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Welcome
to the UNO Department of Geography website and welcome back to UNO Geography
for the fall semester of 2008.
Also, welcome to the lowest geography department in the world! At a whopping 3 feet above sea level
we are in the alpine section of the New Orleans metro area, but we believe
there is no geography department in the world lower than are we. There are many new and exciting
changes taking place, the most important of which is our new assistant
professor Ziying Jiang, a brand new PhD from Clark University. Ziying is our new GIS specialist and
she comes to us at a most opportune time. The department has just relocated to
the third floor of Milneburg Hall (the old business administration building)
where we are sharing space with the other departments of the School of Urban
Planning and Regional Studies (anthropology is in the southeast corner and
urban planning occupies the east of the building). Along with the move come three new computer
labs, including one dedicated to GIS and remote sensing applications. Our
MA program is booming! Our
graduate student population will almost double this fall, partly because so
many have made the decision to move to New Orleans to take advantage of our
tremendous learning and research opportunities. After seven years as Chair, Peter
Yaukey decided to step down and I was selected as his replacement. One of the more practical changes is
that he is now the graduate coordinator (pyaukey@uno.edu). Our undergraduate program is strong
and is coordinated by Juana Ibáñez (jibanez@uno.edu). Juana also is our unofficial
voice. She regularly sends out
announcements of campus goings-on, department activities and news, and job
opportunities. If you would like
to be included on that list please email her and let her know (but be
prepared to hear from her often).
One of the emails she will send weekly will be an invitation to our
“Geography of Beer.”
Most weeks some of our faculty, students (both undergraduate and
graduate), and friends (especially a particular philosopher) get together and
sample beers from around the world and pontificate. Thus far we have solved none of the
world’s problems, but only because we keep our ideas to ourselves. Despite the “Beer” part of
“Geography of Beer” this is a family event as we always meet in
restaurants, or other venues, where other family members, even those under
18, may attend. To make it easier
for greater participation we move the meeting around both Orleans and
Jefferson parishes. If
you didn’t already know it, you are a geographer. Please come by and let me explain how
and why. We’re on the third
floor, in the northwest corner, of Milneburg Hall and we’d be happy to
spend some time converting you to a geographist. James
Lowry (jlowry@uno.edu or 504 280-3153))
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