West-East Lakes AAG Field Trips
Time: Saturday afternoon on Oct. 27, leaving from Davis Hall at 12:30pm
Cost: Registration for each trip is $20 for faculty and $15 for students.
Price includes: boxed lunch (vegetarian or non-vegetarian) and transportation
Field Trip A
Restoration Ecology and Dynamic Soil Properties at Nachusa Grasslands
By Mike Konen (mkonen@niu.edu) and David Goldblum (dgoldblum@niu.edu)
Department of Geography, Northern Illinois University
One of the premier tallgrass prairie and oak savanna restoration projects in the Midwest is only 45 minutes west of Northern Illinois University. The 1100+ hectare Nachusa Grasslands preserve, managed by The Nature Conservancy, contains numerous examples of remnant tallgrass prairie and active prairie restoration plantings with ages ranging from 1-20 years. The preserve also includes numerous examples of oak savanna ranging from those intensively managed for nearly two decades, to newly acquired sites which were formerly oak savanna and are now being aggressively managed to remove invasive exotic shrubs and shade-tolerant tree species through reintroduction of fire and mechanical thinning. Our fieldtrip will make numerous stops at Nachusa Grasslands to explore environmental changes in response to the intensive management. Specifically we will discuss and examine changes in vegetation communities and dynamic soil properties at various sites throughout Nachusa Grasslands. We will discuss regional geomorphology, Quaternary geology, and pedology en route and at Nachusa. We will also visit the seed collection and preparation facilities at the preserve. Since the majority of the fieldtrip will be outdoors you should be prepared for short hikes off trails and the climatological conditions of the day. We anticipate we will spend three hours at Nachusa (plus 45 minutes drive time each way).
Field Trip B
Edge City, Exurban, and other Suburban Forms of Chicago: The Case of the Fox Valley. By Richard Greene, Department of Geography, Northern Illinois University
rgreene@niu.edu
In spite of the 2008 Financial Crisis and resulting home foreclosures, the edge city and exurban areas of the Chicago metropolitan region continued to grow their population and jobs between the 2000 and 2010 decennial census years, which will be the focus of this field trip. The foreclosure crisis that followed did produce some "ghost subdivisions" that were in progress of being built and one of those will be visited along the way. The region's overall slowdown has stalled sprawl but some local governments responded prior to the decline with smart growth planning initiatives and we will also visit one of those along the way. Other edge city themes are explored by touring the following transects to the east of DeKalb and west of Naperville: (1) the western segment of the Illinois Research and Development Corridor (Naperville to Aurora with a focus on suburban employment centers), (2) the downtowns of Naperville and Aurora for a contrast in revitalization efforts, (3) the Fox Valley Tri-Cities of Geneva, Batavia, and St. Charles and their exurbs to the west to explore evolving retail structures and hobby farms among other venues. The entire time on the field trip will be 4 hours which includes the drive back and forth from DeKalb.
Special Events
Careers in Professional Geography
A Workshop sponsored by the
AAG Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education (EDGE) in
Geography Project
Friday October 26, 2012
4:00 pm - 5:40 pm
Organizers: Beth Schlemper (University of Toledo)
Ken Foote (University of Colorado-Boulder)
Patrick Lawrence (University of Toledo)
Our objectives for the workshop are to introduce and discuss career opportunities for professional geographers in the public and private sectors with the career development resources available in print and on-line (particularly those included in the EDGE Career Development Kit) and assess what needs students have for career planning and the job search that are not being addressed by geography at this point.
We envision this workshop to be a highly interactive one in which we explore the materials together, and discuss the questions and needs current students have regarding careers in professional geography. The workshop will include a brief power point, group activities, open discussion, and a written feedback instrument to collect suggestions for additional careers and professional development materials.
Students who would like to attend must enroll no later than Friday October 19th by contacting Dr. Beth Schlemper (MaryBeth.Schlemper@utoledo.edu) as the workshop is limited to a total of 25 student attendees.
Supported by an "Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education (EDGE) in Geography" professional develoment grant, the first 10 students to enroll with be eligible for a reimbursement of $25 after the meeting, which will cover half of their registration costs for the regional conference.
Discover the Technology Behind the World's Best Map - free
On Saturday, October 27th, Nokia will showcase its data collection tools built into field vehicles. The demo will be conducted by Geographic Analysts who obtain, analyze, and compare map data on a daily basis. Conference attendees can see our variety of data collection vehicles, including the standard Multi-Camera, which captures videos at 270-degree view, as well as our latest addition, NAVTEQ True, complete with LIDAR remote sensing technology, and 360-degree panoramic imagery. Don't miss this informative and interactive event - Saturday, October 27th, starting at NOON.
