participating in the contest. I think back to my undergraduate days at Iowa State University and know that if it was not for the opportunity to participate in Soil Judging I would most likely not have ended up becoming a Pedologist and having the privilege in continuing to participate in this important educational field experience.

Thanks to all of you that have supported and continue to support Soil Judging!"

Official judges Jennifer Wollenweber (NIU graduate), Mark Bramstadt, Bruce Putman, and Bill Kreznor.

Northern Illinois University Soil Judging Team participating in group judging.

Volunteers and coaches grading scorecards during the contest.

Northern Illinois University Soil Judging Team.

Clint Bailey, Northern Illinois University. Winner of the Burton W. Ray Scholarship Award.

(post contributed by Dr. Mike Konen)

Geography Well Represented at the First NIU Run to Victory 5k/1 Mile Walk

On a beautiful homecoming morning, when the Huskies would defeat Buffalo 45-14, Recreation Services held what was the first (of what hopefully will become an annual event) Run to Victory 5k/1 Mile Walk. The 5k course started at Anne’s Woods, with the first third of the course going through the neighborhood just east of campus and the last two thirds taking runners through campus near the Chick Evans Field House, past DuSable, Psych/Math, around the East Lagoon, north by the Art and Music buildings and ending near Anderson. Awards were given to overall winners, and top finisher in the following categories: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate student, faculty/staff and alumni. The Department of Geography was well represented at the race and in the winner’s circle with Michael Saxton placing 1st overall. Other winners were Josh Rynders (1st male senior), Meghan Fish (1st female senior), Dan Hansen (1st male grad) and Dawn Sibley (1st female staff). Geographers that also participated but not pictured were Jennifer LaVine, Colleen Mitchell and Alex Stalzer. Congratulations to all!

(Post contributed by Lenny Walther)

Geography/Geology Softball 2010

On September 18th the Geography Club co-hosted a softball game against the Geology Club (SGE). The game was a success as we had professors and students play together on both sides and we hope to make this an annual event between the departments. The softball game was played on the field behind the Engineering building and Geology won 11-10. After the game both teams went to Edwardos for dinner to celebrate.

If you would like further information on Geography Club, please check the facebook group by searching "NIU Geography Club" for information on upcoming events.

(Post contributed by Trevor Edmonson)

Spring 2010 NIU Geography Colloquium Schedule

Most Fridays between 3 and 4 pm, the Department of Geography hosts a colloquium in Davis Hall, Room 121. The colloquia provide a comfortable setting for innovative researchers both internal and external to NIU to share their work with NIU faculty, graduate students and the broader public. Critical and constructive discussion is encouraged in these settings. Listed below is the colloquium schedule for Spring 2010.

• January 22: Dr. Michael Konen and Dr. Brandon Curry (Northern Illinois University)
• January 29: "Finding Food in Metropolitan Chicago: Food Access, Food Justice, and Community Development" by Dr. Daniel Block (Chicago State University)
• February 19: "Recording Insect Outbreaks with Tree Rings: Lessons from Cicadas and Pandora Moth" by Dr. James Speer (Indiana State University)
• February 26: "Is there a choice to stay? The Global Ethics of Health Worker Migration." by Dr. Robert Huish (Dalhousie University)
• March 5: "Climate Change Impact Assessments: Moving from the Local to the Global" by Dr. Julie Winkler (Michigan State University)
• March 26: "Metabolism, Mortality, and Geography" by Dr. James Wilson (Northern Illinois University)
• April 9, April 23 and April 28: Graduate Student Presentations (To be announced)

Research by NIU Geography Professor Supports Martian Ocean Hypothesis

A recent study by NIU Geographer Wei Luo and Tomasz Stepinski (Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX) uses an innovative computer program to produce a more detailed global map of the valley networks on Mars based on topographic data. The findings, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Planets (Luo and Stepinski, 2009), suggest that Martian networks are more than twice as extensive (2.3 times longer in total length) as had been previously depicted.

Mars valley network

Further, regions that are most densely dissected by the valley networks roughly form a belt around the planet between the equator and mid-southern latitudes, consistent with a past climate scenario that included precipitation and the presence of an ocean covering a large portion of Mars’ northern hemisphere. Scientists have previously hypothesized that a single ocean existed on ancient Mars, but the issue has been hotly debated. Luo states, “all the evidence gathered by analyzing the valley network on the new map points to a particular climate scenario on early Mars that would have included rainfall and the existence of an ocean covering most of the northern hemisphere, or about one-third of the planet’s surface.”

Mars ocean

The research was funded in part by NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program. Together with Stepinski, Luo developed a global GIS database of drainage patterns on Mars. The database takes advantage of significant advances in machine cartography and consists of high resolution maps of Martian topography. The GIS database is a significant update to the only available global map of valley networks that was constructed in 1990s using Viking-era images. The Martian maps and a conversation with Dr. Luo is available via NIU's YouTube page.

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