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This is the world premier of Land of Many Waters, an ethno-geographic documentary about the Guiana Highlands by Geography Professor Daniel Cooper.

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https://www.csusm.edu/globalcommitment/films/films.html

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The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change has been published. This is the authoritative international scientific report  summarizing the latest climate change findings. You can explore the report here: https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/  

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The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change has been published. This is the authoritative international scientific report  summarizing the latest climate change findings. You can explore the report here: https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/  

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and an Interactive Atlas based on it here: https://interactive-atlas.ipcc.ch/

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The IPCC is now in its sixth assessment cycle, in which the IPCC is producing the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) with contributions by its three Working Groups and a Synthesis Report, three Special Reports, and a refinement to its latest Methodology Report.

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Geography BA requirements

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Return to: Catalog Search

Office:
SBSB 4-222

Telephone:
(760) 750-4104

Program of Study

The Bachelor of Arts in Geography focuses on the study of the earth and its landscapes, places, and environments. The B.A. degree includes coursework in both social science and physical science as geographers examine the interaction of people with their social, physical, and biological environments across space and time, and at different scales. Some geographers work in communities, or analyze industries and regions, while others study environmental change, weather, gender, or geopolitics. With this range of topics and Geography's spatial analytic approach, the degree equips students with foundational knowledge, concepts, and theories that explain the world around them, and help them become broadly trained, informed global citizens who are prepared to investigate, assess, and address contemporary problems, and to look for and contribute to solutions for rural, urban, regional, and global challenges. The degree provides opportunities for students to learn regional and economic geography, environmental and physical geography, and geographical techniques.

Regional and Economic Geography: Regional and economic geographers focus on the place-based networks and global connections that constitute regions. The program emphasizes the connections between politics, economic growth, culture, and the global economy. The program features study of how borders course through, divide, and unify regions around the world including in the San Diego region.

Physical Geography: The program provides training in earth's systems and emphasizes the carbon cycle and hydrologic cycle in the formation and transformation of Earth, its landscapes and resources.

Geographical Techniques: Quantitative and qualitative geographic techniques are essential tools of geographers. Students exit the program with training in both qualitative and quantitative geographic techniques.

Students have the option to complete either a senior seminar or an internship as a culminating experience for their degree. In either case, students will use their experience to demonstrate proficiency in Geography.

Program Student Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete a major in Geography will be able to:

1. Identify, communicate, and apply knowledge of critical social, scientific, and spatial theories.

2. Describe physical, environmental, and socio-economic processes that shape the earth's surface.

3. Analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments locally, regionally, and globally.

4. Demonstrate knowledge of quantitative and qualitative geographic methods.

5. Use maps and other geographic methods to organize and present information about people, places, and environments.

Language Proficiency (0-9 Units)

All Geography majors must meet a second-language proficiency requirement. This is satisfied with a 200-level class or demonstrating proficiency in a language other than English. This requirement can be met in one of the following ways:

1. having completed the equivalent of one intermediate-level course (i.e., 200-level, excluding courses focused solely on oral conversation skills) in any language other than English at the college or community college level, with a C (2.0) grade or better or CR grade (including study abroad). For many students, this will mean a three-course sequence to successfully complete the 200-level course. One of the courses used to meet this requirement will be used to satisfy CSUSM's General Education, Arts and/or Humanities, (C3) requirement;

2. having demonstrated intermediate-level language proficiency according to the latest American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines, which is currently assessed via a CSUSM Proficiency Exam;

3. having successfully received a score of 3 or better on an Advanced Placement Foreign Language Examination;

4. having successfully received a score of 4 or better on an International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher-Level Language A Literature Exam, or Language A Language and Literature Exam;

5. having taken a College Level Examination Program (CLEP) Language Examination and received the following minimum score:

French Level II: 59
German Level II: 60
Spanish Level II: 63

1. having been required to take the TOEFL or other CSUSM-approved English language exam as a condition for admission into the University;

2. having completed at least three years full-time at a high school or university where English was not the principal language of instruction;

CSUSM accepts American Sign Language (ASL) in fulfillment of this requirement. Proficiency in ASL may be demonstrated by the following:

1. having completed the equivalent of an intermediate-level ASL course (excluding courses focused on deaf culture or fingerspelling) at the college level, with a C (2.0) grade or better;

2. having demonstrated the above intermediate-level ASL proficiency according to a CSUSM proficiency exam;

3. having completed a K-12 mainstream program using ASL interpreters;

4. having completed a K-12 deaf and hard-of-hearing full-time program.

The language proficiency requirement cannot be met with computer languages.

Preparation for the Major* (20 Units)

or

or

or

*Four (4) lower-division General Education courses in Math and Science (Area B) are automatically satisfied by Preparation for the Major. **Transfer students should consult an academic advisor about course substitutions where appropriate.***Consult an advisor. May require a prerequisite.

Borders, Regions and Economic Geography (3)

Geographic Techniques (3)

Upper-Division Electives (12 units)

Students will complete twelve (12) units upon advisement. Courses may not count towards both upper-division requirements and upper-division electives.

Minimum Total (120 Units)
Students must take a sufficient number of elective units to bring the total number of units to a minimum of 120

Return to: Catalog Search

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california state university san marcos course catalog

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Return to: Catalog Search Office: SBSB 4-222 Telephone: (760) 750-4104 The Bachelor of Arts in Geography focuses on the study of the earth and its landscapes, places, and environments. The B.A. degree includes coursework in both social science and physical science as geographers examine the interaction of people with their social, physical, and biological environments across space and time, and at different scales.

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To view term specific dates and enrollment times, select the semester or term in the navigation menu. Should you have questions or need more information, please call the Office of the Registrar during business hours at 760-750-4814 or email the registrar.

Looking for enrollment information for Summer session? Visit the Extended Learning website.

New Students: Enrolling the Cougar Way

Enroll in courses (beginning on your assigned enrollment appointment or the add/drop period) and view your current course schedule in . Don't forget to complete the MyCSUSM Enrollment Tutorial to ensure you are prepared to select all the right classes your first semester!

You can also check out the Academic Advising website for more enrollment tips!

Enroll the Cougar Way Workshops

As a new CSUSM student, we invite you to attend an Enroll the Cougar Way Workshop to learn how to enroll in classes at CSUSM. It is one among serveral steps on the Path to CSUSM for Transferand First Year students.

Transfer Workshops

Freshmen Workshops

Search for Courses

Search for available classes by course, times, days, instructors, course number, locations, and majors.
Browse/Search Courses Please note, several sections have seats reserved for students with the course as a major/minor requirement. Any remaining seats will be open to all students during the schedule adjustment period.

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To view term specific dates and enrollment times, select the semester or term in the navigation menu. Should you have questions or need more information, please call the Office of the Registrar during business hours at 760-750-4814 or email the registrar. Looking for enrollment information for Summer session?

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BRS 300 - Borders: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

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BRS 300 - Borders: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

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GEOG 110 - Introduction to Physical Geography (LD GE B1)

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GEOG 110 - Introduction to Physical Geography (LD GE B1)

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GEOG 110 - Introduction to Physical Geography Lab (LD GE B3)

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GEOG 110 - Introduction to Physical Geography Lab (LD GE B3)

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Geography program page
We're on IG & Twitter! @CSUSM_geography

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All Classes are "in person" on the CSUSM campus!

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GEOG 120 - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

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GEOG 120 - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

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GEOG 310 - Climate Change & Life in the Anthropocene (UD BB)

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GEOG 310 - Climate Change & Life in the Anthropocene (UD BB)

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GEOG 341 - Nature & Society in California

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GEOG 341 - Nature & Society in California

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GEOG 460 - Food Systems & Emerging Markets

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GEOG 460 - Food Systems & Emerging Markets

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Fri 8:30AM-11:20AM in the Sustainable Food Project!!!!

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Careers in Geography

Geography is so rich in possibilities, it is simply impossible to convey on our website the full range of opportunity that a career in our field might entail. Geographers apply their unique knowledge, skills, and perspectives in a diverse range of industries. They hold positions as urban planners who assess the costs and benefits of proposed transit systems, as state climatologists assessing the impacts of rising sea levels, as consultants advising firms about moving into new markets, and as human rights advocates working with refugees. These are just a handful of the many types of careers available to geographers.

This website aims to raise greater awareness of the burgeoning opportunities in geography. There are hundreds of occupations that require knowledge of and skills in geography, and the diversity of career opportunities available to geography graduates continues to grow every year. Consider the following list of occupations in which geographers are found:

·Geospatial Information Scientists and Technologists:

oEmployment: 413,000

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

·Geosphysical Data Technicians:

oEmployment: 16,300

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

·Geographic Information Systems Technicians:

oEmployment: 412,800

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

·Cartographers and Photogrammetrists:

oEmployment: 11,800

oProjected Growth: Much faster than average, 11% or higher

·Remote Sensing Technicians:

oEmployment: 72,400

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

·Precision Agriculture Technicians:

oEmployment: 72,400

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

·Urban and Regional Planners:

oEmployment: 39,100

oProjected Growth: Much faster than average, 11% or higher

·Transportation Planners:

oEmployment: 39,400

oProjected Growth: Average, 4-6%

·Environmental Scientists and Specialists:

oEmployment: 85,000

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

·Environmental Restoration Planners:

oEmployment: 85,000

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

·Atmospheric and Space Scientists:

oEmployment: 10,000

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

·Soil and Plant Scientists:

oEmployment: 18,000

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

·Climate Change Analysts:

oEmployment: 85,000

oProjected Growth: Faster than average, 7-10%

(*Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment figures are for 2018; projected growth is for the preiod 2018-2028; median wages are for 2019)

The partial list above accounts for a combined 1,360,200 employees in geography-related fields, with large numbers of new job openings expected through the foreseeable future. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median wages for Geographers were $81,970 in 2019. Even the lowest paid 25% of Geographers made $63,300 annually, far exceeding the median wages for all income earners.

However, most people who are ultimately attracted to the discipline of geography are motivated by much larger aspirations than good salaries. The opportunity to make a difference in the world, in whatever expression that takes, is one of the most frequently cited reasons why current geography students, researchers, and practitioners explain their career choice. Given the breadth and depth of this rich discipline, which comprises perspectives from physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities, this desire to make a difference by using the intellectual approaches and conceptual tools of the discipline may be, in fact, one of the clearest characteristics that geographers as a community have in common.

Professionals with a Conscience

Some of the ways that geographers are making valuable contributions to the work and performance of businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies include:

►Understanding Social Systems. Geographers analyze the ways in which people interact in economic, political, social, and spatial contexts. Geographers offer a powerful perspective that can help employers take the specific needs and interests of a population into consideration when making decisions. From emergency-response teams using GIS technology to model high-risk areas that could flood during hurricanes, to designing digital maps that help ambulance drivers and firefighters respond to disasters more quickly, the work of geographers can save lives.

►Improving the Environment. Geographers study natural phenomena and work in areas as diverse as conservation, climate change, geology, meteorology, hazards, and natural resource management. Geographers understand human-environment relationships and how to use that information to manage natural resources and to protect the planet as a whole. The digital maps and geospatial tools geographers use have a myriad of positive effects for society and the environment, such as reduced air pollution through more efficient transportation because of GPS navigation, which could potentially reduce global CO2 emissions by 5% per year (Alpha Beta, 2017).

►Enhancing Financial Performance. Geographers, using geospatial tools such as GIS and GPS, are able to map and analyze economic data in search of important spatial patterns and relationships that can significantly enhance business efficiency and profitability. Spatial and temporal analysis is an important component of a geographic education and a skill valued by a large number of business employers. Recent reports suggest that online maps facilitated business sales worth more than $1 trillion globally. Businesses using geospatial services to improve productivity or sales reap substantial benefits, with recent research suggesting total geospatial revenues could be worth $1.6 trillion in the US alone (Alpha Beta, 2017; Boston Consulting Group, 2018).

The videos below provide an overview of how geography can lead to a meaningful, fulfilling career, as well as the diverse, often unexpected pathways that lead people to our field. Follow the tabs at left for an overview of career options and resources for geography careers in business, state and local government, federal government, nonprofit organizations and NGOs, and education.

Joseph Kerski discusses what it's like to be a geographer and why it matters. 04m:35s.

Geography is a broad and diverse field, but one thing geographers have in common is using a geographic perspective to have an impact on the world. 04m:24s.

Start building your career. Listen to some sage advice about jobs in Geography: from defining what you can contribute to any position to doing the geography you feel passionate about. 03m:47s.

Your Mom said you should major in something that would get you a good job. But don't you want to do something you love? What if you could do both? This short clip presents the message behind the popular careers poster available here. 00m:40s.

Geographer Nekya Young tells about her journey to find a college major that would ultimately lead to a meaningful career working with communities, recounting the many opportunities and support she found along the way. 07m:24s.

Many people find the field of geography through various pathways. This video shares stories of students, recent graduates, and seasoned geographers to illustrate some of the diverse ways that they have found their own journeys into geography. 12m:21s.

AAG research shows that departmental climate is very important for the success of minority and international students. In this video, geographers of color and geographers of international backgrounds speak about their programs and what home means to them. 05m:46s.

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Geography is so rich in possibilities, it is simply impossible to convey on our website the full range of opportunity that a career in our field might entail. Geographers apply their unique knowledge, skills, and perspectives in a diverse range of industries.

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She Was The Only Black Person In Her Geography Class. So She Launched A Movement To Diversify The Field.

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She Was The Only Black Person In Her Geography Class. So She Launched A Movement To Diversify The Field.

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Francisca Rockey, 21, is blending her passions for geography and social activism to inspire positive ... [+]
Photo courtesy of Francisca Rockey

Francisca Rockey is not yet a household name, but her ideas about geography have sparked a critical movement. Last spring, the York St John University student tweeted 31 words that circulated around the world: "I wish geography, environmental science and related subjects were more diverse. I'm the only black girl on my course and I know it's the same at other universities around the country."

Rockey's tweet caught the attention of several other Black geography students in the United Kingdom, many of whom expressed that they felt alone in the geoscience world. Others shared Rockey's desire to diversify the field, and were equally passionate about inspiring more Black students to pursue geography, diversifying the curriculum and elevating the daily work of geographers. Working together with her peers, Rockey created the nonprofit organization Black Geographers, a space to build on these connections and formalize a community.

The group began by posing one question to schools, universities and organizations alike: why aren't there more Black people in geography? In less than a year, they'd developed research to help answer that question as well as launched scholarships and a mentorship program. Recently, the team hosted a virtual forum, " Decolonising Geography," for students to explore the role of race in higher education departments and how to pursue greater equity within them. Today, the Black Geographers platform, which initially launched as an Instagram page, has evolved into a worldwide collaborative of 10,000 members strong-and growing.

I reached out to Rockey to better understand how all of us can work to make geography as diverse as the world in which we live. In our Q&A, she describes the importance of listening to Black stories and elevating Black voices in geography, including those who've been unacknowledged or excluded entirely. Generations of Black geographers and explorers have deepened our understanding of the planet and made critical contributions to science-from 19th century polar explorer Matthew Henson to 21st century biological anthropologist Carter Clinton, who researches the lives of African Americans during the era of slavery. Rockey wants to ensure their distinguished work and legacies are broadly recognized and celebrated.

In this way, Rocky also highlights how geographic thinking can bridge cultures and solve problems.
Vicki Phillips: What does geography mean to you?
Francisca Rockey: Geography is an interdisciplinary subject that encompasses all of my interests: the environment, politics, social and spatial inequalities, science and humanities. Geography is how we understand where things are found, why they're there, how they develop and change, why people are in the positions that they are and what environmental factors impact animal and human habitats and settlements. Geography allows you to be a well-rounded person and to consider the lives of others and their surroundings.
VP: Why did you choose this field? What do you love about it?
FR: Of all of the subjects that I've studied, it's the one that has made the most impact on my way of thinking and my values and morals. I chose geography because I wanted to make a change and have all of the skills that I need to make that change. What I love about geography is how it builds connections among people globally. There are people in Brazil, for example, who I can't communicate with because we speak different languages, but we're able to connect on our mutual love for the environment. That's the beauty in geography; despite these barriers, we can connect through our common understandings of geography.
VP: What do you wish non-Black people knew about Black geographies?
FR: I wish they knew that Black geographies exist and that Black people have been telling their own stories for centuries. We are capable of telling our own stories and doing our own research; it doesn't need to be led by non-Black people. Within geography, white Western research and ideas about cultures are regarded as being more credible than oral histories, for example, from those ethnic groups or cultures. That's quite dangerous and something I'd like to see change over the years. Part of understanding a culture is hearing straight from the people who are experiencing these things, in their language, instead of just researching and only getting a small insight into the culture. There is so much value in hearing different groups of people telling their own stories.
VP: How can educators play a role in encouraging Black students to study and contribute to the field of geography?
FR: Educators can play a huge role in encouraging Black students to study and contribute to the field by representing Black geographers in their teaching. Something that I hear commonly is that if you can see yourself represented in a field, then you have something to aspire to. As a young Black person, I can't aspire to be a geographer if I've never seen a Black geographer. Educators can also make all students-but especially Black students-aware of where geography can take them and how their different interests can be turned into geographical thought. For example, if a student is interested in politics, then they might be great at human geography and geopolitics.
VP: How can we connect geographic thinking to solving the world's most pressing problems?
FR: We can apply the two sides of geography: the social side, or human geography, and the environmental and science side, or physical geography. For example, if we're looking at climate migration, we can look at the environmental, health, social and economic impacts and assess how we can improve the lives of migrants who have to move because sea level is rising or because frequent natural disasters are destroying their homes. Geographic thinking allows you to look at problems from so many different perspectives and get a well-informed view of how to solve these issues. When a volcano erupts, geographers will look at the social impact and how it will change people's sense of being within that city, or their identity within the space. Both aspects are equally important in understanding the future of our environment-and how we as humans are adapting to this ever-changing planet that we live on.
VP: What geography fact fascinates you the most and why?
FR: Sudan has more ancient pyramids than Egypt. Egypt's Pyramids of Giza are known as one of the seven wonders of the world, but Sudan has nearly twice the number of pyramids. This fascinates me because it's something I was never taught in school. It wasn't until I was an adult and did my research that I discovered this.
VP: What advice do you have for young people leading movements around the world?
FR: If you have a passion and you have an idea and you know there is a change that you can make, then you can lead. When I began Black Geographers, I was fearful of not having enough resources and money to do what I wanted, so originally, my idea was just to have an Instagram page and to show what life is like as a Black geographer-what I do throughout my degree and what we are learning and what struggles we face. Then I thought, "I can actually do a lot more than that." I did a GoFundMe about my idea and applied for a Kickstarter fund through my university. That funding helped me create our website and secure our domain and web hosting. In October, we did a fundraising campaign that highlighted that only 7 out of every 1,000 geography professors in the UK identify as Black. We're now able to use the funds from this campaign for the rest of the year and apply for more grants so that we can do more with our movement. If you're not able to fundraise, I recommend starting petitions or an Instagram page where you can inform people on your movement. You can set up a Facebook page, send a weekly newsletter within your community or lobby or email your local policymakers. There are so many different ways that you can start movements.
VP: How can people support the Black Geographers movement?
FR: You can support our movement in your institutions, workplace, or organization by highlighting the fact that there is a diversity issue in the green environment sector. These issues begin when people who are Black are not encouraged to study geography or related subjects, like environmental science. Allow Black people to see themselves in these studies and feel like they belong in those spaces and feel safe. Keep raising awareness within your circles. Use the information that Black Geographers provides through research. Share what you do within your spaces to make that change to the Black experience within geography.
Note: This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
... Read More

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the only black person in her geography class

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She Was The Only Black Person In Her Geography Class. So She Launched A Movement To Diversify The Field.

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Francisca Rockey is not yet a household name, but her ideas about geography have sparked a critical movement. Last spring, the York St John University student tweeted 31 words that circulated around the world: "I wish geography, environmental science and related subjects were more diverse.

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US landmarks bearing racist and Colonial references are renamed to reflect Indigenous values

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US landmarks bearing racist and Colonial references are renamed to reflect Indigenous values

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(I have used the full earlier name of the creek, only this one time, for clarity. Later in the piece I will refer to it as "sq-w," to emphasize that it is a slur.)

As a scholar of American and Indigenous history, I have studied representations of Native American cultures in American public history and memory. While seemingly a minor local issue affecting residents of a few counties in Iowa, the renaming of Ioway Creek is part of a larger trend throughout the Midwest and the country.

Respect for Native history

One example of this occurred in 2016 in the Black Hills of South Dakota, an area with religious and political significance to the Lakota and other Native nations. Harney Peak - named after a U.S. general infamous for killing Native Americans - was renamed Black Elk Peak, honoring a revered Lakota leader.

A similar change occurred in Minnesota, home to Dakota and Anishinaabe communities. The largest lake in Minneapolis had been named after John C. Calhoun, the Southern politician who supported slavery and the dispossession of Native Americans from their homelands in the South through the 1830 Indian Removal Act. The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed in 2020 that the Department of Natural Resources had the authority to rename the lake Bde Maka Ska, meaning "White Earth Lake" in Dakota.

Replacing racist and sexist slurs

This is especially important considering what some activists describe as an epidemic of violence against Native American women. They are 2.5 times more likely than members of any other ethnic group to experience intimate partner violence. As documented by legal scholar Sarah Deer, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, this is due in part to jurisdictional issues that limit the prosecution of non-Native men who assault Native American women on reservations.

Native American women also face higher rates of murder, prompting the creation of a federal unit to address the issue.

Some opponents to the Ioway Creek name change have pointed out that the term "sq-w" originally was not offensive. Historical sources support this point. The 1910 Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, published by the Smithsonian Institution, contains an entry for "sq-w."

According to this entry, it was derived from a term used by the Narragansetts, whose original homelands are on the Eastern Seaboard, to refer to "an Indian woman." This source notes that Euro-Americans picked up the term from the Narragansetts and spread it beyond its original context - which is not uncommon when different linguistic groups come into contact.

However, the original meaning of words can shift over time, and "sq-w" has developed derogatory connotations since the mid-20th century. In its notes on usage, the Oxford American Dictionary explains that "the word cannot now be used in any sense without being offensive."

In 2015, the now-defunct news site Vocativ conducted a study of place names that include racial slurs and found that those containing "sq-w" were the most pervasive.

This particular slur has engendered multiple name changes throughout the U.S. in recent years - among them a ski resort in California, a lake in Wisconsin, a road in Pennsylvania and a mountain peak in Massachusetts.

Haven Daley/AP

Name changes reflect cultural changes

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names, or BGN, holds a long-established authority over geographic place names in the U.S. It considers changes for names that are derogatory or offensive and does not approve any new place names that fall into those categories.

In 1963, the BGN decided that any place names containing the derogatory slur used to refer to African Americans would be changed. It made a similar decision for the slur referring to Japanese people in 1974.

All other offensive terms must go through the process followed in Ames: An individual submits an official request that the BGN then considers, with input from local entities.

[ Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation's newsletter to understand the world. Sign up today.]

Ultimately, the goal of this process is not to erase history. Rather, it's to include a fuller representation of stakeholders in deliberations about the significance of sites with shared - and sometimes conflicting - cultural significance.

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US landmarks bearing racist and Colonial references are renamed to reflect Indigenous values

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(I have used the full earlier name of the creek, only this one time, for clarity. Later in the piece I will refer to it as "sq-w," to emphasize that it is a slur.) As a scholar of American and Indigenous history, I have studied representations of Native American cultures in American public history and memory.

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Species or Ecosystems: How Best to Restore the Natural World?

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Species or Ecosystems: How Best to Restore the Natural World?

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/ Alamy Stock Photo

What's the best way to protect nature and restore what has been lost? A series of new scientific papers offer conflicting views on whether efforts should focus on individual species or ecosystems and point to the role human inhabitants can play in conserving landscapes.

The Serengeti plain of East Africa is one of the world's great wild lands - teeming with lions, leopards and migrating wildebeest. But is it ecologically intact, a rare fragment of the earth unaltered by the hand of humanity? Or is it, as many researchers argue, a human-created landscape, nurtured by generations of Maasai cattle herders?

And should we care? In the Anthropocene, should conservation be about protecting iconic species, ecological intactness, nature's resilience, or human custody of landscapes -whether in the Serengeti or other famed wild landscapes such as the rainforests of the Congo basin or the vast tundras of Siberia and Canada?

These questions have all been addressed in three new research papers, all published this month, which reach very different conclusions on the nature we have, how to conserve it, and the best way to fulfil the UN call to make the 2020s a Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

The issue of which of the world's wild lands are truly pristine has long bugged ecologists. Conventional estimates put the amount of "intact" wilderness on the planet's land surface outside Antarctica at between 20 and 40 percent. But Andrew Plumptre, who heads the Key Biodiversity Areas Secretariat, a coalition of NGOs, in Cambridge, England, says this is a false assumption. It is based on satellite assessments of human impact that pay little regard to what species are down below.

Studies point to the constant churning of species within ecosystems, in which new species often replace others doing similar jobs.

In the first of the three papers, published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, Plumtre sets a new, higher bar for intactness. It requires both untouched habitat and the presence of all the species known from the historical record to have occurred there, in numbers "sufficiently abundant to play their ecological roles." By this measure, he estimates that 43 percent of the land has intact habitat - higher than some estimates - but once species loss is taken into account, the proportion falls dramatically, to just 2.9 percent.

In practice, Plumptre and his international team of co-authors count mainly large mammals such as gorillas, chimpanzees, forest elephants, jaguars, buffalo, bears, and orangutans; and they set their baseline from which decline is measured at AD 1500, the moment when Europeans showed up in the Americas. An earlier date might have produced an even lower number.

Many apparently pristine ecosystems, Plumptre says, should not be considered intact because they are empty of key large mammal species, often because of hunting. That loss may fundamentally change how their ecosystems work. For instance, the disappearance of elephants and other large herbivores will reduce nutrient cycling and seed dispersal in those animals' dung. And the loss of predators such as lions or wolves will lead to an excess of herbivores, to the detriment of the vegetation they eat.

In a separate commentary, Plumptre names some of the areas that still meet his strict measure of intactness. They include the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the rainforest of the Republic of the Congo; the mosaic of forests, fjords, lakes, and wetlands that make up the islands of the Kawesqar National Park in Patagonia in southern Chile; and the unfenced megafauna-rich grasslands of the Serengeti. "These are very rare and special places that should be conserved," he says.

His diagnosis sounds bad. Especially because he finds that only 11 percent of these intact ecosystems are within government protected areas. But the good news, Plumptre says, is that we could restore intactness to up to 20 percent of the land surface by reintroducing five or fewer species into areas otherwise intact, and that this could be done during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

The decade was agreed upon at the UN General Assembly in 2019 and runs from this year to 2030. It has so far concentrated on restoring habitats, Plumptre says, but should do much more to restore species. Candidates should include putting forest elephants back into the Congo, and returning buffalo, giraffes, and zebra to African grasslands where they have been hunted out.

Plumptre's focus on species contrasts strongly with a paper published in Science three days later by Fernando Blanco of the Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science in Berlin. In it, he and a team of Spanish and German co-authors argue that we care too much about species. However well-liked our great iconic species may be, these scientists note, they are transient. They come and go. What should matter to conservationists interested in protecting nature is preserving its resilience, which lies in ecosystems that persist over millions of years.

"Actions carried out to preserve ecosystem functioning will last longer than actions oriented towards protecting individual species," says co-author Juan Cantalapiedra of the University of Alcala.

They base their case on evidence from newly assembled and extensive fossil records of large mammals that lived over the past 21 million years in the Iberian Peninsula of Spain and Portugal. They identified 396 mammalian species living there during the period, and categorized them all according to their diet, body size, and method of locomotion to infer their role within their ecosystems.

Blanco and his colleagues found massive shifts through time in the specific species present within the ecosystems. Extinctions were frequent. A typical survival time for a species before its extinction was a little under a million years. Yet the ecosystems themselves persisted much longer. Even a drying up of the Mediterranean Sea and the recurring ice ages of the past 2 million years failed to shift the ecological equilibrium. Each iteration of species carried out essentially the same jobs as their predecessors. So, the paper's authors say, making efforts to save them is of limited value if what we care about is protecting ecosystems and nature's resilience.

The problem "is not human use per se," says a study coauthor. "The problem is the kind of land use we see in industrialized societies."

"In the last 20 million years, only two environmental changes significantly affected this ecological structure," says co-author Manuel Hernandez Fernandez of the Complutense University of Madrid. Those changes on the Iberian Peninsula occurred 14 and 9 million years ago, and both were associated with climate change, when rainfall patterns shifted worldwide. As it got drier on the peninsula, browsers of shrubs and trees gave way to grazers of grasslands. But which browsers, and which grazers, seemed to matter little to the ecosystems themselves.

These "deep-time ecological dynamics" suggest that what matters is not preserving today's inheritors of the grazing mantle but ensuring that there is a role in the wider ecosystem for such grazers, says Blanco.

This conclusion, based on fossil evidence, gives weight to a controversial study in 2019 that found a constant churning of species within today's ecosystems, in which new species often replaced others doing similar jobs. The study, covering 50,000 sites across the world, found that individual places swapped a staggering 28 percent of their species every decade. It found the churn occurred in apparently pristine ecosystems as well as those obviously disturbed by human activity.

"Of course, we know that conservation efforts are often guided by politics as well as science," Blanco agrees. "But it is important to think more explicitly about our long-term priorities."

The two papers offer very different perspectives on what ecological intactness means, and what conservationists should be protecting. But both look essentially at ecosystems without humans. That is a big mistake, says geographer Erle Ellis of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, in a paper in PNAS co-authored with archaeologists, ecologists, and geographers from 10 other institutions in the United States, Netherlands, China, Australia, Argentina, and elsewhere. They argue that "archaeological data demand new approaches to biodiversity conservation."

Their study, published a week after the other two, maps ecosystems and biodiversity over the past 12,000 years, since the end of the last ice age, and compares them with known locations of human activity. It contends that the popular presumption - not least in reporting of Plumptre's paper - that most of the world's ecosystems were all but untouched until 500 years ago is nonsense. Plumptre says in his paper that species composition changed earlier due to human influence, but says he chose AD 1500 because it is the baseline for assessing species extinctions used in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

"Even 12,000 years ago, nearly three-quarters of terrestrial nature was inhabited, used and shaped by people," says Ellis. "Areas untouched by people were almost as rare then as they are today."

"Hunter-gathers, early farmers and herders transformed wildlands into human biomes" through burning, shifting cultivation, hunting, and animal domestication, he says. Often, far from wrecking ecosystems, they enhanced the number of plant species, spreading seeds and improving soils by burying household waste.

The problem today "is not human use per se," says co-author Nicole Boivin of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany. "The problem is the kind of land use we see in industrialized societies," with monoculture plantations taking over former forests and grasslands fenced and plowed.

Ellis says that most of the areas that Plumptre defines as intact "actually have a land-use history of thousands of years." But the impact that land use had on ecosystems was very much less back then. By and large, he says, the ancients "sustained the vast majority of Earth's biodiversity." And the good guys then remain the good guys today. The study finds "a close correlation between areas of high biodiversity [today] and areas long occupied by Indigenous and traditional peoples."

"Natural history is human history," says one scientist. "Conserving biodiversity is not about finding places without people."

He says this insight has often been ignored by modern conservationists, who work from the presumption that the areas most worth protecting are "intact" places with no human influence. The real truth, he says, is that nothing is intact, but many ecosystems remain in good working order, often thanks to human stewardship.

"Rather than trying to return land to an unattainable pristine state, conservation efforts would achieve more by empowering traditional and Indigenous societies and supporting local, community-based sustainable ecosystem management," Boivin argues.

Rebecca Shaw, chief scientist at the World Wildlife Fund in San Francisco and a co-author of the paper, agrees that "the perspectives of Indigenous and local peoples should be at the forefront of global negotiations to reduce biodiversity loss." But some of her fellow authors go further. They want not just Indigenous "perspectives," but Indigenous control. "These findings have particular salience for contemporary Indigenous rights and self-determination," says co-author Darren Ranco, an anthropologist at the University of Maine and a citizen of the Penobscot Indian nation in that state.

Certainly, the paper's analysis will add fuel to the criticisms of some human-rights activists about current calls by conservationists to increase the areas of land protected by governments from the current 16 percent to 30 percent. Survival International this month called this goal "the biggest land grab in history," arguing that it is both unjust and counter-productive, because it will strip land rights from the planet's best ecological protectors.

Those activists have ammunition. They point out that one of the intact protected ecosystems singled out by Plumptre, the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo, was created in the 1990s by expelling several thousand Bayaka "pygmy" people, who had lived there sustainably for generations. Another "intact" protected area, the Serengeti, has seen widespread expulsions of the Maasai, who for centuries nurtured it.

The three papers clearly have very different ideas about ecological intactness and the best way of conserving wild lands. They start from different approaches: a love of species for their own sake; a desire to maintain the systems that ultimately sustain life; and a more human-centered view of what is, and what is not, possible.

But there are some areas of agreement. Notably, Plumptre concedes in his paper that many of the areas he has identified as ecologically intact "coincide with territories managed by Indigenous communities, who have played a vital role in maintaining the ecological integrity of these areas." His definition of intactness may rely a lot on his choice of a baseline in AD 1500, by which time the cultural landscapes that Ellis identifies were well established.

Are numbers of species a true measure of ecosystem health? Read more.

Back then, the Amazon was at its peak of human occupation, planted with economically valuable trees and underlain by human-made soils. Back then too, forest elephants were living in profusion with local tribes in Central Africa, only disappearing when European colonialists moved in to plunder their ivory. And the Serengeti had long been shared between Maasai cattle herders and Africa's most charismatic megafauna.

"Natural history is human history," says Ellis. "Conserving biodiversity is not about finding places without people, but about conserving the biodiverse cultural landscapes that people have shaped and sustained."

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Species or Ecosystems: How Best to Restore the Natural World?

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What's the best way to protect nature and restore what has been lost? A series of new scientific papers offer conflicting views on whether efforts should focus on individual species or ecosystems and point to the role human inhabitants can play in conserving landscapes.

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Census surprise: Texas gains only 2 seats as shift to Sun Belt slows

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Census surprise: Texas gains only 2 seats as shift to Sun Belt slows

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Meanwhile, New York will shed one of 27 districts in next year's elections. Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia are each also dropping one seat.

Minnesota was expected to lose a seat - but snagged the last one up for grabs, besting New York by just 89 residents, according to the Census Bureau's formula. Meanwhile,Rhode Island avoided dropping to one at-large district, a huge relief to its two Democratic incumbents.

This announcement solidifies the playing field for the upcoming redistricting, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Democrats have just a five-seat advantage, the narrowest congressional majority in decades, and the GOP could easily close that gap by drawing favorable new maps in key states.

"Because of history, because of reapportionment, if I was a betting person I'd put my money on Republicans retaking the House," said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), the redistricting chair for the GOP.

Democrats have spent the last decade trying to climb out of the hole they found themselves in the last redistricting. After the 2010 midterm wave gave the GOP control of state governments, Republicans drew a new round of favorable maps in nearly all the key states. That catapulted them into the majority for eight years, until a massive political realignment spurred by Donald Trump's election unlocked seats for Democrats that were once out of reach.

Over the decade, Democrats tried to push their way back into the decision-making rooms - or take the map-drawing out of the partisan realm entirely. They now control governors' mansions in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Kansas. And new independent redistricting commissions could improve their odds in Michigan and Colorado.

But they remain completely boxed out of the process in several key Sun Belt states, including Georgia, Texas, Florida and North Carolina, where demographic change could have been to Democrats' benefit.

"We fully anticipate that they are going to gerrymander those states," said Kelly Ward Burton, the president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. "We think to the tune of as many as 12 seats that they can try to get out of those states unfairly."

Formed in 2016 and led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, the NDRC is preparing to deploy an arsenal of legal power to challenge maps that violate state and federal laws.

"The reality is that when you look at the growth in those states," Ward Burtonsaid, "and when you look at the actual voters in those four states, Democrats should actually pick up seats."

Democrats have filed strategic lawsuits in state courts over the past ten years to unwind extreme partisan gerrymanders, a tactic that has worked in Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania and created legal precedents that they can use again.

They are in a better spot than they were in 2010 when Republicans had an alarmingly high amount of control. They were in charge of drawing about half of the seats in 2010, while Democrats were tasked with drawing about four dozen, according to a POLITICO analysis. In 2020,Republicans will have total control over roughly 180 seats and Democrats about 70 or so, including New York.

"Republican control across the country has gone down from where it was in 2011," said Adam Kincaid, the executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust. "But you have to remember that in 2011 Republicans were at the highest point we've been in a century. And so now we're at the second-highest point that we've been in a century."

Democrats suffered painful losses in 2018 governor's races in Florida and Georgia that sealed total GOP control in those states.

And last cycle, they failed to flip a single state legislative chamber and lost control of the state House and the state Senate in New Hampshire, handing Republicans a new trifecta that many suspect they could use to target Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.).

"We've got a lot of work to do," said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.). Constitutional amendments that create commissions and reforms that rein in extremely partisan maps have helped in some places, he said. But Democrats are bracing for the worst in others. "In some of those states where Republicans dominate, we can expect some incredibly gerrymandered districts that look funky."

Though Monday's apportionment announcement is a strictly numerical process, it belies an intensely personal political reality for incumbents. No where is that felt more keenly than in small states with delegations made up of members from one party.

The clock is ticking for incumbents to decide if they have the mettle to run against one another. West Virginia now has three Republican members with just two seats up for grabs in next year's elections.

Ron Jarmin, the acting director of the Census Bureau, said the shift in seven seats among the 13 states was the smallest shift since the current method of apportionment was adopted in 1941.

The shift in seats was much lower than previously releasedestimates, but Jarmin and other bureau officials said they were confident in the pandemic-plagued count.

"We are very confident in the data we released today," Victoria Velkoff, the associate director for demographic programs at the bureau, said at a Monday press conference. "Most states are within one percent of our population estimates, which makes us feel very good about those census counts."

Though the battle for the House can now begin in earnest, states are still months away from crafting their final congressional maps. The detailed granular-level data needed for that won't come until later in the summer.

Until then, Republicans plan to tout the population shift toward GOP-controlled states as a result of their policies and suggested they have a mandate to ensure the Sun Belt states continue to pass policies that allow for economic growth and opportunity.

"People want quality of life. They're tired of high taxes," said GOP Rep. Roger Williams of Texas. "They're coming. They're coming to Texas, and it's good for us."
Zach Montellaro contributed to this report. Any questions about how the reapportionment affects specific elections or districts? Send them to Morning Score author Zach Montellaro at [email protected], and he might answer them in the newsletter.

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Census surprise: Texas gains only 2 seats as shift to Sun Belt slows

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Meanwhile, New York will shed one of 27 districts in next year's elections. Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia are each also dropping one seat. Minnesota was expected to lose a seat - but snagged the last one up for grabs, besting New York by just 89 residents, according to the Census Bureau's formula.

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Parsons Cemetery drone work in Salisbury discovers unmarked veteran graves, receives honor

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Parsons Cemetery drone work in Salisbury discovers unmarked veteran graves, receives honor

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SALISBURY, Md.- Brent Zaprowski's home happens to edge the grounds of Parsons Cemetery. The Salisbury University geography professor walks his dogs nearly every day down scenic, long-stretched rows of historic resting places, in peaceful quiet.

But one of those days, about two years ago, he came across cemetery officials looking to mark veteran gravestones - aiming to take part in Wreaths Across America that December.

"And I said, 'Well how do you know where they all are?' " Zaprowski recalled, having known some graves go back nearly 200 years. "They said, 'We don't really know how they're all here, we just kind of go around looking for them and put out flags every year.'"

It was a time-consuming process on the cemetery's 18 acres, where not every veteran stone is clearly marked.

"I figured there was a better way to start doing this - and that's when I began the mapping project," said the volunteer.

Zaprowski brought technology to the Lower Eastern Shore relic.

The Victorian-era cemetery, whose layers of memory stretch further than its 1873 establishment, has now been honored for that 21st-Century thinking. Preservation Maryland formally presented Parsons with its Community Choice Award Wednesday morning.

The oldest and largest preservation organization in the state presented the award as part of its Best of Maryland 2020, one of just four of its kind this year, according to Parsons. The awards go to "small projects with big impact," Preservation Maryland said.

Zaprowski and Stuart Hamilton of the Geography and Geoscienses Department, as well as their Salisbury University students, used drones and GPS to discover hundreds of unmarked veterans graves - and tell their stories.

"I was able to not only map out where they are, but to actually know who the veterans are," Zaprowski said. "Between databases online and the drone imagery, I was able to really do a good, thorough job of mapping out where all the veterans are."

Parsons now knows roughly 1,254 veterans lay between its walls, some from as early as the War of 1812. The cemetery had previously identified about 650.
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Throughout this process, Parsons used social media to share the discoveries and tell once-forgotten stories.

There are many other stories to tell within the Salisbury cemetery - the founders of Salisbury University, Peninsula Regional Medical Center, the first female postmaster in the U.S., a 19th Century Salisbury fire chief buried with his horse, as well as one Maryland governor with a large role in rebuilding Salisbury after its last great fire, are all buried there.

Parsons does not plan to rest its partnership with 21st Century technology.
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Carol Smith of Parsons' Advisory Committee said one of the strongest ways to grow its perpetual care fund is to remain relevant - which means growing with today's technology.

From a website to Facebook, Parsons started sharing its history and developing walking tours. New software also maintains stronger records of those buried on the grounds.

"We have many other people - from rich, poor, politicians to humanitarians - who all made important contributions to Salisbury itself who rest here," she said, under a chorus of cicadas on the cemetery grounds. "So, maintaining the cemetery is really a high priority."

The cemetery hopes to expand walking tours, self-led using a smartphone, as well as pursue reenactments in videos or community events. The committee has started developing a plan for such "living history" of those buried on the grounds, according to Smith.

What was once a rural cemetery of sleeping history is now an urban green space - attracting joggers, families exploring a view of Johnson's Pond and others looking for a quiet escape.

"At Parsons, everything old is new again," reads a closing line of one committee press release.

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Parsons Cemetery drone work in Salisbury discovers unmarked veteran graves, receives honor

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SALISBURY, Md.- Brent Zaprowski's home happens to edge the grounds of Parsons Cemetery. The Salisbury University geography professor walks his dogs nearly every day down scenic, long-stretched rows of historic resting places, in peaceful quiet. But one of those days, about two years ago, he came across cemetery officials looking to mark veteran gravestones - aiming to take part in Wreaths Across America that December.

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Map lets you see where your hometown was on the Earth millions of years ago

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Map lets you see where your hometown was on the Earth millions of years ago

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this map lets you see where your hometown was on the earth millions of years ago - cnn

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This map lets you see where your hometown was on the Earth millions of years ago

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A California paleontologist has created an interactive map that allows people to see how far their hometowns have moved over 750 million years of continental drift.

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Researchers build app to monitor irrigation water quality 

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Researchers build app to monitor irrigation water quality 

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An Oregon State University researcher and a student team are developing an internet-based application that taps "big data" to help farms document water quality under the Produce Safety Rule.

The federal rule applies to fruits and vegetables that are generally consumed raw. It requires farms to document water quality, which they could do via on-site testing.

But Joy Waite-Cusic, OSU associate professor of food safety systems, and student researchers see a viable alternative in data that agencies have already been collecting for many years.

For example, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Geological Survey and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality gather water-quality information from monitoring stations placed throughout watersheds.

The app - being developed as part of the Data Science for the Public Good initiative to aid rural communities - combines a farm's location and water-usage season with data from nearby monitoring stations. It will generate a mean and a threshold value for on-farm water quality.

The team hopes the result meets U.S. Food and Drug Administration reporting requirements, informs future farm-level decisions and over time contributes to a watershed-scale view of agricultural water quality.

Researchers are also determining if the app could identify point sources for E. coli in watersheds.

The rule allows third-party data if it adequately represents a farm's water source and meets all other requirements, including that enough surface-water samples are taken over a sufficiently long period.

"What we think would be the most useful is for the farm to look at this data and really be able to evaluate the risk of their water," Waite-Cusic said. "If they know what category they are in, they could determine if they need to make a change in how they use their water or need to invest in water treatment."

FDA "appreciates that water is a very important component of food safety for produce," she said. "But farms typically have very little control over the quality of water they receive. And even if they do test it, the results take time; they may already have used the water before they have an answer on quality."

Onion growers in the Ontario area, some of whom already have water-quality challenges, could potentially use the app to document known conditions and devote more resources to any required mitigation, Waite-Cusic said.

She worked with Ontario-based OSU colleagues and the industry five years ago to show local drip-irrigated onions did not exhibit above-threshold E. coli levels after they were lifted from the ground and cured in the area's prolonged daytime heat. That work also showed soil, depending on type and quality, can have a filtering effect.

Separate research by a University of California-Davis professor on onions grown in that state showed overhead water application to be riskier than drip in terms of contamination, said Waite-Cusic, who assisted.

The app, targeted for release by late September, was built based on data from the Ontario area and the Tualatin River in northwestern Oregon. The team aims to expand it with data from other states.

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Researchers build app to monitor irrigation water quality

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An Oregon State University researcher and a student team are developing an internet-based application that taps "big data" to help farms document water quality under the Produce Safety Rule. The federal rule applies to fruits and vegetables that are generally consumed raw. It requires farms to document water quality, which they could do via on-site testing.

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GEOG 210 - Introduction to Oceanography (LD GE B1)

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GEOG 210 - Introduction to Oceanography (LD GE B1)

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2021 CSUSM President's Outstanding Graduate & CHABSS Dean's Outstanding Student Award

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Kodie Gerritsen

Dean's Awards Eligibility

The College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral, & Social Sciences has four different academic awards that are bestowed to CHABSS graduating students earning a BA. These awards are merit-based and the student must be nominated by a faculty member. The Dean's Office will begin accepting nominations in January 2021.

CHABSS Dean's Outstanding Student Award This award is the highest honor bestowed upon one undergraduate student of the College in the graduating class of 2020/2021. The Dean's Outstanding Student Award winner goes on to compete for the University's highest student award, the CSUSM President's Outstanding Graduate Award.

CHABSS Community Champion Award recognizes a graduating student who is earning a Bachelor's Degree and has demonstrated outstanding achievements in service to the campus and/or greater community during their tenure at CSUSM.

CHABSS Scholarship & Creative Works Champion Award recognizes a graduating student who is earning a Bachelor's Degree and has demonstrated outstanding achievements in research and/or creative works during their tenure at CSUSM.

CHABSS Inclusive Excellence Champion Award recognizes a graduating student who is earning a Bachelor's Degree and has demonstrated outstanding achievements in advancing the College's commitment to inclusive excellence, equity, and social justice during their tenure at CSUSM.

The nomination period for these awards begins in January 2021. Students are encouraged to work with a CHABSS faculty member to submit a nomination. Nominations are due to the Dean's Office (SBSB 4115) OR electronically to Leo Melena by Monday, March 15, 2021.

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Kodie Gerritsen The College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral, & Social Sciences has four different academic awards that are bestowed to CHABSS graduating students earning a BA. These awards are merit-based and the student must be nominated by a faculty member. The Dean's Office will begin accepting nominations in January 2021.

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Myths and fables passed down over thousands of years are full of fantastic creatures and warring gods. But they also might contain evidence of environmental disasters of the past.

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Ancient Maya Made Widespread Changes to Wetland Landscape 

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Ancient Maya Made Widespread Changes to Wetland Landscape 

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Ancient Maya Made Widespread Changes to Wetland Landscape - Eos

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A system of canals 2 millennia old sustained a local population after the collapse of its neighbors, and it continues to affect local ecology today.

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Geography
Greig Tor Guthey, Ph.D

gguthey@csusm.edu

SBSB 4223

Elizabeth Ridder, Ph.D.

eridder@csusm.edu

SBSB 4229

Marine Science
Tihomir Kostadinov, Ph.D.

tkostadinov@csusm.edu

SBSB 4225

Urban and Regional Planning
Kimberley Knowles-Yánez, Ph.D.

kyanez@csusm.edu

SBSB 4226

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GEOG Major & Minor worksheets; BRS minor worksheet

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GEOG Major & Minor worksheets; BRS minor worksheet

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If you would like to view a major or minor worksheet or option checklist reflecting an earlier catalog term, please visit the Worksheet Archive.

All major and minor worksheets and option checklists on this site and in the archive are intended for supplemental use only.

The University will use your Academic Requirements Report (ARR) to track all of your graduation requirements, including those for your major and/or minor. Please continue to check your ARR for accuracy.

If your ARR requires a correction, please submit an ARR Correction Form.

To run your ARR and/or to declare or change your major/minor, please visit your Student Center in MyCSUSM.

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Major & Minor Worksheets/Option Checklists

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If you would like to view a major or minor worksheet or option checklist reflecting an earlier catalog term, please visit the Worksheet Archive. All major and minor worksheets and option checklists on this site and in the archive are intended for supplemental use only.

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In this episode, listen to Ajantha Jayabarathan, a family doctor practicing in Halifax, who shares her vision for how GIS can underpin a more accessible, efficient and inclusive health care system.

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2020-21 CSUSM University Library Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

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Mapping Lost Graves of Slaves in Louisiana

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Mapping Lost Graves of Slaves in Louisiana

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The Lost Graves of Louisiana's Enslaved People

Historical maps. The descendants of enslaved people. And multibillion dollar petrochemical companies. These elements converge in a story about the hidden burial grounds of Louisiana's enslaved people, and how continued industrial development is putting the historic sites at risk.

In this video, we reveal what is hiding in plain sight: the possible burial grounds of enslaved people who were forced to work these plantations 200 years ago. Their locations have remained a mystery, until now.

Using a new study from the research group Forensic Architecture, we looked at historical maps and aerial photos, drone footage, satellite imagery and went to Louisiana to find these concealed graves. Their research uses a technique called cartographic regression, which is used by archeologists to travel back in time to see how the land has changed.

The research shows how even a single tree can be a crucial marker.

Producers

Alexandra Eaton

Christoph Koettl

Cinematography

Quincy G. Ledbetter

Editor

Victoria Simpson

Graphics

Aaron Byrd

Associate Producer

Murat Gökmen

Additional Cinematography

Jonangelo Molinari

Additional Graphics

Arielle Ray

Drone Operator

Daniel Waghorne

Archival Research

Dahlia Kozlowsky

Senior Producer

Sameen Amin

Executive Producer

Solana Pyne

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The Lost Graves of Louisiana's Enslaved People

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Historical maps. The descendants of enslaved people. And multibillion dollar petrochemical companies. These elements converge in a story about the hidden burial grounds of Louisiana's enslaved people, and how continued industrial development is putting the historic sites at risk.