News from the University of Utah Department of Geography http://www.geog.utah.edu Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:37:14 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.geog.utah.edu/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.geog.utah.edu News from the University of Utah Department of Geography http://www.geog.utah.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=65 U-geography 2002-2009: What a performance! In preparation for a periodic review of our graduate program, the faculty and staff have been assembling department scholarship performance measures for the period 2002-2009. The numbers are stunning, especially given our relatively modest size (12 regular faculty): Extramural research funding 2002 to 2009: approximately $17 million (total awards) Faculty publications 2002-2009: 130 peer-reviewed papers, 11 books (authored or edited), 80 book chapters or other publications Faculty career recognition Social and Behavioral Science College Superior Research Award – Harvey Miller (2004), Bing Xu (2006), Philip Dennison (2007) University Consortium for Geographic Information Science Young Scholars Award – Tom Cova (2003) AAG Regional Development and Planning specialty group Distinguished Scholarship award – Dennis Wei (2006) Association of American Geographers (AAG) Transportation Geography specialty group Edward L. Ullman award – Harvey Miller (2009) Graduate fellowships and awards University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowship – Andrea Dion (2002), Jeffrey VanLooy (2006) NASA Earth Space Science fellowships – Elias Deeb (2006), Annie Bryant and Evan Burgess (2009) AAG Geographic Information Science specialty group student paper competition first place paper awards - Scott Bridwell (2005), Edward Pultar (2007) Note: the only two masters’ students to win in the history of the competition! AAG Cryosphere specialty group R. S. Tarr student paper competition poster award - Elias Deeb (2005) AAG Hazards specialty group Jeanne X. Kasperson award - Laura Siebeneck (2008) Geographic Information Science 2008 international conference Best Poster award – Tetsuo Kobayashi (2008) Undergraduate fellowships and awards NASA Earth Science Internship – Alex Hogle (2003) National Geographic Internship – Kristen Hoschouer (2002) University of Utah Young Alumni Outstanding Senior Award – Tom Zumbado (2009) University of Utah Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Research Assistantship – Edward Pultar (2005) Pound for pound, there's no better department around! Experience the excellence of U-geography! Graduate application information can be found here (graduate/prospective.html). Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:38:45 +0100 http://www.geog.utah.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=121&Itemid=65 U-geographers on Time Team America: Range Creek Geography faculty (and 'expert climber') Larry Coats and others were recently featured on the PBS show Time Team America: Range Creek. Range Creek in eastern Utah is perhaps the most stunning archeaological find in North America in a century, and U-geographers (along with other U of U faculty, researchers and students) are involving in uncovering its wealth of information about the Fremont people and their fate. From the Time Team America website: Located in the remote Book Cliffs region of eastern Utah, Range Creek is the kind of site archaeologists dream about. The sage-covered meadows and rocky cliffs are scattered with the remnants of an ancient people: pit houses half-buried in the sand, mysterious petroglyphs scratched into the rock walls and bits of pottery and stone tools lying where they were dropped over a thousand years ago. Best of all, most of the hundreds of archaeological sites remain virtually untouched, providing a rare opportunity to find out what may have happened to the Fremont people who once flourished here. Time Team probes the ground, scales the cliffs and learns what life was like in these canyons a thousand years ago Time Team America website (http://www.pbs.org/opb/timeteam/sites/range_creek/index.php) Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:05:30 +0100 http://www.geog.utah.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=65 Tom Painter: Desert Dust Alters Alpine Ecology The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is publishing a paper based on Assistant Professor of Geography Tom Painter's research on desert dust, accelertaed snowmelt and its affects on alpine ecology. From the University of Utah press release: Current mountain dust levels are generally five times greater than they were prior to the mid-19th century, due in large part to increased human activity in the deserts. This year, 12 dust storms have painted the mountain snowpack red and advanced the retreat of snow cover, likely by more than a month across Colorado. Under climate change, warming and drying of the desert southwest is likely to result in greater dust accumulation in the mountains. 'Earlier snowmelt by desert dust depletes the natural water reservoirs of mountain snowpacks and in turn affects the delivery of water to urban and agricultural areas,' said Tom Painter, Assistant Professor of Geography and Director of the Snow Optics Laboratory. The new research, published this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, now shows that this early snowmelt also affects the life cycles of alpine plants and that the dust effect on these plants differs from the effect of climate warming. More information: University of Utah press release (http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062409-2) KCPW article (http://kcpw.org/article/8013) Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:05:47 +0100 http://www.geog.utah.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109&Itemid=65 Ann Bryant and Evan Burgess awarded NASA Fellowships Two Ph.D. students, Annie Bryant and Evan Burgess, have each been awarded a NASA Earth Space Science (ESS) Graduate Student Fellowship. This is a competitive and prestigious award that speaks highly of each student's work, as well as their advisors, Tom Painter and Rick Forster respectively. There were 274 applicants this year for the 62 fellowships granted. The fellowship is renewable for up to three years totaling $90,000 for each student. Annie's project is Radiative forcing by desert dust in snowmelt-dominated hydrologic systems from coupled satellite and in situ measurements . Evan's research is “Mechanisms of Alaskan glacier motion through observation of surface velocities and ice thickness”. The purpose of the Fellowship program is for NASA Earth Science to train a pool of highly qualified scientists in support of NASA's mission to use the vantage point of space to understand and protect our home planet. NASA understands that the future of Earth science rests with today's students, who will be tomorrow's scientists and engineers. Congratulations to both Ann and Evan and to their advisors Tom and Rick, too! Ann Bryant Evan Burgess Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:37:12 +0100 http://www.geog.utah.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Itemid=65 Dust storms causing early snowmelt Assistant Professor of Geography Dr. Thomas Painter iresearch on dust storms and snowmelt has been reported in the national news media again, including the Los Anegles Times and the New York Times. An unprecedented number of major dust storms (twelve during the last three years), is speeding up the snowmelt runoff to rivers. Three storms that swept through southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado in late March and early April 2009 helped eliminate the snowpack along the entire western stretch of Colorado. The mountains usually remain snow-covered until mid-summer. The increased dust levels are the result of grazing, mining, increased recreational use, and energy exploration. Soot from Asia and California's smog-emitting centers could also be contributing to early snowmelt. The dust and soot darkens the snow, allowing the surface to absorb more heat from the sun. This warms the snow, and the air above it, significantly. Officials are worried about drastic water shortages in late summers and a return to the Dust Bowl soil conditions of 1934. The Southwest's temperatures are expected to rise by 10 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. Read stories in the Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-pink-snow24-2009may24,0,3307911.story) and the New York Times! (http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/05/14/14greenwire-climate-change-water-shortages-conspire-to-cre-12208.html?scp=1 sq=Painter%20dust%20Utah st=cse) Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:10:22 +0100