physical nature/society gisciences human

Ge Penn State

graphy

Vol. 9 Fall 2010

UnderGrad iS Part of reSearch field exPerience in tanzania

2 from the department head www.geog.psu.edu

Currently in my fourth year I feel ready to write about Penn State football. Ranking of the team is my point of entry. Head Coach Joe Paterno summed it up in 1994 when he said the all-important national rankings of the Nittany Lion team can be a bit of a distrac-tion. Penn State had defeated Michigan and jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 in the polls. I told them lets not lose sight of what still must be done, Paterno said about his play-ers. If were smart, it shouldnt affect us at all. While it would be unwise to draw close parallels, there is some commonality with the geography department in the currency of ranking.

The just-released 2010 NRC rankings put the Penn State Geography department among the top programs in U.S. colleges and universities. We are advantageously situ-ated along with a handful of the other premier departments across the country. No doubt there will be serious sifting through the NRC information. For example, explanation of the methodology alone covers a couple hundred pages. Who knows, important postgame responses will probably continue to unfold for a while, perhaps even as long as the several years that the NRC rankings were in the works (having collected their information back in 2006). Still, per JoePa, the ranking is only part of the story.

Now is the chance to draw attention to a couple of the strong sides and illustrate facts of everyday life that give our department such dynamism and distinctiveness in addition to the distinction of the NRC ranking of gradu-ate programs.

Surely one special success and a source of department pride is the typical funding of the full suite of graduate students enter-ing the program. One hundred percent. This means that for several years running every new graduate student is provided funding through a RAship or a TAship and, also, that same funding is provided for a number of years (based on the usual criteria of satisfac-tory progress, etc). As a result, our gradu-ate students are supported to integrate their research and teaching activities fully in the department, ensuring a classic win-win in

the closely entwined pursuits of inquiry and learning. Moreover, Penn State geogra-phy has enjoyed a distinguished reputa-tion for excellence that is decades-long, thus giving graduate students entre into top jobs in academia,

government, and industry.Mention of this particular strength is timely

since we are presently in the midst of pro-spective students applying to the depart-ments graduate program for next year. As usual they will be fortunate to face favorable funding support and top career opportunities in the Penn State department.

Our sense of pride in our ranking is based also on knowing that the Penn State depart-ment that brings together the principal sub-fields of geography in graduate study in a comprehensive way. You need only to look at the header of this newsletters cover page to see the departments vision of geography as physical, nature-society, GISiences, human. Each sub-field adheres to specific traditions and trajectories. Yet, at the same time, our intellectual culture is not confining but rather supports the kind of fertile cross-over that can occur among geographic sub-fields.

The exceptional success of the geography graduate program at Penn State is stamped with the signature of this full vision and practice of geography. It means the contribu-tions and activities of faculty and students, indeed our modes of thought and doing, are widely varied. Such is the circumstance in this countrys other leading programs as well. All members of our community are benefi-ciaries of this variety and regard it as a sort of special epistemological diversity that can be cherished. Its a collective value that we actively hold and are eager to share, both lo-cally within the department and beyond.

Pride resonates in halls of Penn State Geography

This newsletter is a publication of the Department of Geography in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State.

Contact us at:Department of Geography302 Walker BuildingPenn State UniversityUniversity Park, PA 16802Phone: 814-865-3433Fax: 814-863-7943URL: www.geog.psu.eduE-mail: geography@psu.edu

Design/editor content: Mike DawsonAdditional editors: Jodi Vender, Karl Zimmerer U Ed. EMS 11-29

This publication is available in alterna-tive media. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its work force.From the Department Head 2

Undergraduate student news 3Graduate student news 4Faculty and staff news 5Anthony Williams obituary 5Alumni news 6-7Cover story 8-9Department news 10-11Donors Back cover

InSIDetHIS

ISSUe

DePArtment HIGHlIGHtS

2010

november 15New website launches

December 18Fall 2010 undergraduate commencement

2011

April 12-16AAG Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

April 14Annual Penn State Geography reception at the AAG meeting. 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. at Vons Roasthouse, 619 Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98101

April 29Miller Lecture: Pat Hayes, of the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition may 13Spring 2011 undergraduate commencement

this is our first electronic-only newsletter. Print copies will be available upon request. If you would like a print copy, e-mail geography@psu.edu

Jinlong Yang, shown in the blue kayak, was in Portland, Ore., and mount Hood over the summer to attend the 2010 International Conference on Spatial Cognition. He presented the poster Assessing the cognitive adequacy of topological calculi in scaling movements with assistant professor Alex Klippel. In addition to the conference, Yang, Klippel and two graduate students, Sen Xu (kayak on the left) and rui li (kayak on the right), took in some sightseeing and kayaking, as evidenced in the photo on the left with a gorgeous view of mount Hood.

mike Iovacchini spent the spring 2010 se-mester in the Netherlands and traveled exten-sively throughout Europe (France, Italy, Germa-ny, Romania, Turkey, Spain). He also went to Guatemala City, Guatemela, over the summer and helped build houses and schools.

matthieu murdock received a prestigious Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation, or SMART, scholarship from the Department of Defense for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Charles Ferrer was a summer 2010 intern in the Capitol Hill office of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, of Montana. During Charles time there, he researched energy and agriculture issues for policy advisors. In addition, daily tasks includ-ed giving U.S. Capitol tours, performing ad-ministrative support and attending committee hearings and briefings. This experience helped shed light on how policy affects everyday life in Montana economically and socially. He says he hopes to visit Big Sky Country next summer to experience the states national parks and cultural landscape.

emily Connor is studying abroad in Am-man, Jordan, studying Arabic and looking into researching water policy rights and issues as a potential thesis topic perhaps in regards to the Palestinian -Israeli peace process. She is double majoring in geography and international politics.

Seven undergraduates did biogeography internships over the summer of 2010 with pro-fessor Alan Taylor in northern California. Joe Bowser and taylor Feinstein were in Lassen Volcanic National Park. evan Griffin and Kyle martin were in Cub Creek, and melissa Har-kavy, Warren reed and Ben Wharton were at Lake Tahoe.

MillerGulch

Tom Payne Gulch

WaldoGulch

Caada deCochiti TetillaCanyon

Thirty-oneDraw

Madrid

Rosario

Cerrillos

CochitiLake

AguaFria

Domingo

La Cienega

Waldo(historical)

CochitiPueblo

La BajadaPeaBlanca

SantoDomingoPueblo

Sile

Cochiti

Gallina Arroyo

Galisteo CreekSan Marc

os Arroyo

Rio Grande

Rio ChiquitoSante Fe

River

Cienega Cree

k

Alamo Creek

CochitiLake

Galisteo Creek

Sante Fe River

PortalesPondTankThirtyTankEighteen

TankNineteen

UpperCato Lake

CowartLake

DejarnettsPondGrossPond

McArthurLake

Lumber CityOxidationPond

StewartPond

SmithPond

HughesPondRose DewLake

WrightNumberTwo Pond

AchenbachLake

CatoLake

GraysLandingLake

LowerCato Lake

VidaliaChurch

AltamahaChurch

CorbettsChapel(historical)Spring HillBaptistChurchSpring HillMethodistChurch

Calvary MissionaryBaptist Church

EurekaChurch

HardensChapel

Saint JamesChristian MethodistEpiscopal Church

South ThompsonChurch

AllenChapel

Big BethelChurch

Church ofGod and Christ

CollinsChurch

EnglishEddy Church

Free Run Church

HopeChurch

HorneMissionChurchIsle ofHopeChurch

JordonStreamChurch

LandsburgChurch

MeltonsChapel UnitedMethodist ChurchMizpah Baptist Church

MountCalvary Church

Mount Mariah Church

NewCorinth Church

New HopeChurch

New HopeChurch

OaklandChurch OakviewChurch

PearsonGrove Church

PhiladelphiaChurch

PleasantHillChurch

PoplarSpringsChurch

SaintJohnsChurch

SaintMarysChurch SaintMatthewsChurch

SaintPaulChurch

SardisChurchShilohChurch

SmyrnaChurch

SpringHill ChurchStarlightChurch Thomps

onChapel

WilliamsonChapel

TaylorChapel

HallspurChurchLibertyChurch Oak Ridge Church(historical)

CharlotteChurch

LongPondChurch

OakGroveBaptist Church OakGroveChurch

CedarCrossingChurchCedarCrossing Church

CenterChurch

Church ofGodCobb Creek Church

FaithChurch

RockSpringsChurch

Ailey Center

Glenwood

MountVernon

SantaClaus

UvaldaEnglishEddy

Long Pond

OakGroveOchwalkee

Tallahassee

RockSprings ToombsCentral

Petross

McNattFalls

McGregor

Jordan

Higgston

FallingRocks

Charlotteville

Cedar Crossing

Alston

Spring Hill

SouthThompson

LumberCity

Ochwalkee Creek Oconee Creek

Sugar Creek

Alligator Creek

Bullards CreekGully Creek

Altamaha River

Ocmulger R

iver

Rocky Creek

Cobb Creek

Milligan Creek

Lotts Creek

Flat Creek

Larry CreekPeterson Creek

Ocmulger River

Buckhorn Creek

Greenland LakeMine

LakeRoland

MassCity

TwinLakesWyandotte

Firesteel

Frost

GrandRapids

McKeever

Ontonagon

PoriRockland Ro

usseau

Victoria

Wainola

Winona

Wasas

EmilyLakeSandyLakeHorseshoeLake ClearLakePikeLakeBohmierLakeFifteen, Lake

Gerald, LakeRoland, LakeBobHallLakeWinonaLake

ButterfieldLakeSixmileLake StormsLakeCourtneyLake SuddenLakeVerySuddenPond

Bob Lake

VictoriaReservoir

Ontonagon River

East Branch Ontonagon River

Middle Branch Ontonagon River

Baltimore Rive

r

South Branch Ontonagon River

West Branch Onto

nagon River

Deer Creek

Paddys Creek

Bear CreekCane Creek

Flintsteel River

McGuire Creek

Newholm Creek

Adventure Creek

Firesteel River

West Branch Firesteel River

Dishinaw Creek

East Sleeping River

West Branch Otter River

L a k e S u p e r i o r

LongHollow

MaysCanyon

MudHollowMud Springs Canyon Neece Canyon

OakCanyon

PetersonCanyon

Pine Tree Canyon

DryCanyon

SayrsCanyon

ShotgunHollowSixteenCanyon

StandardHollowStubbHollow

WindmillCanyon

WingateCanyon

NegroHollow

De MossCanyonGordon Hollow

Frank FultonCanyon

AllenCanyon

BarnumCanyon

Blue SandsCanyon

BullRun Canyon

Burn Canyon

CompanyHollow

DouglasHollow

Drill Box Canyon

Stecker Canyon

EastonCanyon

FallCanyon

FerrySprings Canyon

FultonCanyon

Harris Canyon

HayCanyonKingCanyon

Wishram

StackerButteBiggsJunction

Moro

BiggsJunction

Boyd

Dufur

GrassValley

Wasco

CeliloVillage

Emerson

Endersby

FairbanksPetersburg

Erskine

Rufus

TheDalles

De Moss Springs

Maryhill

WishramWishramHeights

Dallesport

Deschutes R

iver

Deschutes River

Dry CreekFifteenm

ile Creek

Fifteenmile Creek

Thirteenmile Creek

Eightmile Creek

Fivemile Creek

China Hollow CreekColumbia RiverColumbia River

Benfer

PortTrevorton

RedCross

ReservoirHeights

Reward

Richfield

SevenStarsSwales

ThompsontownThompsontownStation

Troxelville

Wardville

BeaverSprings

Kantz

Liverpool

Port Ann

Acker

Aline

HalfFalls

KneassOtto

PallasShadle

Verdilla

StonyRun

Beavertown

Middleburg

Berrysburg

Bunkertown

Cartin

Centerville

Chapman

CloverlyAcresCocolamus

CoonHunter

Dalmatia

Dimmsville

DonnallyMills

Dornsife

Dundore

EastSalemEnders

Evendale

FishersFerry

Fisherville

Freeburg

Goodville

Halifax

Herndon

HickoryCornersHofferIndependence

Waynesville

KellervilleKillinger

Kissimmee

Knousetown

Kreamer

Lenkerville

LocustGrove

LocustRun

Loschs

Malta

Mandata

Matterstown

Maze

McKeesHalf FallsMeiserville

Millersburg

Millerstown MontgomeryFerry

MountPatrick

Mount Pleasant Mills

Nekoda

Oriental

Patricksburg

Paxton

Paxtonville

Pillow

PleasantHills

BucksValley

DunnValley

FlintValley

HiesterValley

HuntersValley

LeisterValley

Little Pfoutz Valley

NeitzValley

PageValley

Perry Valley

PleasantValley

PotashHollow

PotatoValley

Quaker ValleySlimValleySwartz Valley

ToadHollowPfoutzValley

TroutValley

North Branch M

iddle Creek

Susquehann

a River

Delaware Creek

Cocolamus Creek

Stony Run

Juniata River

Bargers Run

West Branch Mahantago Creek

Armstrong C

reek

Wiconisco Cre

ek

Little Wicon

isco Creek

Mahantago Cre

ek

Mahanoy Creek

Penns Creek

Middle Creek

Juniata River

Susquehanna River

Middle Creek

Wildcat Run

LN Equal Inter

vals

with 5 Classes

Wet LN Value

17.45

25.96

34.47

42.98

51.49

ClassDry

Wet

16

0.5

260

5

3240

20

41100

90

54800

400

621000

1800

< 0.5

0.5 - 5

5 - 20

20 - 90

90 - 400

400 - 1800

> 1800

< 6

6 - 60

60 - 240

240 - 1100

1100 - 4800

4800 - 21000

> 21000

20 - 90

90 - 400

400 - 1800

> 1800

240 - 1100

1100 - 4800

4800 - 21000

> 21000

Introduction

The objective

of the projec

t is to

create data b

reaks for assi

gning line

weights to pr

oduce stream

tapering effe

cts

for hydrologic

layers for th

e USGS The

National

Map. Subgo

als for the pr

oject include

having

the breaks re

flect a mean

ingful measu

re for flowline

s

and producin

g a cartograp

hically appea

ling set of sy

mbols. A pro

blem

encountered w

as that using

a common se

t of line weig

hts for the w

hole

country left d

ry places look

ing inappropr

iately humid

and humid p

laces

looking inap

propriately d

ry. This prob

lem was addr

essed using su

bbasins

(HUC 08) to

classify the n

ation into we

t and dry area

s using annua

l

flow and prec

ipitation dat

a. The projec

t was comple

ted with NH

DPlus

medium-reso

lution flowlin

es using cum

ulative upstre

am drainage a

rea to

derive a base

set of seven

symbols for

wet and dry r

egions.

Tapering Sym

bols for NHD

Flowlines

Andrew Stau

ffer

Cynthia Bre

wer

Pennsylvania

State Univer

sity

Step 1:

Classify wet a

nd dry region

s

30-year avera

ges were used

to calculate

annual flow t

hrough each H

UC 02 which

was

unsatisfactor

y because som

e contain ver

y

heterogeneou

s climate tren

ds. HUC 08 su

bbasins

were used ins

tead.This m

ap shows

HUC 02 Regi

ons

(black lines)

and

HUC 08 Subb

asins

(gray lines).

Areas

represented

as wet

are colored b

lue

(>310 cfs), an

d dry

regions are c

olored

red (