Feature-Alumni

David Kimmett: Generations of Geography: Reflecting on a Legacy of Learning at CU GEOG

Anonymous — Wed, 15 May 2024 19:35:01 +0000

David Kimmett: Generations of Geography: Reflecting on a Legacy of Learning at CU GEOG Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/15/2024 - 13:35

My time wandering the halls and climbing the central staircase of Guggenheim really was a long time ago – Class of 1994?!? Heck, that’s pre-internet! However, it doesn’t feel like a galaxy far, far away…I learned so much about so many things in such a short-but-immensely influential epoch during my years at CU…and indubitably the best knowledge stemmed from The Best Building On Campus, The Simon Guggenheim Bvilding!  No doubt this present-day tangibility with my time at CU can partially be attributed to wandering through campus on occasion, as I both live and work nearby. However, the core reality is that my education at the University and in particular the pedagogy that sifted into my noggin during those Geography baccalaureate years represented a sea change in my understanding of the world and how to make one’s way through life with a more conscientious approach.  The multiple sparks of imparted knowledge stoked internal fires of curiosity, and if you walk over to the “trophy case” by the Geography Office, you can see some bloke with my name on the Albert W. Smith Scholarship for 1993-1994.

Since that time, I’ve been a high school social sciences teacher in Denver Public Schools; an AmeriCorps volunteer for a year in southern Georgia; a GIS analyst in Fremont County, babyֱ��app; and following a Master of Urban & Regional Planning (greatest degree acronym of all-time: MURP) degree from CU-Denver, fell into my current career a few years back as the manager of planning at Boulder’s JUWI Inc., a utility-scale solar energy facility development, engineering, and construction firm. Best job of all: dad to two kids, one who graduated from our wonderful archrival CSU with a zoology degree last weekend and the other…give it a minute! My wife and I have raised our kids mostly in the lovely burg of Longmont, along with a few chickens and goats.

Many a professor influenced my years in GEOG, though perhaps no one more than Brock Brown, who happened to provide an intro to the University during an orientation session for College of Arts & Sciences incoming Freshman in Chem 140, where among other things he spoke about The Big Picture Of Human Decision Making, focusing on America’s prolific focus on growing a plant that can’t be consumed – Kentucky bluegrass lawns – and the repercussions of that decision. That single orientation session cemented my already smoldering passion for All Things Geography into a flame that burns brightly today. Which brings me to…

A MOST IMPORTANT SIDEBAR:  my 18-year old son Quinn Kimmett is an incoming Freshman this Fall at CU and…drumroll…his major?  GEOGRAPHY!  I promise I didn’t force this upon him…must be something genetic or in the water!  I’m soooooo so so excited for him to enter the wide world that the CU Geography Department will open for him.

A special thanks to Morteza Karimzadeh who asked if I could write something for this newsletter! AND a well-earned KUDOS to all of the professors in GEOG who are crafting the next generation of critical thinkers, helping to establish a foothold of hope in a tumultuous world!

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Tai Koester: Building on Undergraduate Training to Lead Research in Political Ecology and Indigenous Geographies

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2024 00:51:53 +0000

Tai Koester: Building on Undergraduate Training to Lead Research in Political Ecology and Indigenous Geographies Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/08/2024 - 18:51

My name is Tai Koester. I am a human-environment geographer and former community organizer currently based in Tucson, Arizona. I graduated with a Bachelors from the Department of Geography at CU-Boulder in 2019.

I am a Masters student in the School of Geography, Development and Environment at the University of Arizona working with Dr. Andrew Curley. My research draws from political ecology and Indigenous geographies to study environmental politics in the US West and examines how the energy transition is shaping the political and babyֱ��app futures of Native Nations. My Masters research is focused on the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, a federally-recognized tribe, whose reservation is located in southeastern Montana. This is coal country, part of the Powder River Basin, the most productive coalfields in the US. The Northern Cheyenne Reservation is surrounded by large coal strip mines on three sides and is 20 miles from the Colstrip Generating Station, once one of the largest coal-fired power stations in the US. In this remote region, coal extraction represents a reliable source of income for tribal members. However, coal’s future is uncertain, and the Colstrip Generating Station has closed half of its units that produce electricity. Against this backdrop, the Tribe is exploring options for developing its own tribally-owned utility based on renewable energy production, which has the potential to reduce the Tribe’s dependence on external electricity providers (e.g. costs for heating in winter are extremely high) and could employ tribal members.

My research is grounded in qualitative methods involving interviews with tribal government officials, babyֱ��app development experts, coal miners and plant operators, and renewable energy developers, among others. These interviews are supplemented by participant observation at regional energy events and conferences focused on the energy transition. My preliminary findings suggest that the energy transition seems likely to reinforce existing inequalities. The same power companies that own coal infrastructure are developing renewables that will compete with the Tribe’s own ambitions. Furthermore, existing paternalistic bureaucracy that structures the relationship tribal nations have with the federal government presents roadblocks that make it very difficult to pursue babyֱ��app development in general. For example, the Northern Cheyenne must negotiate with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a federal agency, in addition to any energy developers before constructing solar on tribal trust lands, while private energy developers operating off-reservation face no comparable obstacles.

My research at Arizona builds off the research and experiences I had as an undergraduate in the Department of Geography at CU-Boulder. Under the guidance of Dr. Joe Bryan, I completed my honors thesis on the role of US public lands and historical mapping in the dispossession of Indigenous peoples, which together have gone on to shape the terrain upon which present-day Indigenous campaigns to protect southeast Utah’s Bears Ears region must struggle. This area was made famous in part by the Trump administration’s rollback of federal protections, centering on its status as a National Monument. Bears Ears, like all public lands, was mapped and managed to facilitate extraction and settlement at the direct expense of Indigenous people and the land itself, putting Indigenous claims of authority over the landscape at a significant disadvantage to the those made by white settlers and miners.

Moving forward, I hope to continue to pursue engaged research that examines the tangled legacies of colonialism and resource extraction on Native Nations in the US. I owe much of where I am to the babyֱ��app and peers I had at CU-Boulder.

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Hannah Escareno, now a geospatial Analyst, remembers her time at the Geography Department

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2024 00:35:52 +0000

Hannah Escareno, now a geospatial Analyst, remembers her time at the Geography Department Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/08/2024 - 18:35

My name is Hannah Escareno and I received my BA in Geography in 2023. Today, I am a geospatial analyst by profession, while in my free time, I’m an avid rock climber and violist with an affinity for crochet, analog photography, and poodles! Growing up, playing viola music by composers from around the world inspired a deep fascination for international cultures, while my love for animals led to a fascination with the environmental sciences. These are lifelong passions of mine and my college years were no different. However, it was not until it came time to take my gen-ed science courses and I discovered the Geography department at CU, that I realized I could combine these two passions into a degree.

I will always remember my time as a student in the geography department fondly. From playing GeoGuessr with the geography club, to late nights in the KESDA lab, and everything in between. Though the coronavirus pandemic changed my and my classmates’ college experiences completely and presented great challenges, overcoming these challenges was made possible with the support of the people that make this department what it is. Our babyֱ��app truly personifies the joy of learning and discovery. They say it takes a village and I’m lucky to have found mine in the community at CU Geography.

Following my graduation from CU Boulder, I completed a brief contract with the Macroecology Lab at the department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona in coalition with the Santa Fe Institute as an assistant researcher conducting dendrologic land surveying out of the Mountain Research Station in Nederland, babyֱ��app. The research conducted sought to advance towards a more predictive understanding of biodiversity and ecology by deepening our understanding of how organisms interact with each other and their environment. Today, I am a full-time geospatial analyst. In my day to day, I get to work with satellite data from all over the world to conduct imagery analysis and information extraction using GIS software. It is extremely fulfilling to see a culmination of my geography education come together as I launch my career as a young professional, and I am excited to see what the future has in store as I continue learning and growing as a geographer!

The accompanying 35mm photos are from the field!

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Ronald Cossman Obituary

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 16:48:24 +0000

Ronald Cossman Obituary Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/24/2024 - 09:48

Daily Memphian

Dr. Ronald (Ron) Edward Cossman (PhD, 2001), died on Saturday, October 14, 2023, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis after a two-and-half week battle against pneumonia (caused by COVID and a subsequent routine trip to the dentist), and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Ron's beloved wife, Dr. Shelley Keith, and mother-in-law, Sharon Rollow, were at his side when he died, where they had been supporting and advocating for him while he was in the ICU.

Ron was a deeply caring man who invested his time, energy and resources into those he loved. His kindhearted spirit and rich sense of humor (which often skewed on the dark side) shone through in every interaction.

He was born in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on September 13, 1955, the only child of Shirley and Harold (Hack) Edward Cossman. Ron got his adventurous spirit from his mother, Shirley Ann Barall. When he was young, Ron loved to surf and swim and take long walks on the beach with Shirley. As an adult, Ron and his mother enjoyed sharing "Shirley-tinis" and celebrating her milestone birthdays with extreme sports, such as skydiving, hot-air balloon rides, helicopter rides, race car driving, and ziplining. They also enjoyed trips to New York with his cousin BJ and Shelley to dine in fine restaurants and attend Broadway shows.

According to his friends, Ron was a joy to be around. He was a vibrant, energetic and adventurous man who exuded personality, loved to have fun, and embraced deep, meaningful conversations. He attended his first Burning Man in 2008, returning in 2010, 2013 and 2015. Ron was fascinated with this cultural phenomenon and felt deeply that it should be researched. He attended the TED Talks with the same enthusiasm as the scotch tasting camps, not to mention the art, the music and camaraderie.

Ron had a deep love of learning. After graduating from Nova High School, Ron attended the University of South Florida, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in mass communications and political science (it was a buy one, get one free deal, as he liked to joke). He was very proud of his time working on Robert Graham's gubernatorial campaign. It was during his first stint in college that he took a job as a concert photographer, combining his lifelong loves of photography and music.

Ron went back to school in the 1990s, first at the University of North Florida, where he earned a bachelor's degree in babyֱ��apps followed by a master's degree in demography and population studies at Florida State University (Go 'Noles!). He graduated with his doctorate in geography in 2001 from the University of babyֱ��app, Boulder, with his dissertation focusing on clusters of inequality in U.S. metropolitan areas. He served as a research professor at Mississippi State University from 2001 until he retired in 2022 as a Full Professor and was then granted Research Professor Emeritus. He was the president of the Southern Demographic Association in 2014. Ron secured over $4.2 million in research grants and contracts, providing much needed funds for major contributions in education, rural health and the wellbeing of children, among others.

Ron not only impacted his field but also cared about and enhanced the local community. As a member and president of Starkville in Motion, an advocacy group for sidewalks and bike lanes, he was instrumental in securing the funding for a beloved multi-use path in Starkville, MS. According to the mayor of Starkville, D. Lynn Spruill, the city had not yet fully embraced biking and walking as being important to the community when Ron began working on the project. His determination and dedication helped make the Lynn Lane bike path a reality and the citizens of Starkville continue to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Ron started dating the love of his life in 2013 where they bonded over an intense early boot camp class and living in babyֱ��app housing. Ron married Shelley on December 31, 2015, on the beach at St. George Island, Florida.

Ron and Shelley shared many adventures together - biking across Iowa (RAGBRAI); competing in the Savage Race 10k and many other running and obstacle course events; and training and competing in Taido, a Japanese martial art. A year ago, they started a new Taido club together at the University of Memphis, and Ron was training for his black belt test. He will be awarded a black belt on November 11, 2023, with two other students from Mississippi State University Taido.

Ron and Shelley loved traveling together. And as much as they both loved the beach, you would never find them lounging in a beach chair, although Ron would have loved to spend time getting a tan and catching up on all of his magazines. They swam with dolphins in Jamaica, traveled to Scotland to "reclaim Shelley's ancestral lands," as Ron liked to say, participated in a Taido competition in Japan, visited dear friends in Idaho and babyֱ��app on a trip to see Yellowstone, and viewed glaciers from a seaplane in Alaska. Ron enjoyed accompanying Shelley at conferences to LA and Seatle, mixing a love of learning and adventure. When not on adventures, Ron and Shelley enjoyed walking hand-in-hand around the neighborhood talking about research and the latest excitement in Shelley's job.

Ron is survived by his wife, Dr. Shelley Keith; mother, Shirley Ann Barall; uncle, Dr. Ronald Tice Spangler, Jr.; cousins, Barbara (BJ), Ben, and Langdon Moss; mother-in-law and father-in-law, Sharon and Dave Rollow; sister-in-law Melissa Norris, nephew Liam Norris, and nieces, Cassandra and Amelia Rose Norris; three sweet kitties, Gabrielle, Elsa and Anna; and many friends who love and miss him dearly. He was preceded in death by his father and stepfather, William (Bill) Barall.

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Brief Alumni Updates

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 19:38:19 +0000

Brief Alumni Updates Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/19/2023 - 12:38

As mentioned at the top of the newsletter, if you have any updates, please let us know using our alumni update form or send an email with your information to the department. We would love to hear from you about how your career has progressed since attending CU. The updates below came to us via the form.

Frederick (Rick) Bein, BA 1969

Completed the MA in Geography at the University of Florida 1971, Thesis: Geographic Shifts in Florida Citrus
PhD in Geography at the University of Florida 1974, Dissertation: Patterns of Pioneer Settlement in Southern Mato Grosso, two case studies.
1974-77 Visiting Professor of Geography University of Khartoum
1977-78 Visiting Professor of Geography University of North Dakota
1978-1996 Chair, Department of Geography, Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis
1996-1999 Research Professor, University of Technology, Lei, Papua New Guinea
1999-2016 Professor of Geography, Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis
2005-2006 Fulbright Professor, Universidade Eduardo Mondlani Maputo, Mozamibique
2011-2012 Visiting Professor Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
2016- present Professor Emeritus, Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis

The BA Degree at CU opened the door to an academic career in Geography. From 1964-66, I served in United States Peace Corps in Brazil. Agricultural extension in southern Mato Grosso. I've published 50 some articles and papers.

Donald Friend, MA 1988

I have not wavered from the theme of mountain geography garnered at Boulder. I am now Distinguished Professor of Geography at Minnesota State University. I served AY 2019-2020 as a National Academies Jefferson Science Fellow in the Office of Global Climate Change at USAID.

I am honored and inspired every day to continue on as a geographer serving as a University Professor.

Andrew Canales, BA 1999

My degree in Geography set the stage for a successful 20 year career at DigitalGlobe, now Maxar Technologies.

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Molly Guiney, MA 2021: Improving Stream Function and Watershed Health

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 17:17:21 +0000

Molly Guiney, MA 2021: Improving Stream Function and Watershed Health Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/19/2023 - 10:17

My name is Molly Guiney, and I graduated in 2021 with a master’s degree specializing in fluvial geomorphology. Advised by Dr. Katherine Lininger, I studied how landscape disturbances, such as floods and fires, can influence the deposition of wood onto floodplains in the babyֱ��app Front Range.

My time at CU Boulder was incredibly important in building what I call my “geomorphic toolkit,” and my experiences gave me the confidence to continue developing as a geomorphologist in babyֱ��app. After graduation, I began my own freelance consulting business to work for and with local consultants dedicated to improving stream function and watershed health. For the past two years, I have worked on a variety of projects on streams across the state, including the Yampa River (Steamboat Springs), Coal Creek (Crested Butte), and the babyֱ��app River (Grand Junction). Some of my most interesting projects have included mapping watersheds to identify hazardous areas that people may be unaware of, such as alluvial fans. Other projects assessed watersheds for their potential in reducing post-wildfire impacts on communities. One of my favorite tasks, however, was building imitation beaver dams (beaver dam analogs)!

Most recently, I bade babyֱ��app farewell and moved to Seattle, WA to work as a Fluvial Geomorphologist for Jacobs. In this role, I will be assessing streams for the purpose of improving salmon passage through bridge and culvert crossings, as well as working on stream restoration projects in the Pacific Northwest. I cannot wait!

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Lucy Citrine, BA 2021: From Fluvial Geomorphology Research to Mapping Underground Utilities

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 22:32:39 +0000

Lucy Citrine, BA 2021: From Fluvial Geomorphology Research to Mapping Underground Utilities Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/08/2023 - 15:32

Lucy Citrine

While at CU, I had the opportunity to work with the Fluvial Geomorphology Research Group. My work with the group started in the summer of 2021 in Capitol Reef National Park, where I assisted with research on the influences of hydrogeomorphic processes on floodplain dynamics and vegetation along the Fremont River corridor (channel and floodplain). The Fremont River is unique for how it was straightened by the Utah Department of Transportation for the construction of Utah State Route 24. The straightening of the river created a knickzone with a knickpoint (waterfall) in an area underlain with soft Navajo sandstone bedrock. The knickpoint has increased/amplified the rate of incision into the soft bedrock, thereby deepening the channel and altering flood inundation patterns.

We conducted topographic surveys, vegetation surveys, and calculated discharge at transects along the river corridor to evaluate how straightening the river impacted the riparian vegetation and river morphology. In the fall, I created 1D steady flow models using ArcGIS and HEC-RAS to analyze the topographic data collected from the summer. The flood inundation models were used to assess how channel morphology affects lateral hydraulic connectivity in the Fremont River corridor.

I have always had a deep interest in hydrology (specifically anthropogenic impacts) and topographic mapping. Through working with the Fluvial Geomorphology Research Group, I explored and strengthened these interests. In addition to learning new technical skills, I learned that I have a passion for surveying. Developing these skills while still an undergraduate student prepared me for the workforce and helped when looking at various career paths.

I currently work at Harris Kocher Smith in the subsurface utility engineering department where I create maps of underground utilities using AutoCAD Civil 3D, where I am able to apply the cartography and surveying skills that I acquired from my time at the geography department. 

The Fremont River the day after a flash flood.Surveying with the total station.

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David Kimmett, MA 1994

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 02:02:56 +0000

David Kimmett, MA 1994 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/07/2022 - 19:02

I've worked as a geography teacher in Denver Public Schools, a GIS Analyst with Fremont County CO, a development planner with a solar engineering & design firm in Boulder, and now am currently a Planner II with the Town of Lyons, CO. Lotsa geography afoot, certainly!

My CU Boulder undergrad degree paved the way for my wending career path, but moreover enlightened me to such a deep appreciation and comprehension of the complexities of this beautiful world.

Thanks so much to CU Boulder and CU Denver (Masters of Urban & Regional Planning, 2001) -- CU has been the educational rock upon which I've been able to stand, crafting a better person, and hopefully contributing something useful to the world!

Town of Lyons, CO

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Nick Lewis, MA 2018

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 20:23:14 +0000

Nick Lewis, MA 2018 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/07/2022 - 13:23

Remote Sensing instruments and maps

After completing my MA in Geography with Mark Serreze, I went on to teach Physical Geography and ultimately Remote Sensing & Advanced Remote Sensing at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 2018-2021. Since my retirement from the Army in 2021, my family and I moved to Charlottesville, VA where I am a Defense Contractor serving as the Product Owner for a Computer Vision (AI/ML) program automating object detection in satellite imagery.

My advanced degrees in Space Studies and Geography have provided a unique skill set as it relates to Remote Sensing. I'm well equipped to assist customers in resolving their intelligence and information requirements by refining their proposals to operate within the bounds of current satellite imaging capabilities and can advise my data science team regarding imagery exploitation toward AI/ML solutions.

There is tremendous opportunity for those with remote sensing competency/literacy, geospatial data fusion/visualization and data science leanings in the defense and intelligence communities. One of the most exciting aspects of what we are doing is that we have fully funded research endeavors that each have plans for operationalizing and integrating the capability. Our research and development create improvements and efficiencies toward advancing the field of computer vision and elevating our programs, algorithms, and understanding of computer vision model performance.

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Lucy Haggard, BA 2020

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 20:09:23 +0000

Lucy Haggard, BA 2020 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/07/2022 - 13:09

After graduating in May 2020 (class of COVID-19, woohoo! Just kidding...) it took me a while to figure out work. But two years later, I’m now in the second job where I’ve used my Geography skills in some form. For almost a year I worked at a local news outlet, where I got to do environmentally oriented stories on hellish wildfires, terrifying drought, recycling, and more. Now I’m working at a state conservation program, using my cartography skills in ArcGIS Pro and then traveling around the state to monitor key species, especially plants, on properties with voluntary conservation agreements. When I have free time, I volunteer with my county as an interpretive naturalist, helping people understand and connect with the local environment. It took two years and lots of turmoil, but I finally feel like I’m using what I learned in the Geography program to its full extent! My job is a seasonal position, so I know things will change soon enough, but I guess this is to say that the right circumstances to make the most of a college degree (and overall experience — I frequently use skills I practiced in my minor, as well) may fall into place when you’re least expecting it.

My current job feels like a fantastic continuation of my Geography knowledge and skills, but even when I haven’t done as directly geographic work, I still have found it immensely useful in understanding the world. The multiplicity of crises we’ve been dealing with — a public health pandemic, climate change, urbanization/development vs. land conservation, environmental justice — all of these and more were topics I learned about at CU, and that background knowledge has served me well as I watch them play out in real time.

I miss y’all over there! Though I joined the Geography program a bit late, it felt very welcoming, like an intellectual home, and I hope that has been a silver lining for the students who have continued through the pandemic.

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