IMAGE OF THE WEEK
Kimberley Thomas took her GEOG 497 Capitalism, Labor, and the Environment class to tour the Pioneer Tunnel coal mine, in Ashland, Pa., located in the largest anthracite deposit in the world to learn about the working lives of miners.
GOOD NEWS
Guido Cervone has been named to the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences at National Academy of Sciences. The board is engaged in the first ever decadal survey of the social and behavioral sciences, at the request of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The committee conducting the decadal survey has the broad task of identifying future research opportunities likely to contribute to the intelligence community’s analytic responsibilities. As part of its information-gathering, the committee will hold a workshop on October 11, in Washington, D.C. on Leveraging Advances in Social Network Thinking for National Security, which will explore how network thinking will evolve and transform the intelligence community in the next ten years.
Three online geospatial program students received United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) scholarships: Roxanne Ahmadi, Jace Ebben, and Travis Meyer. All three are enrolled in the Geospatial Intelligence option of the Masters of Professional Studies in Homeland Security.
NEWS
Coffee Hour with Frank Boscoe (’00g): Twenty Years of Cancer Mapping
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, claiming over half a million lives annually and accounting for 22% of all deaths. Age-adjusted cancer mortality rates have dropped by a quarter from their 1991 peak, despite a wide perception that little progress has been made. Perhaps this is because we have gained relatively little new insight about what factors trigger cancer in the first place. There is a widespread belief – even a collective wish – that mapping cancer at a fine geographic scale will yield these insights. In this talk, I will describe my efforts over the past two decades to tackle this problem.
- 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.
- Watch the webcast on Mediasite
[Editor’s note: The Summer 2017 GEOGRAPH Newsletter was published and mailed in August. We are placing the articles on the department website, and will highlight this content during the fall. Want to get your copy in the mail? Send your postal address to geography@psu.edu]
From the Summer 2017 GEOGRAPH newsletter
Peuquet, well-known for research and service in GIScience, retires
Donna Peuquet, professor of geography at Penn State since 1986, announced her retirement to emeritus status at the end of June 2017.
Within the Department of Geography, Peuquet taught many undergraduate and graduate courses, advised graduate students, and served as the undergraduate program director and as the associate director of the GeoVISTA Center. “Dr. Peuquet advanced my thinking and influenced my career by expecting me to learn, think and work as an independent scholar,” 4said Elizabeth Wentz (’97g), dean of social sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.
Penn State hosts 15 new NSF graduate researchers
Megan Baumann and Eden Kinkaid are among the new fellows.
The Graduate School at Penn State is pleased to host 15 new National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award recipients for the 2017-18 academic year.
Climate change and extreme weather challenge communities to be resilient
Flooding in Texas and again in Louisiana, a category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic hammering Caribbean islands and Florida and, of course, memories of Sandy and Katrina place extreme weather events like hurricanes and the flooding, storm surge and winds that accompany them in the minds of people in the storms’ paths, but also forefront in the minds of administrators, first responders, government officials and city planners.
“Managing Risk in a Changing Climate,” a documentary produced by Penn State’s public television station WPSU in partnership with the Network for Sustainable Climate Risk Management (SCRIM), focuses on Louisiana and New Orleans and their efforts to create a master plan for future events.