Author: mbjellan

In an interview published in USA Today, Dr. Anna Versluis of the Gustavus Geography Department discussed the complications of poor infrastructure in the recovery efforts . Read the full article at http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-01-13-Haiti-main_N.htm Please consider giving to the relief efforts. Dr. Versluis recommended a number of highly reputable organizations working in Haiti in her January 14…

Food and beverages played an important part in the GEG-336 class field trip. The trip focused on the differences between the Southwest, North, and Northeast sectors of Minneapolis.  Plus, we walked through new condominium developments along the Downtown Riverfront. Lunch at Emily’s Lebanese Deli in Northeast Minneapolis kept the scholars going strong.

An interesting 11/29/20009 article from the StarTribune shares how Northern Michigan University geographers used satellite imagery and digital elevation models to identify landforms associated with ancient shorelines. That work revealed that 4,500 years ago the water levels were 30-40 feet higher than today. Then, they devloped a GIS model to predict Native American archeological sites…

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…

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…

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…

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

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.