NEWSLETTER 2008-2009

2008-2009 EDITION

Emily Good was one of three Full Time Instructors to win the NEIU Teacher Excellence Award in 2009. This is a competitive award that has recently been extended to Instructors, rather than only the tenure-track Teaching Professionals. Good was recognized for her outstanding teaching as well as her other extensive contributions to the department. She participated in more than 50 faculty meetings in recent years and was department secretary (taking minutes) for many of them. She voluntarily represents the department at conferences, workshops, open houses, and job fairs. As conference chair for the Illinois Geographical Society, she brought the organization to NEIU for the first time ever in April 2009. Semester after semester, her close attention to course schedules has averted many conflicts and crises. This is no small task with two undergraduate programs, two certificate programs, a minor, a graduate program, students taking classes day and night, and everyone preferring compact schedules, usually with a break. Chair Erick Howenstine compares it to solving a difficult sodoku puzzle – any little error comes back to haunt you.

In his letter of support, Dr. Howenstine called Good a dedicated and effective faculty member. “She approaches her discipline with enthusiasm, a breadth of knowledge, and a clear focus on the practical benefits of studying geography.” She involves students in group work, engages and challenges them, and delivers well organized lectures. She teaches both of the department’s introductory courses (Geography, and Environmental Studies), two regional courses (Canada, and Asia), a new course on Geography of Tourism, Cultural Geography, Population Geography, and Geography and Map Skills for Teachers. She works with the College of Education to provide courses useful to their school teachers, and advises all Education majors who concentrate in Geography Education. She was also one of the first faculty members at NEIU to develop an online course, in 2009. It was so successful that she created another. Now, students can take both introductory classes – Geography, and Environmental Studies – on a flexible schedule, but with the same rigor and content you’ll find in her classes. With her experience in designing online curriculum, Good has been making important contributions to the NEIU Task Force for Online Learning as well.

Emily Good Wins Teacher Excellence Award

“ She approaches her discipline with enthusiasm, a breadth of knowledge, and a clear focus on the practical benefits of studying geography.”

In this issue:

GEOGRAPHY & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES IN THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES at NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, CHICAGO, IL

PAGE 2Note from the Chair

PAGE 3Green Initiatives

PAGE 4Faculty AchievementsStudent AchievementsHonors and Awards

PAGE 7Alumni News

PAGE 8IGS 2009 ConferenceStay in Touch

GEOGRAPHY & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES NEWSLETTER 2008-20092

G&ES Faculty & Staff

Erick [email protected]

Abhijit BanerjeeAssistant [email protected]

Emily [email protected]

Dennis GrammenosGraduate CoordinatorAssociate [email protected]

David [email protected]

Monika MihirAssistant [email protected]

Jerome [email protected]

Michael PartipiloAdministrative [email protected]

Musa [email protected]

Charles [email protected]

Newsletter EditorAbhijit BanerjeeNewsletter DesignerMichael Partipilo

Note from the Chair 2008-2009

CMAP Community Planning Session Hosted at NEIU

Although we’re publishing it a little late, this newsletter covers events in the Department of Geography & Environmental Studies in the academic year 2008-2009. It is the second annual newsletter, and will be followed shortly by volume III covering 2009-2010. We expect that the newsletter will be published annually hereafter.

The Fall of 2008 marked the end of both undergraduate programs, in Geography and in Environmental Studies – as the revisions to both programs over preceding years justified new University Codes. This was the result of nearly 50 faculty meetings, in which faculty revised curriculum and updated major requirements, established prerequisites, combined courses, deleted some, and created others. After Fall 2008 new students will be held to the new requirements, which include:

Geography majors: a regional geography course, a writing course, a field course, and GIS.

Env. Studies majors: a physical geography course, a writing course, and any two upper level courses among Sustainable Development, Environmental Planning, and Environmental Policy. Older students may choose either the new requirements or the older ones.

In 2008-2009, a number of new courses were introduced, including GIS II and GIS III by Dr. Mihir, Sustainable Development and Sustainable Energy Policy by Dr. Banerjee, and Urban Design Studio by Dr. Grammenos. A discipline specific writing course is now a new university-wide requirement for all undergraduates, for which Dr. Schmidt has developed GES 250, which is a requirement for both majors. An on-line course, Introduction to Geography, was designed by Emily Good and offered for the first time. Enrollments continued to increase through the year, particularly with growth in the graduate program; a record 17 geography majors received their degrees, along with nearly as many Env. Studies majors.

The Department organized a Community Planning session conducted by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) at NEIU in fall 2008. It is part of the massive, multi-year community consultation process CMAP is conducting to incorporate community feedback in their 2040 Comprehensive Plan now under development. Planning experts from CMAP presented information on land use, transportation, population, housing and jobs after which the session was opened up for community feedback. In addition to Dr. Banerjee’s Environmental Planning class, many other NEIU community members participated and vigorously articulated their support for more transit and mixed-use options in the vicinity of NEIU. CMAP representatives thanked us for hosting the session and assured us that our feedback would be incorporated in the future plan.

3GEOGRAPHY & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES NEWSLETTER 2008-2009

CMAP Community Planning Session Hosted at NEIU

G&ES Plays Prominent Role in Campus Sustainability Initiatives

Student Jeremy Slate Leaves Behind a ‘Green’ Legacy

G&ES played a leading role in various initiatives related to campus sustainability in 2008-2009. Faculty members Howenstine and Banerjee as well as several students including Paisly DiBianca, Kate Ekman, and Georgia Yelton, served as voting members of the NEIU Green Fee Committee (www.neiu.edu/~greenfee) that executes campus sustainability projects with the $3-per-student green fee.

Projects funded this year included bike racks, motion sensors and an electric car. The department continues to maintain the campus vegetation GIS map, which is heavily used by various departments as well as Facilities Management. The Green Cycle Group, the only student environmental club on campus (heavily populated by G&ES majors), was extremely successful this year organizing numerous events that included Earth Week, community cleanups, workshops on bike commuting, permaculture, guest speakers and movie screenings, in addition to taking a leadership role in the Green Fee Committee. Long running GCG campaigns contributed to “Switch Lights Off” stickers in all classrooms, adoption of partially recycled paper and default duplex printing in university computer labs. In recognition of their impressive achievements the Green Cycle Group was awarded the NEIU Blue and Gold Award by the NEIU Students Activities Office.

Jeremy Slate (BA-ES) has left behind a permanent legacy at NEIU through his contributions to the Student Green Fee campaign. While serving in a leadership position in the campus student environmental club Green Cycle Group in 2006-2007, he led the campaign for a campuswide referendum for instituting a $3 Student Green Fee, the proceeds of which would go towards funding campus sustainability projects. Due to his tireless efforts, the referendum passed and the Green Fee was instituted from Fall 2007 and has since funded an electric car, bike racks and motion sensors. Jeremy also volunteered extensively with environmental organizations off campus including the Illinois Student Environmental Coalition and the Illinois Solar Energy Association. After graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2008, he has been working for the Chicago Community and Economic Development Association on energy conservation and also pursuing a Master’s degree in Energy Engineering at the University of Illinois, Chicago.


Faculty and Student News

Faculty Achievements

PublicationsBanerjee, Abhijit. 2009. Ecotourism. In The Encyclopedia of Geography, ed. Barney Warf. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Conference/Symposium Presentations and Invited Lectures

Prof. Banerjee:• June 2009. “Towards a new green revolution in India: Organic

farming, sustainability and food security in the 21st century.” Paper presented at the 5th bi-annual Conference of the US Society for Ecological Economics. Washington, DC.

• April 2009. “The Implications of the Current Economic Crisis on the Prospects for Urban Sprawl.” Paper presented at the Illinois Geographical Society Annual Conference. Chicago, IL.

Prof. Grammenos:• March 2009. “From the streets of Chicago: Neighborhood

scale perspectives on gentrification in the neoliberal city.” Paper presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Las Vegas, NV.

• March 2009. “Ethnoscaping the global city.” Paper presented at the Urban Affairs Association Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.

Prof. Howenstine:• April 2009. “Segregation by race and class in Chicago.” Paper

presented at the Illinois Geographical Society Annual Conference. Chicago, IL.

• April 2009. “Testing the limits of Google Sketchup: An NEIU campus model.” Poster presented at the Illinois Geographical Society Annual Conference. Chicago, IL.

Prof. Mihir:• April 2009. “Relationship between surface roughness and age

of deposits on debris flow fans, Owens Valley, California.” Paper presented at the Illinois Geographical Society Annual Conference. Chicago, IL.

• March 2009. “Scalar variability in debris flow fan topography, Eastern Owens Valley, CA.” Paper presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Las Vegas, NV.

Notable Service Contributions

Prof. Banerjee:• Reviewed article for the Journal of Ecological Economics

and Statistics.• External reviewer of Ph.D. dissertation from Jadavpur University,

Kolkata, India.• Faculty advisor to the award winning student environmental club

Green Cycle Group.

• Faculty representative on the NEIU Green Fee Committee that funds campus sustainability projects with the $3 student green fee.

• G&ES representative to the NEIU Environmental Science Task Force, a multidisciplinary team in charge of developing the proposed interdisciplinary Environmental Science major at NEIU.

Prof. Good:• Continues to serve on the NEIU Task Force on Online Learning.• Board member of the Geographic Society of Chicago and serves

as the Chair of its Education Advisory Panel.

Prof. Grammenos:• Continues to serve on the NEIU Faculty Senate.• Continues to serve on the NEIU Global Studies Task Force

and the NEIU Office of International Programs.• Served as Acting-Cordinator of the NEIU Latino and Latin American

Studies Program.• Reviewed articles for journals: Urban Geography, City and Society,

The Geographical Bulletin.

Prof. Howenstine: • Continues to serve as Building Liaison for the Science Building

(BBH).

Prof. Mihir:• Elected to the University Grade Appeals Committee.• Served on the College of Arts and Sciences Academic

Affairs Committee

Student Achievements

Conference/Symposium Presentations

Paisly DiBianca (April 2009). “Bombing Bucktown and beyond: Graffiti tags in Logan Square, Chicago.” Poster presented at the Illinois Geographical Society 2009 Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.

Elias Quist (April 2009). “Fruit bats.” Poster presented at the Illinois Geographical Society 2009 Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.

Jamison Miller (April 2009). “Race, bricks and mortar: A historical cartography of the Chicago Housing Authority.” Paper presented at the Illinois Geographical Society 2009 Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.

Georgia Yelton (April 2009). “Implications of expanding corn-based ethanol production in the US Midwest.” Paper presented at the Illinois Geographical Society 2009 Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.

Christopher Tatchoum (April 2009). “The sacred grove as nature, culture and the environment: A case study of the Bamileke people


of Cameroon.” Paper presented at the Illinois Geographical Society 2009 Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.

Lazar Ilic (April 2009). “Kosovo’s socioeconomic troubles.” Paper presented at the Illinois Geographical Society 2009 Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.

Nina Roberts (April 2009). “Tourism in Sante Fe: Appropriation of culture in the Land of Enchantment.” Paper presented at the Illinois Geographical Society 2009 Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.

Cornelius Williams (April 2009). “New Urbanism, community building and social diversity: The case of Aurora.” Paper presented at the 17th Annual NEIU Student Research Symposium.

Kimberly Blair (April 2009). “Urban ecotourism in the new ‘Green’ Chicago.” Paper presented at the 17th Annual NEIU Student Research Symposium.

Notable Service and Leadership Contributions

Paisly DiBianca (MA G&ES) was elected Chair of the NEIU Green Fee Committee but had to leave after just one semester to join her EPA position.

Kate Ekman (BA ES) served as Chair of the NEIU Green Fee Committee since its inception in 2007 till 2009, steering the committee during its crucial formative phase. She has also served in leadership positions at the campus student environmental club, the Green Cycle Group and the Illinois Student Environmental Coalition.

Georgia Yelton (BA ES) was elected President of the campus student environmental club, the Green Cycle Group, and also served as a voting student member of the NEIU Green Fee Committee in 2008-2009.

Whitney Behr (BA ES) was staff writer for the NEIU campus newspaper, The Independent, writing extensively on a variety of campus sustainability issues during 2008-2009.

Jamison Miller (BA Geog) was actively involved with the Friends of the Chicago River during 2008-2009, and contributed to its planning committee.

Sebastian Lukasik (BA Geog) helped maintain the campus vegetation GIS for NEIU Facilities Management.

Honors and Awards

Kate Ekman (BA ES)• Recipient of Campus Ecology Fellowship grant from the National

Wildlife Federation, a leading conservation NGO, to calculate a greenhouse gas inventory of NEIU in 2009.

• Awarded Outstanding Senior in Geography by the Illinois Geographical Society in 2009.

• Awarded the Golden Eagle Award by the NEIU Student Activities Office in 2009 for leadership and service.

Green Cycle Group, the campus student environmental club, was awarded the Blue and Gold Award by the NEIU Student Activities Office for outstanding contributions to campus life.

Department Bids Farewell to Retiring Secretary, Welcomes New!

Our new secretary, Michael Partipilo, joined the G&ES staff as departmental Administrative Assistant in 2009, after working at NEIU for 10 years in various capacities: Key Clerk for Campus Police, Secretary to the Board of Trustees in the President’s Office, Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Institutional Advancement. In addition to his regular duties, Michael brings highly desirable skills in web design, desktop publishing and event management from his previous work, which the department hopes to utilize for our own events, publications, and website.

Michael has taken the position of Lydia Sikat, who retired in 2008 after 18 years of impeccable service to the department, and was accorded an emotional farewell. Lydia now lives part of the year in her Chicago home, part in her native Philippines, and stays in periodic contact with her G&ES family.


Prof. Jones Visits Cuba to Study Sustainability Initiatives

Student Jamison Miller Excels in Undergraduate Research

On two occasions, G&ES faculty member David Jones travelled to Cuba as part of a research delegation on The Environment and Sustainable Development, sponsored by EcoCuba Exchange. Cuba’s economy is thought to be the most sustainable of any in the world, and Jones went to see for himself. No longer supported by the Soviet government, Cuba has had to improvise. When Russian bus parts and petroleum were no longer available to Havana’s city bus fleet, reducing the number of buses on the streets from 1800 to 800, the Cuban government purchased thousands of inexpensive bicycles from China and

distributed them to students and workers free of charge. When it became apparent to nutritionists that the average Cuban was consuming 54 pounds of sugar per year, the central government converted marginal land to community gardens, and turned garden operations over to neighborhood cooperatives. Neighbors can make partial payments for produce in the form of kitchen wastes which they must bring for composting at the gardens. Jones has been citing the Cubans’ efforts in his classes in the Department and made a fascinating presentation to the university community during Earth Week.

In recognition of his academic excellence, Jamison Miller (BA-G) was selected for the NEIU Honors program in which he researched race and public housing in Chicago. He presented his research at the Illinois Geographical Society Annual Conference as well as the Urban Affairs Association Annual Meeting, both held in Chicago in 2009. He was also actively involved with the Friends of the Chicago River and contributed to its planning committee. After graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2008, Jamison has been working for the Chicago Housing Authority as a GIS cartographer. He has now been accepted in the PhD program in Geography at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, starting Fall 2009.

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Don’tMiss AnIssue!


Student Jamison Miller Excels in Undergraduate Research

News from Alumni and Recent GradsSara Moloney (MA 2005) is leaving Chicago’s Center for Green Technology after 5 years there, to become Senior Project manater at IFF, a non-profit community development financial institution serving a 5-state area.

Moneen Jones (MA 2006) is nearly done with her PhD in the Department of Crop Science at the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign.

Michael Martinez (MA 1994) is now Special Assistant for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the US Department of Agriculture. After receiving his M.A. from NEIU, he earned a JD from Hamline University and worked for many years at the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources.

Chivia Horton (MA 2006) is now Refuge Manager at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada.

Jeremy Slate (BA-ES 2008) is now in the Energy Engineering graduate program at the University of Illinois in Chicago, and is also working with the Chicago Community and Economic Development Association on building energy efficiency and conservation projects.

Lakeshia Wright (BA-G 2008) is in the Master’s Program in Urban Planning at the Univer-sity of Illinois-Chicago, and has an assistantship in the Survey Research Lab.

Jamison Miller (BA-G 2008) is starting a Doctoral program in Geography at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.

Kelly Larsen (BA-ES 2008) accepted a full-time position as Coordinator at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Gina Letierre (BA-ES 2005) was the main organizer of the 2009 Wild Things conference at Univ. of Illinois-Chicago, attended by more than 1,000 people.

Aaron Durnbaugh (MA 2005) is Deputy Commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Environment.

Jim Williams (MA 1998) is Project Manager of SET Environmental, a Chicago-based environmental and hazardous materials management company. He’s been there since 2000.

Jan Wolf (MA 2002) works at the National Geographic Channel in Washington D.C.

Gerry Bakker (MA 2004) is Financial Analyst with USEPA Region 5, working on EPA’s Sustainable Water Infrastructure Initiative.

Carl Caneva (MA 2005) is Environmental Health Division Manager for the City of Evanston and teaches at Lake County College.

Miriam Micu (BA-G 2007) has worked in commercial and residential real estate since she graduated, and is now a broker, working from her home.

Joshua Marine (BA-G 2006) is GIS Coordinator for the Park District of Highland Park, IL.

GeographyJohn CisonBarbara GilliesPaulina HaraburdaSebastian KnapicMatthew MigonJamison MillerOrlando WestJeff EarnshawDaniel BaranskiLidia JoldesLeonard LawreckiKevin SullivanLakeshia WrightLouis DicrescenzoCornelius WilliamsJoel BobierIsiah DaltonGary EanesAndrew Michaels

Environmental StudiesNatalie DutackPrincess HarrisKristofer Kyrias-GannKelly LarsenBrain QuiggleEduardo TorresElizabeth FosterKimberly BlaszczakChristina GarayAmanda JohnsonShafi KhanEmily LakeSamantha SmithGayle TulipanoJennifer WyattRichard YoungsKatherine DarrGeorgia YeltonJessica Hamman

MAKevin DickChivia Horton

Congratulations to this year’s graduates


Stay in Touch with Us!

There are a number of ways you can keep up with G&ES, most recently a departmental facebook page (search for G&ES @ NEIU). When you graduate, please unsubscribe from the student email list and subscribe to the alumni email list on the departmental website (follow the link to Email Lists). That way you can stay updated with departmental news as well as career related announcements. The newsletter will be posted on the departmental website, if you would like a hard copy mailed, please contact the departmental secretary with your mailing address. To help us keep track of you, please update your career and contact information (if anything has changed) so that we can feature your achievements on the website and next year’s newsletter. If you find anything worth sharing with current students, please email (text only) to [email protected]. If you would like to offer guest lectures or teach a course, please contact the Chair. You are strongly urged to donate to the department, your contributions help to finance student travel to conferences and other career opportunities. We expect to implement another online alumni survey in the near future.

If you are a current student, and your advisor has not signed you up to the departmental mailing list, please sign up on the departmental website as “undergraduate” or “graduate” (follow the link to Email Lists). Also, pick up a copy of the student handbook – yellow for Undergrad, green for Grad. This indexed resource is full of information that will help you navigate the university and program. It is updated regularly, so every once in a while, get yourself another from the front office. To have one sent, contact the department secretary.

Northeastern Illinois University 5500 N. St. Louis Ave. Chicago, IL 60625

Phone: (773) 442-5640Fax: (773) 442-5650Email: [email protected]

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NEIU Hosts Illinois Geographical Society 2009 Annual Conference

The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies was the host of the 2009 Illinois Geographical Society Annual Meeting with faculty member Emily Good playing a key role in bringing the conference to NEIU and helping organize it. Approximately 100 people attended the two-day meeting which included an excellent field trip led by faculty members David Jones and Libby Hill. Based on the meeting’s theme, “A River Runs Through It,” geographers toured the Chicago Portage National Historic Site in Lyons, the Canal Origins Park and Riverwalk Gateway.

Three faculty members (Erick Howenstine, Abhijit Banerjee, and Monika Mihir) and seven students were among those participating in the paper and poster sessions held on campus. Students presenting research were: Paisly DiBianca, Lazar Ilic, Jamison Miller, Elias Quist, Nina Roberts, Christopher Tatchoum, and Georgia Yelton. G&ES senior Kate Ekman was one of the state-wide recipients of the Outstanding Senior in Geography student awards.

Documents

NEWSLETTER 2008-2009