IMAGE OF THE WEEK
Zelinsky book offering
Graduate student Paulo Raposo finds a treasure among the late Emeritus Professor Wilbur Zelinsky’s books offered to the community by the University Libraries and Zellinsky’s daughters, Hollis Zelinsky and Karen Kite, at the GIS Day Reception on November 19, 2014.
GOOD NEWS
The bad news: this is Joshua Steven’s last semester in State College. The great news: In January, he will be starting work at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as lead data visualizer for the Earth Observatory.
Pennsylvania Geographical Society awards recap:
- First Place, Graduate student poster/map contest: Carolynne Hultquist, “Machine Learning for Post-fire Burn Severity Assessment in Diseased Forests”
- Second Place, Graduate student poster/map contest: Carolyn Fish, “Are You Blind to Change? Evaluating the Influence of Change Blindness in Animated Choropleth Maps”
- Second place, Undergraduate poster contest: Jack Swab, “Whose Hand is on the Tap? Examining the Political Structure of Water Providers in Harford County, Maryland”
- Distinguished Geographer Award: Petra Tschakert
NEWS
December 5 Coffee Hour
Gabeba Baderoon “Slavery, Islam, and the Making of a South African Landscape“
Slavery was the founding social and political institution in the Cape Colony and operated for 176 years in the first and largest of the colonies that would eventually constitute South Africa. Enslaved people, many of whom were Muslim, were brought from territories around the Indian Ocean, including East Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, and eventually constituted the majority of the population of the colony. Standing on Signal Hill above Cape Town, one looks down at the city along neat grids of streets and buildings that stretch to the curve of Table Bay. Since the colonial period, the vantage point on Signal Hill has been a site from which many nineteenth century landscapes of Cape Town were painted, and these portrayed the city as a settled, urbane and aesthetically pleasing space.
- 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
- Refreshments are offered in 319 Walker Building at 3:30 p.m.
- The lecture begins in 112 Walker Building at 4:00 p.m.
- Coffee Hour To Go
Fall GEOGRAPHY newsletter now available
The Fall 2014 issue of Penn State GEOGRAPHY is now available via mail, a digital version (PDF) or as html pages. Access the format of your choice here: http://www.geog.psu.edu/news/penn-state-geography-newsletter/fall-2014-newsletter
The Top Five Skills You Need for a Successful Career in GIS
What are the five most important skills that a successful professional in GIS should have? I have recorded a three-part video series (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) wherein I address this important issue. I begin the video series by presenting two ways of thinking about GIS in your career: (1) As a toolset that you use in your career as a biologist, public safety officer, marketing analyst, or in another career where GIS is listed only as a required or advised set of skills; and (2) As a GIS manager, technician, analyst, or another career where GIS or a variant is a part of the title and primary job duties.