Archive for Anna Versluis
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Divest Gustavus looks at college investments that contribute to global warming
Widely-read author, speaker, and environmental activist Bill McKibben tweets today “Divestment comes to Minnesota–real thanks to students at Gustavus!” A group of Gustavus students is taking up McKibben’s challenge (see 350.org) for college campuses to divest from companies dealing in fossil fuels. For more information, see this January 18, 2013 article in the Gustavian Weekly.
Whose ecosystem is it anyway?
Here’s a nice essay on the concept of ecosystem services and some of the problems it presents by Joy Merwin Monteiro, a PhD student at the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. The essay is published in Dimensions, the magazine of the International Human Dimensions Programme on [...]
Congress’ voting record on gun rights
After the Newtown, Connecticut, school shootings last week, the national debate on gun rights and gun control is raised once again. The New York Times has a map of the United States showing how the National Rifle Association (NRA) rates members of Congress based on their voting record on issues of gun control. Maps are [...]
Geography Association Announces Awards
One way for students to get a better understanding of the discipline of geography in America is to see who wins the Association of American Geographers (AAG) Honors each year. The recipients for 2012 have just been announced. Granted, there are many people who qualify for the awards and the selection process always involves some [...]
Escalating war in Congo
Violence has been escalating in the eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), in central Africa. Foreign Policy writes that Goma, “one of Congo’s biggest eastern cities fell to a powerful rebel force on Tuesday, Nov. 20, in a war that may redefine the region but has produced little political action [...]
Using GIS to study history
This month’s Smithsonian magazine features Dr. Anne Kelly Knowles, a geographer at Middlebury College who uses GIS to study historical events. She is a winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award. Knowles became interested in geography later in life while working as an editor with a University of Chicago geography professor: “I was blown away. [...]
Hudson Bay Bound
Natalie Warren, co-founder of Wild River Academy, will speak about her travels from Minneapolis to the Hudson Bay by canoe. Her talk, Hudson Bay Bound: Reflections on a Canoe Trip to Hudson Bay, will take place on Tuesday, December 4, at 7 pm in Olin 103.
Geographer Don Mitchell receives Swedish Society medal
Post adapted from the November 2012 AAG Newsletter. Don Mitchell, Maxwell Distinguished Professor of Geography at Syracuse University, recently received the prestigious Anders Retzius Medal in Gold from the Swedish Society of Anthropology and Geography (SSAG). The award was presented to Mitchell by His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden on Vega Day, which [...]
Kuehnast Lecture Series on Climate
The University of Minnesota held a “mini climate school” on November 9, 2012 as part of the 20th annual Kuehnast Lecture. The three informational talks on 1) climate change in Canada, 2) urban climates, and 3) severe thunderstorms and climate change are available for streaming. Past years’ talks may also be watched online.
Geography Awareness Week
The Gustavus Adolphus College geography department celebrated Geography Awareness Week by posting informational posters around campus, contributing geography questions for Trivia Night at Patricks, and hosting a quiz contest in the Marketplace Cafeteria. The prize for the contestant with the highest score was a year’s subscription to National Geographic Magazine. Here is the four question [...]