Tags: geography

photo of abandoned sliding board, playground
‘Play deserts’ common throughout Deep South, Southwest

Physical activity is crucial to children’s healthy physical and mental development. But new research from the University of Georgia shows hundreds of U.S. counties are play deserts. These play deserts are areas where parks and other spots to run around and play are nonexistent, hard to access or in less safe locations that make parents second-guess taking their children to play there. The study found that about 7% of the country…

photo of area with flooding and house rooftops
Noted and Quoted, April 2023

Weather and climate, baseball, ghosting, and Tupperware were some of the subjects Franklin faculty colleagues discussed and wrote about over the course of April. A sample of the many news stories and research reporting that appeared in media around the world:   The U.S. leads the world in weather catastrophes. Here’s why – Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor, quoted widely by AP News, …

video still photo of woman in TV studio, with lower third graphic text
UGA professor narrates a new 20-episode lecture series 

More than a year in the making, a new lecture series featuring University of Georgia faculty member Suzanne Pilaar Birch "Early Humans: Ice, Stone, and Survival" is now streaming on Wondrium. The 20-episode series tells the story of humanity's journey from our earliest origins in Africa to the emergence of agriculture, examines the role of climate and environmental change in driving these transitions, and how archaeological science is helping us…

photo of man in front of large globe
Two UGA faculty awarded Guggenheim Fellowships

Two University of Georgia faculty members are among 171 scientists, writers, scholars and artists honored across 48 fields by the Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation with 2023 Guggenheim Fellowships. Guggenheim Fellowships are awarded annually to those “who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.” Andrew Herod, Distinguished Research…

side-by-side photos of men, each outdoors
10 students, alumni win NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Two current University of Georgia undergraduate students are among the 10 campus recipients of 2023 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program helps ensure the quality, vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master’s and…

photo of man with mountains in background
New book provides scholarship on mountainscapes

Fausto Sarmiento, professor of geography in the Franklin College and director of the Neotropical Montology Collaboratory, continues his excellent work on the broad subject of Montology with the publication of a new book. With the ecological acceleration and the indigenous revival trend of the present, the need for critical views of the reality of mountain systems has become evident in academic circles, such as the Commission of Mountain Studies…

photo of sunrise over frozen sea, with bow of ship
2022 Arctic Report Card

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) presented the 2022 Arctic Report Card, highlighting that the warming Arctic reveals shifting seasons, widespread disturbances, and the value of diverse observations. Issued annually since 2006, the Arctic Report Card is a timely and peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the current state of different components of the Arctic environmental…

photo of man with apple tree, day
Noted and Quoted, October 2022

From tempests in the physical world to the discovery of an ancient canal to the reintroduction of heritage apple crops, expertise from and research by Franklin faculty was present in media around the globe. A same of stories over the past month:    As moms return to the office, companies need to demonstrate empathy – Malissa A. Clark, associate professor of psychology, quoted at Indeed Historic storm surge. Record flooding.…

photo of bouncy castle, with blue sky
Noted and Quoted, summer 2022

Broad coverage of big stories on race, health, climate change, weather safety, and history featured research findings and expertise of faculty from across the Franklin College over the summer. A sampling of ongoing, highly impactful scholarship from our colleagues: Black, Latino people more likely to remain masked during pandemic, polls show – research by Allison L. Skinner-Dorkenoo, assistant professor of psychology, reported at …

photo of bounce house, day
Lack of bouncy castle regulations leaves children vulnerable to wind-related weather events

A popular, easily rentable party feature could be putting tens of thousands of children at risk, according to new research from the University of Georgia. The study found at least 479 people were injured and 28 died worldwide in more than 130 bounce house accidents due to weather events since 2000. But the researchers caution that these estimates are likely an undercount. These injuries are on top of an estimated 10,000 ER visits in…

silhouette photo of woman
40 Under 40: Maria Augutis

Recruited to compete for the UGA Track and Field team, Double Dawg avant le mot Maria Augutis thought she would be homesick for Sweden. But her time at UGA and the Franklin College turned into the best years of her life – producing two degrees and an SEC championship in the triple jump. Today,  the Swedish Television & StormGeo Meteorologist is helping modernize global weather forecasting from Sweden. Other career highlights include:…

photo of man with sugar cane stalk, day
Culture and community resonate at the Penn Center

Culture and Community at the Penn Center National Historic Landmark District, a partnership between the Penn Center, on St. Helena Island, SC, and the Willson Center, continued its first year’s public programs with a five-day cycle of research residencies in early June, 2022. The residencies brought students, faculty, and community experts from across the southeastern U.S. for unique place-based studies on the theme of…

photo of two people at food pantry warehouse
New site helps fight local food insecurity

The Community Food Resources database for Athens-Clarke County is housed on Engage Georgia, a platform the UGA Office of Service-Learning launched for local volunteer opportunities. The site lists the food distribution sites available each day, their addresses, the kind of meal or food offered, and any requirements for recipients. Athens-Clarke County officials approved funding for the project through Athens Eats Together, a program…

headshot photo of woman, outdoors
UGA student wins AMS Washington Scholarship for third consecutive year

Jada Smith, a fourth-year undergraduate majoring in atmospheric sciences, has won the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Warren and Mary Washington Scholarship.  “I am still in shock,” said Smith about receiving the scholarship. “When I first got the email, I had to reread it to process it fully.”  The AMS Washington Scholarship is funded by Dr. Warren and Mary Washington. They established a scholarship to be awarded to…

photo of man with globe background
Sarmiento receives Fulbright Global Scholar award

Fausto O. Sarmiento, professor of mountain science and director of the Neotropical Montology Collaboratory in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ geography department, has received a Fulbright U.S. Global Scholar award to Austria, Japan and Chile. The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced that Sarmiento will research and lecture at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research of…

photo of woman in TV weather center
Two UGA students awarded Hollings Scholarships

Two University of Georgia students have been awarded the Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Hollings Scholarship Program is designed to increase undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric sciences. The scholarship provides two years of financial support, a 10-week, full-time paid summer internship to any NOAA facility nationwide, and support to participate in…

photo of flooded river, with clouds, day
Noted and Quoted, April 2022

Racial disparities and COVID, personality traits of 'difficult' people, the war in Ukraine, and faster cheaper COVID tests headline Franklin faculty expertise in the media during the month of April. A sample of the recent news featuring our colleagues: How war in the world’s breadbasket “changes everything” – Scott Reynolds Nelson, Georgia Athletic Association Professor in the department of history, interviewed by  Ad Age, …

photo of water with plants in the foreground, shore in the distance
National Academies Gulf of Mexico report

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says that assessing the success of the nation’s largest ecological restoration investment effort will require continued improvements in data collection and synthesis and coordination across the Gulf of Mexico region. The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon platform explosion and oil spill seriously damaged Gulf of Mexico ecosystems from Texas to Florida…

photo of land and sea with light blue shoreline
Noted and Quoted, March 2022

Electric vehicles, phosphorescent waters, the war in Ukraine, and how exercise changes your brain are just a few of the stories that featured comment and expertise from Franklin College faculty over the month of March. Read all about it: We teach our son to be empathetic. Are we just setting him up for heartbreak? Keith Campbell, professor of psychology, quoted in The Washington Post Honoring a pioneer in broadcast meteorology, June…

photo of man, outdoors, with stormy sky background
Shepherd wins SEC Faculty Achievement Award

J. Marshall Shepherd, the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been named winner of the 2022 SEC Faculty Achievement Award for the University of Georgia, the SEC announced on Wednesday. A leading international weather-climate expert, Shepherd is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and American…

photo of woman with laptop in exam room
Local data: Athens Wellbeing Project

When the novel coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020, it delivered an array of unforeseen hardships including shutdowns, unemployment and overburdened hospitals in communities across the world. Athens-Clarke County, however, had a head start in reacting to its community’s needs, thanks to an ongoing research project from the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health. The Athens Wellbeing Project (AWP), which surveyed local…

map graphic, with lines and streets highlighted in colors
New biking map eases the ride around Athens

Athens residents looking for a new way to pedal around the city will soon have a new way to plan their trip. An online mapping application created by UGA’s Community Mapping Lab will provide a fresh look at the most bike-friendly streets to get around the city. Created through a collaboration with local nonprofit BikeAthens, the map highlights the strengths of local biking infrastructure, such as multi-use paths and dedicated bike…

photo of container ships in ocean
Noted and Quoted, November 2021

From the "Great Resignation" to cryptocurrency, La Nina, zoom fatigue, and fungal blooms, Franklin College faculty offered expertise, scholarship, and opinion in media platforms across the world. A sample of recent reporting and stories from the month of November and early December: Cameras off can lessen fatigue – Kristen Shockley, associate professor of psychology, quoted by Sales and Marketing Why it’s time for the term “minority” to…

color photo of mountain with text in black
Andean cloud forests’ socioecology

Within a transdisciplinary framework, the Andean cloud forest belt was appraised and recommended into a new ecoregion of its own: the Andean Flanks. A team of Franklin College faculty in the Neotropical Montology Collaboratory has produced a book, published in Spanish, by the Institute for Sustainable Development of Cloud Forest Research and the National University Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza of Amazonas in Peru. Authors Fausto Sarmiento,…

photo of woman and child in pool, day
Noted and Quoted, October 2021

Franklin faculty members provided clarity and guidance in the media on a range of issues from climate change to workaholism over the course of October. As sampling of a few of the many recent stories: The “extra” Atlantic hurricane name list will likely be used soon — but not the Greek alphabet – Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of geography and atmospheric sciences Marshall Shepherd writing at Forbes Why Bezos,…
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