IMAGE OF THE WEEK
Adena Schutzberg (’88g) sends this photo from new hire training at Esri with about two dozen folks. Among them are four other Penn State geography grads. She managed to wangle a picture with Chris Cappelli (1988) and Jack Dangermond. Schutzberg writes, “Keith Swavely and I are returning Esri employees. The other folks are Adam Ziegler (’02), Matt Viverito (one of my online GIS certificate students!), and Jena DiFrisco (’16).”
GOOD NEWS
• International Journal of Digital Earth Special Issue Call for Papers: Human-Centered Virtual and Augmented Reality Geovisualization Environments. Penn Staters Alexander Klippel, Jan Oliver Wallgrün, and Danielle Oprean are guest editors along with Arzu Coltekin, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
• Martha Selig (’06 and a grader in GEOG 483) was awarded second place in the Analytic Presentation Map category for her poster “Protecting Los Angeles County’s Scenic Ridgelines” at the 2016 Esri User Conference. It describes how the County creates vertical buffers down from the tops of scenic ridges to define protection zones. View the poster here: http://www.esri.com/events/user-conference/exhibits/map-gallery-results.
NEWS
Dutton Institute director dedicated to enriching lives of others
Author, administrative leader, university senator and even student — these are just a few of the numerous roles Ann Taylor has held over the more than 20 years she has spent in the Penn State community, and they’ve all played a role in helping her achieve her career goals.
“It’s been great to work in so many positions where I can have a hands-on aspect to my work and also collaborate on resources that can benefit faculty, staff and students across the University,” said Taylor, who is the director of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ (EMS) John A. Dutton e-Education Institute.
Global climate models do not easily downscale for regional predictions
One size does not always fit all, especially when it comes to global climate models, according to Penn State climate researchers.
“The impacts of climate change rightfully concern policy makers and stakeholders who need to make decisions about how to cope with a changing climate,” said Fuqing Zhang, professor of meteorology and director, Center for Advanced Data Assimilation and Predictability Techniques, Penn State. “They often rely upon climate model projections at regional and local scales in their decision making.”
Cleared for takeoff: University use of unmanned air vehicles resumes
Geography faculty use UAVs to teach about landforms
“Alright, are you ready, Mike? Motor’s hot! Launch! Launch! Launch!”
With those final commands from aerospace engineering doctoral candidate John Bird, the AutoSOAR unmanned air vehicle was launched into the sky above the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, releasing with it nearly a year of bottled-up anticipation among faculty, staff and graduate students across the Penn State community.
Eat your vegetation: Linking landscapes to children’s diets in Indonesia
Geography faculty member Bronwen Powell’s research cited
Children need a healthy diet to grow strong bodies and minds, and to protect against deadly infections. In Indonesia, getting kids to eat healthy foods is a vital step toward overcoming problems of stunting and child mortality.
But could your child’s diet be influenced by the type of landscape you live in?
This question was addressed in a recent study by scientists at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), which looked at children’s diets and landscapes across Indonesia.