Geography Blog

Category: Geographic research and news

  • Fair Trade: On Our Interconnected World

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    averslui

    Our world today is more interconnected than ever. One major expression of our interconnectedness is the global economy: the goods and services we purchase are often produced in far-off places, and the inevitable waste that is a byproduct of our current economy also has global impacts (see here for one example). The deaths of over…

  • A record wet start to Minnesota’s spring

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    averslui

    from WeatherTalk, by Mark Seeley, Univ. of Minnesota, Dept of Soil, Water, and Climate: “The south-central and southeastern climate divisions of Minnesota are off to a record start in 2013 in terms of precipitation. For south-central Minnesota observers the average total precipitation received through the first 4 months of the year (Jan-Apr) is 11.17 inches,…

  • AAG: Should our name be changed?

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    averslui

    Should the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the primary society for academic geography, change its name to reflect that it has grown to be an international organization? AAG President Eric Sheppard argues yes here.

  • Interactive Map of Mobile Calls and Texts

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    averslui

    How are people connected to other locations via phone calls and texts? Here’s a great map showing where mobile calls and texts originate and are sent in the United States: http://senseable.mit.edu/csa/interact.html. Where do most of your calls and texts go to?

  • Living in the era of the geographer

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    averslui

    This quote comes from the Preface of the National Research Council’s 2010 report Understanding the Changing Planet: Strategic Directions for the Geographical Sciences. “We are living in an era of receding glaciers, accelerating loss of species habitat, unprecedented population migration, growing inequalities within and between nations, rising concerns over resource depletion, and shifting patterns of…

  • 15 Years Ago Today: The Saint Peter Tornado

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    mbjellan

    A F-3 tornado struck on March 29, 1998, killing a young boy and destroying over two hundred homes plus two historic schools, two historic churches, Gustavus’ oldest dormitory, and thousands of trees. Remarkably, the tornado spared the town’s three trailer parks, lessening the toll. Below is a map created in MapInfo by Gustavus geography students…

  • The 15th Anniversary of the 1998 Saint Peter Tornado

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    averslui

    Fifteen years ago, on 29 March 1998, a 67-mile-track F3-F4 tornado passed through Saint Peter. Two people were killed and over 200 houses in Saint Peter were destroyed. Fifty-nine buildings on the Gustavus campus were damaged, and the campus and rest of Saint Peter lost many of their trees. “Tens of thousands of trees were…

  • The Midwest’s Identity Crisis

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    mbjellan

    A provocative article in MinnPost points out the Midwest’s feelings of inferiority relative to the East Coast and West Coast. Frank Bures describes the many architectural and literary treasures of the Midwest and notes that back a few generations, there wasn’t the same feeling of inferiority. Mark Twain, Cass Gilbert, Grant Wood, Frank Lloyd Wright…

  • GIS: Changing History One Map at a Time

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    rbergstr

    A recent article at Smithsonian.com, highlights Anne Knowles, professor of Geography at Middlebury College, and how she uses Geographic Information Science (systems) to literally make history come alive.  In the process, she challenges long-standing academic views of noteworthy historical events by “putting place at the center of history.”  Take for example the often-questioned decision by…

  • What a Difference a Year Makes!

    What a Difference a Year Makes!

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    rbergstr

    It was a year ago this week that I decided to drive the 500 miles from Manhattan, Kansas to Minnesota to spend time with my family for spring break.  On St. Patrick’s Day, we spent the afternoon on the patio at the Brookside Bar and Grill in Marine on the St. Croix, enjoying summer-like weather…