Archive for May, 2010

Conservation Priorities for Dakota County, MN

Senior GIS student Sarah Betzler created a GIS model of priority areas for establishing conservation easements in Dakota County. Inspired by Ian McHarg’s Design with Nature, Sarah’s project demonstrates the usefulness of GIS for landscape and environmental planning. She used a weighted linear combination approach, taking into account sites of biodiversity significance, existing conservation corridors, […]

Big questions geographers ask (and try to answer!)

The National Research Council recently published a report that defines 11 major geographical science questions for the next decade. The  questions are not only intellectually interesting, but have significant import for the way we and our children will live. Of the questions below, can you figure out which are the 11 questions this geographical committee […]

Detecting and Assessing Marine Oil Spills

This blog is by Gustavus senior Kelsey Brugger as part of the GEG-345 Remote Sensing class. Detecting the full extent of oil spills is very difficult without the aid of technology. When it is detected it is hard to know the oil thickness. Using remote sensing to detect and monitor oil spills is very helpful. […]

Where once stood a lake

The GEG-105 Physical Geography: Earth System Science course visited a former lake in Nicollet County yesterday. Whereas once huge expanses of southern Minnesota were covered with wetlands, an estimated 90 percent of these have been drained. With the addition of tiling to drain excess water, these former wetlands are highly productive crop land. Drainage of […]

Searching for Waterfalls

Geography Professor Bob Douglas’ knowledge of the waterfalls of the Minnesota River watershed is featured in the current edition of Minnesota Conservation Volunteer. Bob and his wife Judy have searched for and documented 30 falls in the region. “Waterfalls for me are beauty,” Bob is quoted as saying in the article. “They evoke a sense […]

Green onions and goldfish: Growing food in a dorm room

We’ve heard about movements to grow food in urban gardens, rooftop gardens, on college campuses, and (maybe illegally) in basements under grow lights. But how many students grow food in their dorm room? Will dorm room agriculture be the movement of the future? Gustavus students Vinai Vang and Anthony Adams, Geography/Environmental Studies and Biology/Environmental Studies […]

Celebration of Creative Inquiry 2010

Among the many great posters presented at this year’s Celebration of Creative Inquiry at Gustavus Adolphus College, were two posters by Geography students Skylar Davis and Andrew Byron. Skylar presented a poster titled “A Demographic Analysis of Cook County, Minnesota.” Cook County, the most northeastern county in Minnesota, is a popular place to own land […]