Song of Our Warming Planet

Dan Crawford, an undergraduate who has worked with Geography Professor Scott St. George and School of Music staff member Michael Duffy, has created a musical score based on a set of data showing the rise in the planet's temperature over time. Since its release in July 2013, the video highlighting Dan's composition (http://ensia.com/videos/a-song-of-our-warming-planet/) has been viewed more than 130,000 times in 140+ countries. His performance has also been the focus of stories featured by a long list of media outlets, including Popular Science, Minnesota Public Radio, the Weather Channel, Slate (twice) and the New York Times (three times).

On Wednesday, November 20, 2013, Dan and Scott St. George will be giving a public lecture to discuss his composition (and the reaction it has received) at UMN's Institute on the Environment.

'Resonate! How 90 Seconds of Cello Music Is Helping People Connect With Climate Science'
November 20 at noon
IonE Seminar Room R380,
Learning & Environmental Sciences Bldg., St. Paul

New Faculty in GES!

The Department of Geography, Environment and Society welcomes its newest faculty member, Assistant Professor Kate Derickson. Kate joined the faculty in late August and is currently teaching a Freshman Seminar titled Social Justice and the City.

Kate earned a dual PhD in Geography and Women's Studies from Penn State in 2011 (dissertation title: The cultural politics of neoliberal regulation in post-Katrina Mississippi). She was awarded the Urban Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship in Urban Political Economy at the University of Glasgow from 2010 - 2011, and an assistant professor in Geosciences at Georgia State University from 2011 - 2013. Kate's research explores the intersections of politics, difference, political economy, and the ethical practice of academic research. She has worked with communities in coastal Mississippi, West Atlanta, and the Govan neighborhood of Glasgow, Scotland.

Kate's office is 435 Social Science Building. Stop by and say hi!

Fall 2013 Coffee Hour Speakers

William J. Cronon Brown Day Speaker

"The Portage: Reflections on Nature, History, and Storytelling in the Making of an American Place"

In a lecture based on the opening chapter of the book he is writing on the history of Portage, Wisconsin, environmental historian William Cronon meditates on the role of memory and storytelling in the complicated ways human beings construct their individual and collective sense of place. A natural ecosystem or an abstract geographical space becomes a human place, he argues, through the endless accretion of narratives that render that place meaningful for those who visit or live in it. Portage is an especially interesting community in which to explore this idea, since it was the home town of Frederick Jackson Turner, the American historian who authored the famous "frontier thesis." It was also the town into whose hinterland John Muir migrated as an eleven-year-old boy from Scotland, and the town where Aldo Leopold's "Shack," famed subject of the book A Sand County Almanac, is located. Although virtually unknown to most Americans, few places have played so central a role in shaping our national ideas of nature.

William J. Cronon is the Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas Research Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He will be delivering a lecture based on his book project about the environmental history and historical geography of Portage, Wisconsin. He is a Past President of the American Historical Association and author of Changes in the Land and Nature's Metropolis. The lecture will last for about 90 minutes and will take place in Honeywell Auditorium (L-110) in the Carlson School starting at 3:30 on Friday, May 3.

Complimentary refreshments and coffee will be served at 3:10 PM. In addition, there will be a reception for alumni and their guests in the Carlson Private Dining Room immediately following the lecture.

William J. Cronon's visit and talk co-sponsored by the Department of History and the Institute for Advanced Study, UMN.

Fraser Hart featured on KARE 11

Professor Fraser Hart was featured in a story on KARE 11. Click here for a great story on his ongoing career!

Jerry Shannon accepts 3-year position at U of Georgia

Jerry Shannon has accepted a three year position as a temporary assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Georgia. Jerry is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the department and expects to complete his degree this summer. His research reframes current work on urban "food deserts" by investigating the factors that shape the food procurement of low-income individuals, using both data on food stamp usage and case studies of two Minneapolis neighborhoods. More information on this research is available on his professional website.

Christopher J. Crawford is awarded a NASA Post-Doctoral Fellowship

This August 2013, Christopher will start a NASA Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He will collaborate with Dorothy Hall, NASA Senior Research Scientist on the project "Monitoring Climate-Driven Changes in Mountain Snowpack Extent across the Western United States: A Multi-sensor Approach to Climate Data Record Development using Landsat, MODIS, and VIIRS".

Learn more about Christopher at http://z.umn.edu/cjcrawford