Geography Blog » Mark Bjelland

Geographers are adventurers

Mark Bjelland — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:24:05 +0000

13 Geography students spent January 2009 on a January term course led by Dr. Bjelland entitled “City Planning in the United Kingdom.” Four of those students were geography majors and the rest came from fields such as political science, management, education, and environmental studies. In looking back through trip photos, Dr. Bjelland noticed that the four students who took a January swim in the English Channel all happened to be geography majors. There must be something crazy and adventurous in being a geography major.

: January swim in England.

: Lulworth Cove, England

Geographers are Adventurers

Mark Bjelland — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:58:20 +0000

January swim in England.

Lulworth Cove, England

Infrared Photography Helps Students Understand Satellite Images

Mark Bjelland — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:23:36 +0000

Geography students sometimes struggle to understand infrared images which are increasingly used in satellite imagery. Mark Bjelland has a Sony cybershot camera modified for infrared photography and took the pictures shown here on September day. Digital cameras are sensitive to near infrared and come equipped with a hot mirror to remove the infrared. It was converted for IR use by removing the hot mirror and adding a filter that only allows 50% of the visible light to enter. Vegetation appears bright white in infrared photos because actively growing plants are highly reflective of near infrared radiation.

Infrared photograph of Old Main at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Dr. Robert Moline Speaks at Augustana 60th Anniversary Symposium

Mark Bjelland — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:06:32 +0000

Dr. Robert Moline will present a talk, “The Colorado River: Many Uses, Major Problems,” at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois on Friday October 16th. The Augustana College Geography Department is celebrating their 60th anniversary with a two-day symposium featuring their alumni as speakers on topics including water resources, environmental and urban planning, business geography, geographic education, climate change and geographic names.

Jobs for Geographers

Mark Bjelland — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:45:48 +0000

One of department chair Mark Bjelland’s goals is to better connect Gustavus geography majors with job opportunities and with department alumni who can provide job leads. Today’s tip: searching under GIS and Minneapolis at http://www.indeed.com produced 17 local jobs, including one with the CIA. A search under “social research” turned up some duds but also a market analyst position with Target Corportation that was looking for someone with a degree in business, geography, or urban planning.

100% Scandinavian Film to Premier October 11 and 12

Mark Bjelland — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:22:46 +0000

Award-winning Swedish filmmaker Stefan Quinth is premiering his new film on Scandinavian American culture and places at the American Swedish Institute on October 11 and at Gustavus Adolphus College on October 12. Advance information suggests Saint Peter and Gustavus Adolphus College are featured in the film. Read more at: http://www.cameraq.com/eminnesotatour.htm

American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis

French Canadian Fur Trader surfaces in Saint Peter

Mark Bjelland — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:11:18 +0000

Gustavus students discovered a French-Canadian fur trader near the Minnesota River in Saint Peter. His English was poor but they think he said his name was Louis Provencalle.

Geography Prof. Bob Douglas Welcomes International Students

Mark Bjelland — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:06:06 +0000

Dressed as the early Saint Peter settler Captain Dodd, Dr. Bob Douglas led new international students on a tour of the Saint Peter area. As always Bob’s tours take students to the Minnesota River landing where it all began. Bob’s tour focused on the downtown and the town’s historical geography.

Geographer Dr. Will Graf is featured Nobel Conference Banquet Speaker

Mark Bjelland — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:48:58 +0000

Geographer Dr. Will Graf will be the featured speaker at the October 7 evening banquet during the 2009 Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College. Dr. Graf is the University Foundation Distinguished Professor of Geography at the University of South Carolina where he also chairs the Geography Department. Will Graf will speak on the state of U.S. Rivers and address issues of alterations due to dams, impacts on fish and wildlife, and dam removal prospects. It will be great to have a geographer on the Nobel panel.

View Gustavus Weather Online

Mark Bjelland — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:36:45 +0000

Now you can check on the Saint Peter weather from the comfort of your home. The Geography Department has operated a campus weather station for decades. Students use the data for projects during GEG-108: Weather and Climate and for research projects on solar power, wind energy, hydrology, and plant growth in Saint Peter. But in 2008, we started putting the data online. The main focus is daily climate data (maximum and minimum temperatures, dewpoints, wind speed, rainfall, and so forth). There are some bugs with the updating of the graphs that we hope to work out soon.

http://homepages.gac.edu/~mbjellan/weather/