Geography News Archives

Monroe Community College (SUNY)

Department of Chemistry and Geosciences

Jonathon Little

Instructor

Clouds build over the Annapurna Himal. Photo taken June 2001.

Geography in the news (Feb 9, 2012)

2011 Geography Awareness Week Winners

2011 Geography Awareness Week winners pose with their prizes. From left to right: Edward Grissing, Balbina Gonzalez, Jonathon Little, Emily Peets, Peter Collinge, Linda Ziegler, and Abraham Davis. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation establishing the third week in November as Geography Awareness Week. Over twenty years later, geographers continue to promote the importance of geographic literacy throughout the world. This year, MCC’s Geosciences Department celebratedthe 6th annual Geography Awareness Week with an online quiz that challenged participants in physical geography, human geography, and geographic techniques. The focus this year is on community. Three staff/faculty and three students received a prize in their respective category. The top three performing students were:Emily Peets, Balbina Gonzalez, and Abraham Davis. The top three performing faculty/staff wereLinda Ziegler, Edward Grissing, and Peter Collinge. These geography gurus received their geography themed prizes from Geosciences faculty: Michael Boester, Jonathon Little and Dan Robertson.

2009 Geography Awareness Week Winners

Geography Awareness Week winners pose with their prizes at Brighton campus (left Figure) and Damon campus (right Figure). From left to right: Linda Ziegler, Edward Grissing, Ryan Tucker, Peter Collinge, Jonathon Little, Natasha Wasuck, Erik Schrader, and Michael Boester.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation establishing the third week in November as Geography Awareness Week. Over twenty years later, geographers continue to promote the importance of geographic literacy throughout the United States and Canada. This year, MCC’s Geosciences Department celebrated the 4th annual Geography Awareness Week with an online quiz that challenged participants in geographic techniques (e.g., remote sensing, geographical information system, and cartography). Three staff/faculty and three students received a prize in their respective category (faculty/staff or student). The top three performing students were: Erik Schrader, Natasha Wasuck, and Ryan Tucker. The top three performing faculty/staff were: Peter Collinge (perfect score), Edward Grissing (perfect score), and Linda Ziegler. These geography gurus received their geography themed prizes from Geosciences faculty Michael Boester and Jonathon Little.

The questions and answers to this year’s quiz can be found by clicking on ANSWERS.

Geography in the news (Oct. 9, 2009)

Geofest (Albany, NY) - October 24, 2009.
Check out the SMART and geography presentation abstract.

GIS Workshop at MCC - The Geography Department at Monroe Community College is joining up the New York Geographic Alliance to help teachers learn basic GIS mapping skills. There is a new
version of Arc Explorer called AEJEE

and it's free to educators! This workshop will be held during Geography Awareness Week on two afternoons, November 17th and Dec 1st , from 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Jonathon LIttle and Timothy McDonnell will introduce the participating teachers to all the tools needed to create customized maps. Registration is available now! Don't get locked out!

Credit: NYGA co-coordinator, Tim McDonell

Geography in the news (9/24/09)

Presentation at NCGE (National Council on Geographic Education) in Puerto Rico.

Title:
SMART Geography Lessons: Using interactive whiteboards to enhance College Geography

Abstract:
SMART Boards invite student interaction, and in the process, engage and motivate students to learn and retain content. Research has indicated that SMART Boards increase student engagement and achievement. SMART Boards are electronic whiteboards that foster interaction between the student and teacher, as well as between student peers, a key in learning and retaining. SMART Notebook software provides interactive flash animations, over 5,000 educational images, and works hand-in-hand with instructional software.

A small but growing number of science classes at the college level are using SMART Boards in their classroom. This workshop will provide attendees with an introduction to the capabilities of SMART Boards and free Physical Geography Smart Notebook lessons.

Geography in the news (6/24/09)

Geography in the news (3/12/09)

Human Geography: Evolution of United States County Boundaries
(1650, 1700, 1750, and census years from 1790 onward ).

Physical Geography: Seasonal Temperature Changes

Geography in the news (2/10/09)

Human Geography: Population Pyramid
United States from 1950-2050 (in millions).

Physical Geography: Analemma
An analemma is a figure-8 curve that marks the position of the Sun at the same time each day throughout planet Earth's year. These photos were taken over a course of a year in New Jersey.

Male

Female

information source: International Data Base, U.S. Census Bureau;

Geography in the news (2/9/09)

Spring Semester 2009!

2008 Geography Awareness Week Prize Winners Tribune Write up with photos and quiz answers.

Geography in the news (1/30/09)

Human Geography: Walmart Growth Video (1962-2007)

Courtesy of: http://blog.kiwitobes.com/?p=51

For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Geography in the news (12/11/08)

New Animated Display in Geosciences Hallway.
View all of it here !
Another page here!

Geography in the news (11/16/08)

Geography Awareness Week Online Quiz (Nov. 16-22)

Please go to: http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/geography/AwareQuiz2008.htm and submit your answers. The top three performing students and faculty members will receive geography themed prizes from Geosciences faculty. This year there is a 15 minute time limit. Good luck!

Jonathon Little
Michael Boester

Geography in the news (9/15/08)

Detailed aerial images of coastal Texas after Hurricane Ike passed through (9/13/08). Web site developed by NOAA. http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/ike/IKE0000.HTM

Geography in the news (9/10/08)

View recent images and animations of our earth at NASA's Visible Earth. Web site suggested by Professor John Cottrell (MCC). For more, go to: http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/. The image below shows 3 typhoons in the western Pacific (Aug. 7, 2006).

Geography in the news (9/1/08)

Fall semester starts Tuesday, Sept. 2. Welcome back!

Hurricane Gustav approaches the Gulf Coast. Image taken on August 31, 2008. Image from Earth Observatory (NASA).

Geography in the news (7/21/08)

Weather and Climate starts Monday, July 21st.

Picture below shows a dust storm over Chile and Argentina. Image from Earth Observatory (NASA).

Geography in the news (5/7/08)

Four geography classes @ MCC submitted their essay and poster electronically, saving more than a thousand pages of paper! Please go to the following web site to learn how professors can access students’ class folder and how students’ can access their student storage.

Visit MCC's Sustainability Green Tip of the week.

Source of image

Geography in the news (4/29/08)

Dust plumes over Kazakstan and the Aral Sea. Millions of cloud condensation nuclei! Photo credit: Operational Significant Event Imagery and NOAA. http://www.osei.noaa.gov/iod.html

Geography in the news (3/28/08)

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, a massive ice shelf is breaking off from Antarctica Peninsula. The Wilkins ice shelf, 7 times the size of Manhattan Island is just about to break off. For more, see CNN's article or the NY Times.

Geography in the news (3/13/08)

Dust Storms over Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the coasts of Yemen and Oman. The image combines the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on two diffferent NASA satellite's. For more, go to Earth Observatory Natural Hazards web page.

NASA image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz (MODIS Rapid Response team).

Geography in the news (3/4/08)

View a recent photograph of Perth, New Jersey, taken by an astronaut with a Kodak 760C digital camera. William L. Stefanov (NASA-JSC) writes, the "rich clay beds in the region, formed during the Cretaceous Era (about 65–144 million years ago), provided raw materials for numerous pottery and terra cotta manufacturers during the nineteenth century." Read more below...

"The city was an industrial and shipping center and a resort destination through the early to mid-twentieth century. While the majority of the industrial factory facilities have left Perth Amboy, petroleum processing and storage remains part of the economic base."

To click on a larger image, go to: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images_large/ISS016-E-18493_lrg.jpg Photo courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center.

Geography in the news (2/24/08)

1) View a recent MODIS image of ice cover on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario (Feb 24th, 2008).

2) "The mega-iceberg A53a (below, middle image) measured close to 50 kilometers by 22 kilometers, about seven times the area of Manhattan Island, in mid-January 2008 when astronauts took the photographs for this mosaic." Photos from NASA Earth Observatory.

Geography in the news (2/7/08)

Tornado's cause widespread damage and fatalities in TN and AR.

For more, read the preliminary storm team survey from NWS in Nashville. Radar loop of severe storm outbreak on 2/5/08. Storm damage photos from NWS Nashville. Storm velocities radar loop from NWS Huntsville, AL. More storm photos from NWS Huntsville.

Geography in the news (1/31/08)

Strong cold front drops temperature from 50 degrees F to 27 degrees F in two hours. Gusts up to 61 mph @ ROC. Detailed Weather Obs.

Wind Chill temperatures to - 49 degrees F and air temperature down to - 21 degrees F in Duluth, MN on 1/30/08. More cold details from the NWS in Duluth.

Geography in the news (1/21/08)

2007 - 10th Warmest in US, 5th warmest Worldwide.
For more, read article from NOAA's National Climate Data Center.