In the News

• Gary Lavanchy, Ph.D. student, received two awards to support field work in Latin America this summer.   He is the recipient of the Latin America Specialty Group and  the Gary Gaile Travel Award from the  Development Geographies Specialty Group  of the Association of American Geographers  for his proposal entitled "The Political Ecology of Water in Tourism Development in Nicaragua."

  Congratulations Gary and make the most of your time in the field.

• JD Davis,   Ph.D. student, is the receipt of a LASPAU grant (Academic and Professional Programs for the Americas: http://www.laspau.harvard.edu/) to fund a short-term graduate student exchange in Guatemala. This grant resulted from our (DU and Columbia University) accepting and hosting a graduate student from Guatemala in the fall of last year.   The money will permit JD to travel to Guatemala this spring to deepen academic contacts there and rekindle contacts he made during his MA field research. 

  Congratulations JD and make the best of your time in the field.

• Dr. Michael Keables was awarded a 2011 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Exemplary Course Design
  Dr. Keables will receive this award on July 14 at the Blackboard World 2011 Annual User's Conference.  "The efforts made by Michael really do make a difference in enhancing the learning experience at your institution and for many other institutions across the globe", quoted from Ray Henderson, President of Blackboard Lean, Blackboard Inc.
• After a trip to Guatemala with Matthew Taylor and three engineering students; progress has been made on an improved wood burning stove. For a video snippet of what these engineering students have been up to on their senior design project click this link.
• Espen Haugen (BA international studies and geography '08) now runs a non-governmental organization in rural Nicaragua. The DU Magazine wrote a story about Espen's experiences in Nicaragua.  Read more on DU Today.  At the World Geospatial Forum (Hyderabad, India), January 18-21, the poster  entitled  "Using the Nighttime Satellite Imagery to Create a Global Grid of Distributed Fossil Fuel CO ₂ Emissions" by: Tilottama Ghosh, Chris Elvidge, Paul Sutton, Kim Baugh, Daniel Ziskin, and Ben Tuttle, won the best poster award.
• PhD degree makes student Doctor Copter Brett Machovina earned his doctorate in geography while actively serving as a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. Read more on DU Today. 
• Faculty and students work to improve Kenyan slum
  Faculty from the Department of Geography are joining with several other DU departments on the interdisciplinary Kibera Project, which is working to bring clean water to one of the world's largest slums. Read more on DU Today.
• We remember Dr. Laurence Herold
  Dr. Herold joined the department's faculty in 1956, chaired the department for seven years in the 1980s and retired in 1996.  Dr. Herold died March 30, 2010 after a long illness.  He was 78.  Read more on DU Today.
• Ruth Murray Underhill Teaching Award
  Andrea Gelfuso, Adjunct Professor for the Geography Department has been named the recipient for the Ruth Murray Underhill Teaching Award, given every year to an adjunct professor for teaching excellence.  She will receive this award on October 26 at the 2010 Faculty and Staff Awards Luncheon.
• NSF and PINS research in Guatemala
  Dr. Matthew Taylor travels to Guatemala during the 2010 winter break to continue NSF-funded research on climate change and droughts.  A DU doctoral student and a team of DU undergraduate engineers will accompany Dr. Taylor.  As part of their final, year-long design project, the engineers are designing an improved wood burning stove for use in Central America.  However, to design a stove that is culturally acceptable, they must understand the culture and needs of users.  Thus, with funding from the DU Undergraduate Research Center (known as PINS), students will travel to Guatemala with Dr. Taylor to meet with stove users in rural areas.
• The DU Geographer 2011 Newsletter is now published.