Category: Uncategorized

The link below connects to an interactive map that allows the user to visualize which countries are most socially connected to other countries through Facebook friends. Try to predict which countries are most socially connected and then click on a country and find out if you are right. The importance of language, historical connections,  migration…

Transition months can be deadly! For those who suffer from weathermania, the months of October and March are of particular interest as it is during this period that we typically transition from autumn to winter and winter to spring respectively.  One such transition period, October of 1991, saw trick-or-treaters in Minnesota slog through 8 inches…

Gustavus student Cristian Raether is in Alaska for several weeks as part of his training to become a nurse. He spent several weeks at a hospital in Fairbanks and is now at “the top of the world” in Barrow. You can follow his adventures at his blog “Alaska, My Trip to the Last Frontier”: http://cristianalaska.blogspot.com/.

The Geography Department at Gustavus celebrated its 60th anniversary with a reunion last Saturday. The celebration commemorated the retirement of Dr. Bob Douglas and the 50th year of Gustavus teaching by Dr. Bob Moline. Congratulations all around! Thank you to everyone who attended–despite a rainy homecoming Saturday. It was a delight to see you and…

Congratulations to Dr. Ryan Bergstrom whose paper, with Dr. Lisa Harrington, won first place in the 35th Applied Geography Conference‘s Student Papers Competition last week! The paper title and abstract are below. SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM: A CASE STUDY OF JACKSON, WYOMING To facilitate community objectives toward sustaining the natural environment,…

As part of the course GEG/ENV-250 Nature and Society, students visited two dairies in Nicollet County, Minnesota, earlier this month. The students didn’t want to leave the calf barn!

The students from Dr. Bjelland’s GEG-336: Urban and Regional Analysis class used the Nice Ride bike rental system to explore park design, historic preservation, and gentrification along the Mississippi riverfront in Minneapolis. Students bicycled through the city’s Mill District, North Loop, and Nicollet Island neighborhoods. The students enjoyed a brisk, sunny fall day as they…

Philosopher, environmental ethicist, and nature writer, Kathleen Dean Moore, was on campus earlier this week as part of the Nobel Conference 48: Our Global Ocean. Dr. Moore is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Oregon State University and author of numerous award-winning books. It was a great pleasure for me and two Gustavus students, Mary Patterson…

For those interested in Mexican history: Prof. Sujay Rao’s Colonial Latin America class is watching the Mexican film La Otra Conquista/The Other Conquest tonight (Thursday, October 4) at 8pm in Beck 215. The film focuses on the religious and cultural transformations occurring in Mexico after the military conquest of the Aztec. All interested students are…

Lencho Bati, visiting instructor of geography, delivered a presentation to the U. S.  State Department in Washington, D.C. on September 24, 2012. Mr. Bati gave his talk to the staff of the African Bureau of the State Department. He urged the United States to take an active role in stabilizing Ethiopia and promoting democracy in…