Geography students present at regional meeting, advance to national competition

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Source: Richard Marston, 785-532-6727, rmarston@k-state.edu
Editor's note: Travis Smith is a graduate of Haven High School.
News release prepared by: Megan Wilson, 785-532-6415, media@k-state.edu

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

GEOGRAPHY STUDENTS PRESENT AT REGIONAL MEETING, ADVANCE TO NATIONAL COMPETITION

MANHATTAN -- Graduate students in Kansas State University's geography department presented various research projects and competed in the GeoBowl event at the recent Great Plains-Rocky Mountain Division Regional Association of American Geographers meeting in Lincoln, Neb.

"K-State had the highest attendance of any university geography program at the meeting," said Richard Marston, university distinguished professor and head of the department of geography. "The quality of papers and posters by K-State geography students was higher than I can recall at any other meeting in past years."

Presenters and GeoBowl competitors included:

From Manhattan: Scott Deaner, doctoral student, presented the paper, "Busch Stadium as a Sacred Place," and served as a session chair for the "Sense of Place" session; David Koch, doctoral student, presented the poster, "How Much Do Geographers Collaborate?"; Chris Laingen, doctoral student, presented the papers, "Expansion of Pheasant Hunting in South Dakota" and "Central High Plains Agriculture: A Century of Change," and the poster, "How Much Do Geographers Collaborate?"; Sumanth Reddy, doctoral student, presented the poster "How Much Do Geographers Collaborate?"; and Travis Smith, master's student, presented the paper "Western Film Settings from Monument Valley to Open Range."

Mitchel Stimers, doctoral student, St. George, presented the poster "Modeling the Spread of 'Dreisnna polymorpha' into the Platte River Using Genetic Algorithm Rule-Set Prediction, and GIS."

From out-of-state:

From California: Gina Thornburg, doctoral student, Woodland Hills, presented the paper "Discourse, Socioeconomic Realities, and Community Transitions in Four Small Kansas Towns." Thornburg also was selected as an alternate for the regional GeoBowl team.

From Illinois: Jacob Sowers, doctoral student, Morrison, presented the poster "How Much Do Geographers Colloborate?" and the paper "An Exploration of the Jackrabbit Homestead Landscape."

From Minnesota: Anne Donavan, doctoral student, Mankato, presented the poster "How Much Do Geographers Collaborate?"

From Missouri: Matthew Gerike, doctoral student, Columbia, presented the paper "By the Book: Changing Presentations of Geography in Introductory Human Geography Text Books."

From South Dakota: Patrick Abbott, master's student, Brandon, placed second in the GeoBowl point total and qualified to represent the regional team at the association's national conference in San Francisco, Calif., in April 2007. Abbott also presented the paper "Portrayals of Plains Indians and U.S. Army along the Oregon Trail."