Category: Geographic research and news
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Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial North America 2013
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The 2013 Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial North America (FOSS4G-NA) conference will be be held May 22-24 in Minneapolis, MN. Two of the keynote speakers are: Eric Gundersen, CEO, MapBox. With big names converting from Google Maps to MapBox (USA Today, Foursquare, etc.), Eric will be discussing the business proposition/value of open source…
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Which is the bigger global health problem: malnutrition or overeating?
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According to The Global Burden of Disease report, a large study published in The Lancet in December 2012, for the first time in human history, overeating is causing more health problems globally than is malnutrition. In 1990, the leading global health problem, as estimated by shortened life span, was under-nutrition. When the study was repeated…
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Landsat 8! Hurray!
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Landsat satellites provide us with the longest continuous record of remotely sensed earth images. Today NASA and the USGS launched what will be Landsat 8 (if all goes well after a test run of three months). The satellite carries two sensors, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), which will carry on the…
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Water levels in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron at historical lows
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From The Detroit News, Feb. 1, 2013, by Jim Lynch: Lake Michigan and Lake Huron water levels are at all-time lows of 576.02 feet above sea level, beating the former low from 1964. “Gov. Rick Snyder next week is expected to announce emergency action to help dredge harbors in Michigan because the state counts on…
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Minnesota State Geography receives major endowment
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The Department of Geography at Minnesota State University in Mankato, MN, is the recipient of a major endowment gifted by Dr. Mary T. Dooley, Professor Emerita of Geography. The endowment will provide student scholarships and research expenses as well as build the collection of the University Map Library. For more information and to learn more…
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Hip to Be Square? Maybe Not!
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The advent of multi-touch displays, such as those found in iPads, has radically transformed the way we interface with spatial data. But as David Daw of PC World suggested, they are just “way too square”. For geographers, the idea of forcing a round (oblate) world onto a flat surface is nothing new. However, after centuries…
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Haiti 3 years after the quake
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This month marks the third-year anniversary of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake. Ben and Alexi, two Americans living in Haiti since 2008, have a great blogpost highlighting the progress (and lack thereof) since the 2010 earthquake. They include links showing how U.S. government money was spent and a runner’s tour of post-earthquake Port-au-Prince.
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Divest Gustavus looks at college investments that contribute to global warming
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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.
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Whose ecosystem is it anyway?
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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…
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Congress’ voting record on gun rights
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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…