Tags: geography

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Connecting geography and justice

Excellent video about the work of Distinguished Research Professor Nik Heynen of the department of geography, who works to connect geography and justice. “Geography really offers an opportunity to bring abstract theory and grounded, everyday experience together in a way that we can start to imagine how to both frame problems, but also how to figure out solutions and pathways to solving those problems.” Thanks to our…

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New heat exposure model can protect citizens

Increasingly extreme heat threatens the health and comfort of city dwellers. That’s why researchers from the University of Georgia have developed a new dynamic heat exposure index that captures varying heat exposure within urban environments. “This is the first time a dynamic heat exposure model has been proposed, thanks in part to recent technological advances in sensing and big data,” said Deepak Mishra, professor, associate head of…

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Marching band kids at risk from heat illness

This time of year, you hear a lot about heat-related illnesses in athletes. Thousands of student-athletes are sidelined by heat illnesses each year, and some don’t recover. But while guidelines exist to help coaches and trainers keep their students safe, there’s another group on the field that’s still at risk: students in marching bands. “You read all these stories in newspapers about marching band members experiencing heat-related…

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Project travels up estuaries to find tipping points

Department of geography researchers are collaborating with faculty from the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources and the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences on a four-year project supported by a grant from NOAA to connect marsh health with local economics and environmental impact. Our colleagues in the Warnell School report: The forces at work in a marsh require a delicate balancing act. Rising and falling tidewaters…

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Three UGA students named Hollings Scholars

Three 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…

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Georgia Climate Project receives $300K Anderson Foundation grant

The Ray C. Anderson Foundation has awarded a $300,000 grant to Emory University and its partners for the next phase of the Georgia Climate Project, a state-wide consortium of nine colleges and universities working to strengthen Georgia’s ability to prepare for and respond to a changing climate.   The Georgia Climate Project was founded in 2018 as a collaborative effort among Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the…

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Citizen science bolsters rural communities

Local populations understand their communities best. They’re familiar both with points of pride and with areas that could be improved. But determining the nature of those improvements from best practices, as well as achieving community consensus on implementation, can present a different set of challenges. Jerry Shannon, associate professor of geography in the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences, worked with a team of…

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What Climate Science Loses Without Enough Black Researchers

Excellent journalism from Bloomberg in this expansive article on racism inside climate science, which includes UGA's J. Marshall Shepherd among the featured scientists who are remaking institutions that have excluded people of color. Persevering to become a leader while pursuing critical scholarship is more than should be asked of any scientist but the group featured here honors the profession and creates new knowledge while helping our…

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The imperative of regenerative development

A new publication from Fausto Sarmiento, professor of mountain science in the department of geography, expands on the concept of Montology as a Transformative Frame for the Future of Education About Mountains. The paper, following on recent scholarship from Sarmiento, posits an intriguing concept that takes an important step beyond discussions of sustainability: Montology, the transdisciplinary science of mountains,…

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UGA students lead breaking coverage of severe weather

When the tree came crashing through their bedroom window, Jasper and Ashley Kent had moved to safety only moments before thanks to a live weather broadcast by University of Georgia student, Will O’Neil. The Midwest transplants had seen severe weather before and thought nothing of the storm brewing outside until Ashley Kent came across O’Neil’s broadcast.  "I wasn't really taking it seriously, but I decided to look at local news and see…

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Three faculty members elected to National Academy of Sciences

Three distinguished faculty members at the University of Georgia have received one of the highest honors a scientist can earn, election to the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership and — with the National Academy of…

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Better guidelines needed to protect student-athletes

Every year, sports coaches have to navigate how to safely get their teams in shape to compete while temperatures during outdoor practices soar. New research from the University of Georgia aims to help them do just that Different states have different heat policies guiding outdoor practices. In areas less prone to extreme temperatures—Alaska, for example—strong heat guidelines aren’t as urgently needed as in hotter regions But for states…

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Mountains as socio-ecological landscapes

The highest point in the state of Georgia, Brasstown Bald, is known to native Cherokee as Etonah and to many Georgians as among the best locations to view the changing fall colors. The term “bald” is used to describe deforested mountaintops in the southern Appalachians that have 360-degree unobstructed views. And the views can indeed be spectacular. But the high, grassland mountaintops, rather than naturally occurring, are part of a…

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Noted and Quoted, Nov/Dec 2020

COVID-19, election news and analysis, personality traits, weather and climate round out the recent trending topics for Franklin College faculty expertise in the media. A sample of the many stories: Study links cognitive disorders with severe COVID-19 risk – research led by Kaixiong Ye, assistant professor of genetics, reported by Devdiscourse, News Break, and Postdoctoral Fellow Jingqi Zhou, Drugs.com Hot or cold, weather…

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Drawdown Georgia

Inspired by Project Drawdown, Georgia is building a movement to accelerate progress towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions. It’s called Drawdown Georgia, and it launched October 17 statewide. Over 18 months, a team of the state’s best researchers and scientists from UGA, Georgia Tech and Emory University took a deep dive into the data to determine what it’s possible to achieve within the Drawdown framework, leveraging our state’s…

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UGA-led project focused on understanding the complexity of droughts

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office’s Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP) Program, in collaboration with the National Integrated Drought Information system (NIDIS) program has announcing 11 new 3-year projects that aim to advance our capability to more integrally characterize and anticipate U.S. droughts in the context of hydroclimatic…

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Separating weather forecasts from pain

Millions of Americans suffer from pain-inducing conditions such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. New research from the University of Georgia shows significant association between warm, tropical air masses and emergency room visits for these conditions. But not in the way we might think: The new research by Christopher Elcik, lecturer of geography and atmospheric sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences,…

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The color of food deserts: dollar store locations track real estate redlining practices

New research from the University of Georgia shows significant association between proximity to dollar stores and patterns of racial segregation in major U.S. metropolitan areas. Though the patterns vary across retail chains, the research shows racial classification to be a key predictor of store location. The new research by Jerry Shannon, associate professor of geography in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, was published August 27…

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Cyanotracker created to detect toxic algae

Outbreaks of harmful algae have increased in recent years due to warming trends and longer summer seasons. Also called cyanobacterial algal blooms or CyanoHABs, these large-scale ecological disturbances are often caused by increased urbanization, nutrient pollution, poor waste management and warming weather. The algae can produce toxins that are harmful to humans, pets and aquatic ecosystems. The CyanoTRACKER project, a collaboration between…

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Knox named Meigs Teaching Professor

Faculty awards during Honors Week include prestigious teaching professorships to five faculty members who were named Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professors for 2020, the university’s highest recognition for instruction at the undergraduate and graduate levels. One of the five is Professor John Knox of the department of geography: After eight years as a lecturer and associate research scientist, a tenure-eligible position in 2008,…

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Andrews, Shannon honored with Russell Teaching Awards

Tessa Andrews and Jerry Shannon are among three University of Georgia faculty members named recipients of the Richard B. Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the university’s highest early career teaching honor: “By recognizing early career faculty for exemplary instruction, the University of Georgia communicates the high value it places on creating outstanding learning experiences and outcomes for students,” said S.…

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Shepherd wins AAAS science engagement award

J. Marshall Shepherd, a meteorologist whose diverse communication efforts engage a wide audience on weather, climate, and the relationship between science and society, will receive the 2020 Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science from the American Association for the Advancement of Science: As the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor and director of the atmospheric sciences program at the University of…

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Noted and Quoted, January 2020

Franklin faculty provided expert commentary and analysis as well as important new research in a strong start to 2020. Here are a few of the top stories so far this year: Voting rights restoration gives felons a voice in more states – associate professor sociology Sarah Shannon quoted by PEW,  St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Crime Report, KyForward Five social media posts about weather that need to go…

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Faculty receive First-Year Odyssey Teaching Awards

First-Year Odyssey Seminars are some of the most important early academic experiences students can have at UGA. Broadly-themed courses taught by senior faculty feed a sense of discovery in students about knowledge, about the world, and importantly, about themselves as students begin to learn and cultivate their own interests. Four UGA faculty members, two from the Franklin College have received a 2019 First-Year Odyssey Teaching Award in…

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Noted and Quoted, October 2019

Franklin faculty contributed popular press articles about issues of the day and had their research reported around the world. A sample from over the past month: The grimy history of the Attorney General’s Office, associate professor of history Stephen Mihm in his regular column at Bloomberg Here’s your answer when someone asks “How can it be so cold if there’s global warming?”  Georgia Athletic Association…
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