Students

Wiedemeyer Map Selected for Library of Congress Exhibition

An award-winning map by UW-Madison graduate Jared Wiedemeyer has been selected for display in "Maps in Our Lives," an exhibition in recognition of a 30-year partnership between the Library of Congress' Geography and Map Division and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM).

[At left, a version of Wiedemeyer's map "The Okanagan Wine Industry ". Click on the map to see an enlargement.]

In March 2005, Wiedemeyer's map won the 2004 ACSM National Geographic Society-sponsored Arthur Robinson Award for Best Printed Map (Student Division). Winning designs are placed in the permanent ACSM collection in the Library of Congress.

According to the LOC Geography and Map Division press release, the cartographic section of "Maps in Our Lives" exemplifies "notable advances in cartographic interpretations, design and production during the last 22 years". The exhibit will be on display at the LOC until January 6, 2007.

New Students

Dawn Biehler

Dawn Biehler is headed for archives in several US cities thanks to a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant. The working title of her dissertation is "In the Crevices of the City: Public Health, Urban Neighborhoods, and the Creatures We Call Pests, 1900-present." The project is an environmental history of pests and pest control in North American cities, focusing mostly on how notions of urban space shaped and were shaped by public health agencies' and the pest management industry's campaigns against animals like cockroaches, rats, bedbugs, mosquitoes, and flies. Speaking of creepy things, Dawn and her partner Nathan Day exchanged vows this summer at a small ceremony at the ancestral Biehler compound in upstate New York. The affair was somewhat more solemn than their original legal wedding at an historic 2004 Beer and Loafing.

Maureen McLachlan

Maureen McLachlan (pictured at right) was chosen to be a Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Fellow based on her experience in teaching writing for Geography 101 over the past four years. She participated in the planning and training sessions for over 60 new TAs in Communications-B courses this past August. Maureen is both honored and humbled to have been selected for this award and to participate in this fall's activities.

Kim Coulter

Kim Coulter sends greetings from Bonn, Germany, where she is making good progress writing up her dissertation while on a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) fellowship. In addition to the dissertation, Kim is also taking a German expository writing course and singing in a community choir. This fall Kim presented dissertation chapters at the workshop "Regions in Europe," at the European University Institute, Florence, and at a political science seminar on "Critical Discourse Analysis" at the University of Copenhagen. She also traveled to Trier for a very orderly annual German geographers' meeting. Finally, she made an excursion to Oktoberfest in Munich, which was less orderly. Zum Wohl!

Brenda Parker

Brenda Parker was selected as the fourth Pruitt National Fellow by the Society of Women Geographers from a large and competitive national field. The fellowship will support Brenda's dissertation work on urban politics in Milwaukee.

Crystal Fankhauser

Crystal Fankhauser, recently graduated GIS Certificate student, received the Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS) scholarship to attend two weeks of training at the ESRI Learning Center in Redlands, California and present her internship work at the ESRI International Users conference in San Diego and the SCGIS Annual Conference in Monterey. Fankhauser's internship at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) involved the development of GIS data for SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) modeling of the upper Pecatonica River watershed. The TNC is using this model to help develop stream health criteria that includes measures of biodiversity and biological integrity in addition to water quality.

Jian Liu

Jian Liu's illustrated paper at the April Denver AAG conference won second place in the AAG Cartography/GIS/RS Specialty Group's Student Illustrated Paper competition. Liu's award is important recognition for excellent work. Prof. A-xing Zhu is Liu's advisor. A copy of the poster can be seen at at: https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/jianliu/web/AAG_poster.bmp.

2004-2005 Departmental Student Awards Presented

Departmental awards were presented to outstanding students at the Yi-Fu Tuan annual Trewartha Lecture, April 29, 2005.

At right, Ben Sheesley with Outstanding Teaching Assistant award (a tie with Courtney Klaus, not pictured)

The awards were announced by Jim Burt for the following students: