The Department of Geography at the University of Iowa has a long history of high quality research and education in geographic information science (GIScience). Recently we have added a Professional Master’s Degree focused on GIScience to help geography students develop the skills and knowledge needed to become GIScience professionals. We now team with faculty from Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, Computer Science, Urban and Regional Planning, and Geoscience to offer a graduate level Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Geoinformatics to help students across campus, and those already in the workforce, become expert in GIScience and related technologies.
For program details please see Geoinformatics.
The Department of Geography at the University of Iowa invites applications for a full-time tenure track appointment at the Assistant Professor level in the area of sustainability and water resources. The position is part of a significant university-wide sustainability initiative that seeks to build interdisciplinary faculty expertise in this emerging area. We seek an individual with research interests in surface water resources who will broadly complement one or more of the department’s existing strengths in geoinformatics, land use science, environmental policy, biogeography, or health geography. A particular interest in connections between sustainable water resources and either global climate change or sustainable energy production is desirable. The appointment will begin in August 2010. A Ph.D. in geography or related discipline is required at the time of appointment. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply. The University of Iowa is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
For further information please see http://www.uiowa.edu/~geog/water-resource and http:/jobs.uiowa.edu , requisition number 57202.
In May, Geography senior Kevin Berg completed his undergraduate Honors thesis, 'A Model of Spatial Accessibility to Healthy Food Sources in Cedar Rapids, IA'. This study constructs a model of spatial accessibility to sources of healthy food for different neighborhoods within the city of Cedar Rapids, IA. Areas that lack reasonable access to healthy and affordable food, that is, being able to walk to a chain grocery store, or to a bus stop that services a food store in a reasonable amount of time, have come to be known as food deserts. This analysis reveals a gap in spatial accessibility of chain grocery stores for the highly disadvantaged downtown neighborhoods of the city, as well as for the moderately disadvantaged neighborhoods in the far southeastern portion of the study area. Further analysis using a walkability index that accounts for the influence of urban form on walking behavior shows that many neighborhoods likely experience an even lower quality of walking access than described by purely distance-based measures as used in previous food desert studies. Kevin's advisor was Dr. Kathleen Stewart.
The effect of major roads on the walking environment surrounding a chain grocery store in Cedar Rapids. The map shows three different conceptualizations of the walking environment: A 1 km straight-line buffer distance, a 1 km network-based pedestrian catchment area, and the impeded pedestrian catchment area which considers the effect of major roads.
Neighborhoods (2000 U.S. Census Block Groups) that experience a low level of accessibility and varying levels of social deprivation. Low accessibility is defined by the population-weighted mean network distance to the nearest chain grocery store, and social deprivation was defined according to an index developed by Apparicio et al 2007.
Eric Holthaus, an undergraduate student in the University of Iowa Geography Department has been recognized on the main University webpage for remarkable involvement and initiative on the Iowa Campus. Congratulations Eric!
See Eric's Article
University of Iowa Geography Major Rachel Nathanson has been selected as a 2009 Truman Scholar. She is one of 60 students from 55 US colleges and universities that have been selected by 17 independent selection panels on the basis of their leadership potential. Congratulations Rachel!
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The Social Science Research Center (SSRC) at the University of Iowa will complete a pilot study in 2010 to test the efficacy of using a spatially dispersed sampling design to collect survey data. The design will capture the maximum variance in socio-economic conditions and contextualize the neighborhood and physical environment surrounding each survey respondent (using their precise location). The PIs will draw a full household sample for the 2010 and systematically compare the sampled regions and respondents with those selected in the conventional General Social Survey (GSS). The PIs will field individual-level surveys in one EPA region in 2010 for the purposes of comparing their entire data collection method and results with those from the conventional GSS for these same regions.
Professor Naresh Kumar, along with a team of researchers from the UI, have been awarded a grant totalling $899,401 to research air pollution in U.S. cities. They will use advanced techniques in major U.S. cities to identify air quality and develop methods to more accurately map air quality concentrations
A small trust fund has been established by Ruth V. Ross with the income from the trust to be used in the name of Hugh Vollrath Ross. Each department may nominate one student for a Hugh Vollrath Ross Summer tuition scholarship for a 0-2 hour credit class. To be eligible, a nominee must have served as a teaching or research assistant at Iowa during the academic year immediately preceding the summer award. Only those with a GPA of 3.50 or above for their graduate work at Iowa will be eligible. Preference will be given to students who have not yet completed their comprehensive exams.
Interested students should submit a letter of application to the faculty, stating what the class will be and how it advances their progress toward the degree. Please submit letters to Angie. Deadline is March 13.
Over winter break Prof. R. Rajagopal and professors from across the University led approximately 70 students during a 3-week period to Tamil Nadu, India to visit, participate with, and learn directly from Indian partner organizations. The course included sections on business, health, and environmental sustainability. The group of students included geography, engineering, nursing, business, social work, international studies/relations, public health, MBA, and art majors.
In previous years, the course has earned rave reviews from national and international media and continues to grow into a major international educational program in the department and across the university. Academia and media personnel, as well as other interested parties, may contact Dr. Rajagopal at r-rajagopal@uiowa.edu.
Stewart Hornsby, K. and M. Yuan (Eds.)(2008) Understanding dynamics of geographic domains, CRC Press, New York, NY, in press.
Hornsby KS, King K. 2008. Modeling motion relations for moving objects on road networks. Geoinformatica, 12(4): 477-495.
Stewart Hornsby, K. (Ed.) (2007) Ontology for the Intelligence Community: towards effective exploitation and integration of intelligence resources, Proceedings of OIC-2007, November 2007, Columbia, MD.
Kumar N, Chu A, Foster A. 2008. Remote sensing of ambient particles in Delhi and its environs: estimation and validation. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 29(12): 3383-3405.
Rowhani P, Lepczyk CA, Linderman MA, Pidgeon AM, Radeloff VC, Culbert PD, Lambin EF. 2008. Variability in energy influences avian distribution patterns across the USA. Ecosystem, 11(6): 854-867.
Bearer, S, Linderman M, Huang JY, An L, He GM, Liu JG. 2008. Effects of fuelwood collection and timber harvesting on giant panda habitat use. Biological Conservation, 141(2): 385-393.
Bennett D, McGinnis D. 2008. Coupled and complex: Human-environment interaction in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA. Geoforum, 39(2): 833-845. Malanson GP. 2008. Extinction debt: origins, developments, and applications of a biogeographical trope. Progress in Physical Geography, 32(3): 277-291.
Wang Q, Malanson GP. 2008. Spatia hyperdynamism in a post-disturbance simulated forest. Ecological Modelling, 215(4): 337-344.
Walsh SJ, Messina JP, Mena CF, Malanson GP, Page PH. 2008. Complexity theory, spatial simulation models, and land use dynamics in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon. Geoforum, 39(2): 867-878.
Rindfuss, RR, Entwisle B, Walsh SJ, An L, Badenoch N, Brown DG, Deadman P, Evans TP, Fox J, Geoghegan J, Gutmann M, Kelly M, Linderman M, Liu J, Malanson GP, Mena CF, Messina JP, Moran EF, Parker DC, Parton W, Prasartkul P, Robinson DT, Sawangdee Y, Vanwey LK, Verburg PH. 2008. Land use change: Complexity and comparisons. Journal of Land Use Science, 3(1): 1 - 10.
Yadav, V, Del Grosso SJ, Parton WJ, Malanson GP. 2008. Adding ecosystem function to agent-based land use model. Journal of Land Use Science, 3(1): 27 - 40.
Parker, DC, B Entwisle, RR Rindfuss, LK Vanwey, SM Manson, E Moran, L An, P Deadman, TP Evans; M Linderman, SMM. Rizi, G Malanson. 2008. Case studies, cross-site comparisons, and the challenge of generalization: comparing agent-based models of land-use change in frontier regions. Journal of Land Use Science, 3(1): 41 - 72.
Entwisle, B, G Malanson, RR Rindfuss, SJ Walsh. 2008. An agent-based model of household dynamics and land use change. Journal of Land Use Science, 3(1): 73 – 93.
Mazumdar, S, Rushton, G, Smith, BJ, Zimmerman, DL, Donham KJ. 2008. Geocoding accuracy and the recovery of relationships between environmental exposures and health. International Journal of Health Geographics, 7:13 (3 April 2008).
Yuan, M. and K. Stewart Hornsby (2007) Computation and Visualization for Understanding Dynamics in Geographic Domains: A Research Agenda, CRC Press, New York, NY.
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Professor P.K. Kannan, Director of the Center for Excellence in Service, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, will give a talk on Friday, October 23, 2009, from 2:00 – 3:00 pm in 219 Jessup Hall. His topic will be spatial modeling applications in retail services.
Nandita Basu, Assistant Professor , IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering, The University of Iowa, will be speaking at Kohn Colloquium on Friday, October 23, 2009 at 3:30pm in 221 JH. Discussion will center around Exploring Emergent Hydrologic and Biogeochemical Patterns in Catchments at Multiple Scales.
