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The National Geographic Society sponsors an annual international geography competition for teenagers. The 2011 competition was hosted by Google at their California headquarters. Teams from different countries vied for prizes with the Russian team beating the second place Canadians on this question: Name the country that receives 90 percent of its export earnings from a…

Geography Major Melissa Wygant attended a national conference on risks and hazards in Colorado this week. She writes: The 36th Annual Natural Hazards Workshop held in Broomfield, Colorado, is a wonderful opportunity to network with students, educators and professionals who work in various sectors related to natural hazards. It has been a great opportunity to…

Take a closer look at this map from City-Data.com. Something strange is happening north of Blaine, Washington. The land seems to… well, it just drops off rather abruptly into the Pacific Ocean. And it all seems suspiciously rectilinear. Plus, off to the west, there lies an unnamed island with a northern border that also displays…

2.5 miles SSE of Faunce, Minnesota is another landscape curiosity only visible from the air.

Type the following into your web browser: “Thirteen Lake, Kroschel, MN 55072” and zoom into the west side of Thirteen Lake. Gustavus geography graduate Eric Foss’ father is a surveyor with a love for Minnesota and an eye for life size cartography. It looks even crisper on aerial photography.

Geography senior Aubrey Austin completed a geography honors thesis project on the Hiawatha Light Rail line in Minneapolis and Bloomington, Minnesota. She analyzed how businesses such as restaurants, hotels, and nightclubs and attractions such as the Mall of America, Airport, and Target Field promoted use of the Hiawatha Line. The Target Field was notable for…

Geography major Melissa Wygant turned her class project on the proposed Red River diversion project into a newspaper editorial. For the Nature and Socity course, Melissa studied the effects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed diversion project on rural areas.  Noting that the project would actually make flooding worse for some rural areas…

A Swedish geography dissertation examined the costs and benefits of long-distance commutes. Geographer Erika Sandow of Umea University found that men were more likely than women to gain from long commutes in terms of higher salaries and career advancement. On the other hand, men who commuted longer than 45 minutes to work saw negative effects…

The Gustavus Geographers gathered at the ca. 1860 Borgeson log cabin for their annual picnic. Amidst the fragrant wild plum blossoms and spring blooms of the Linneaus Arboretum, students, faculty, and families gathered to enjoy a meal together. The menu included kabobs grilled by Dr. Douglas and sambusas, humus, and other Mediterranean delights from Lencho…