UW-Eau Claire Geography and Anthropology 2020-2021 Newsletter

2020-2021

Spatial Connections

The Newsletter of the Department of Geography and Anthropology
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Geography and Anthropology Club (GAC) members maintain social distancing during a fall 2020 meeting (photo
by Ezra Zeitler).

Greetings From The Chair

Ezra Zeitler

Greetings Blugolds! The staff and faculty of the Department of Geography and
Anthropology extends our best to you and your loved ones as the world weathers the
COVID-19 pandemic. As you can imagine, higher education has changed quite a bit
ever since fall of 2019! Like so many K-12 schools and other universities, our 2020-
2021 academic year introduced new modes of instruction, advising, and
mentoring. It wasn’t easy, but we and our students persevered. Despite the limitations caused by the pandemic,
personal and collective accomplishments in the department continued to amass. Virtual labs provided 24-hour
access for our students to complete labs and projects, a limited number of field trips were conducted safely,
collaborative research between faculty and students continued, and conference presentations were delivered
remotely. The prospect of instructing in full classrooms and labs next fall is within reach, and we look forward to
thriving together in that environment once again.
As the pandemic lingers, it has been recommended that we check in with those we care for and to rebuild bonds
that have remained unattended. This newsletter – the first in more than a decade – is an attempt to do just that,
and it would not have been possible without Yvonne Plomedahl and Makayla Jones-Klausing (’21), who
diligently solicited and edited updates from alumni and department personnel over the last six months to
produce this remarkable collection of stories and celebration of student achievements. I extend my heartfelt
thanks to them as well as to alumni who heeded the call to contribute. I hope you enjoy learning what we’re up
to and are as proud of all that has been accomplished as a collective group as I am. If you wish to contribute to
next year’s newsletter, please contact Yvonne ([email protected]) or myself ([email protected]).

Table of Contents 2

Alumni Maps 3
Alumni Spotlight 6
Faculty and Staff News 28
Fun Faculty Statistics 41
Emeritus News 42
Internship Spotlight 42
Department of Geography and Anthropology 2020-2021 Student Awards 43
Awards From Conferences and the University 44
CERCA Presentations 2020 and 2021 45
Geography and Anthropology Club (GAC) 47
Scholarship Awards 48
Capstone Research Projects 49
Geography and Anthropology Field Trips 51
Graduation - Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 54
Graduation - Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 54
About the Creators of the Newsletter 55
Donations 56

Contact us:
Department of Geography and Anthropology

Phillips Science Hall 257
Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004

715-836-3244
[email protected] or

[email protected]

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Alumni Maps

Map #1 - Upper Midwest Level

This choropleth map uses the Natural Breaks distribution method to show
the concentration distribution of Geography and Anthropology alumni
across the upper Midwest. Higher densities of alumni can be seen in the
metropolitan area of the Twin Cities, MN, as well as in the neighboring
counties leading back to Eau Claire, WI.

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Map #2 - National Level
As seen in the map below, UWEC Geography and Anthropology alumni
are located all over the contiguous U.S. and U.S. territories. There is a
higher concentration located in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the
northeastern corner of Illinois, as well as along the West Coast, East
Coast, and Florida. Each alumnus is represented by the Firefly Style
inspired by John Nelson from Esri.

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Map #3 - International Level

Alumni of the Geography and Anthropology Department can be found all
over the world. By using the Watercolor Style inspired by John Nelson at
Esri, the countries and territories where alumni are currently located are
isolated by purple watercolor. Alumni are located on almost every
continent across the world, utilizing their skills learned here in our
department.

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Alumni Spotlight

PHIL LARSON
'08, Geospatial Analysis and Technology,
CM

I am an associate professor of Geography, Director of
Earth Science Programs, and Co-Director and
founder of the EARTH Systems Laboratory at
Minnesota State University in Mankato, MN. I’m also
graduate faculty and a member of the Earth Surface
research group at the University of Minnesota in the
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. In
these positions, I teach and advise graduate and
undergraduate students who are interested in
Physical Geography, Geology, and Earth Science. I
also conduct research in my area of expertise –
geomorphology and earth surface processes. Much of
my research focuses on the landscape evolution of
drainage basins in arid environments and within the
recently (geologically speaking) deglaciated upper Midwest USA. I’ve also found myself very much interested in a new
thread of research in geoarcheology in the upper Midwest USA, too. In much of the research in the upper Midwest, I am
happy to say that I still work closely, as I did years ago as a student, with UWEC Geography and Anthropology faculty –
Dr. Faulkner, Dr. Running, and Dr. Jol!

In my personal life, I have a partner, a 2-year-old boy named Logan, and a dog named Zion. We live in Mankato, MN, and
spend as much time as possible hiking and playing outside. We also like to travel, particularly to the incredible landscapes
of the western USA and the north shore of Lake Superior (when not in a pandemic). For more information on my work:
https://mavdisk.mnsu.edu/dj1515bb/geomorph/index.html

ETHAN SAILER-HAUGLAND

'20, Environmental, Geography, CM

During the first two-and-a-half years of college, I never was satisfied with my chemistry major. I wanted to pursue
something that was beyond the lab. Geography was a good mix of the humanities and physical sciences and I haven’t
regretted the decision to switch my major to Environmental Geography. Since graduation I have worked as a sous chef at
the restaurant Brider in Denver. I help prep food for the line cooks and also prepare food for patrons. My geography
degree has helped me in my pursuit of a data science certificate. It gave me a solid base in starting to learn coding. I enjoy
my job, although I would like a career in GIS which I am actively pursuing.

COVID-19 has definitely presented a lot of unforeseen obstacles in the past year. Lots of plans changed, and it has made
the job hunt a little more tricky. This next year I am excited to see the world start to open back up when it is safe. I look
forward to being able to travel once again and hopefully I am able to land a job in my desired field. Over quarantine I have
really gotten into trail running and painting. Additionally, I have had more time to spend on my favorite hobby, rock
climbing. Exercise has been a great way to clear my head and manage stress levels during these unprecedented times.

I have a family dog that I believe was featured on the UWEC website! Unfortunately, she is back in Minnesota, although I
would love to rescue a dog of my own. I would love to travel to New Zealand. It has been on the top of my bucket list for
many years now.

DREW SCHUCHARDT

'20, Geospatial Analysis and Technology, CM

Before I found Geospatial Analysis and Tech, I had bounced around a handful of different majors and didn’t see any of
them as a great fit for me. Once I heard about that major and how new it is with emerging tech, I took some courses and I

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really enjoyed it. From the professors and faculty to the quality of the classes and
range of topics covered, it's truly an all encompassing major which is an idea that
really drew me towards it. I worked for a little bit as a geospatial analyst at
Continental Mapping Consultants. As an analyst, you work with ArcMap a ton,
identifying and mapping mostly utility, transportation, and hydro networks.

The courses I took in the geography program at UWEC have helped a ton in my
work at Continental. Everything from learning about ArcMap and similar programs
to best practices in map making and even trouble shooting being able to solve
small computer problems without having to put a ticket into it is an underrated
skill to say the least. It has been a definite challenge since graduating last May. I
still remember having to leave Eau Claire to come home and finish school online.
The job market is slow to say the least, but all signs show things should be picking
back up as vaccines are rolling out and people are getting back to some type of
normalcy.

ZACHARY NEMETH

'16, Environmental, Geography, CM

I have been a GIS Specialist and a Geospatial Data and Mapping Specialist since I graduated. I work at Equix Companies as
a Geospatial Data and Mapping Specialist. I perform data analysis in part of bidding on projects across the US, create and
maintain multiple ArcGIS online applications, dashboards and maps and perform mapping of utilities via multiple
methods. I enjoy every aspect of my job, from field work, to travel and office work. I have different objectives daily which
lead to interesting work days.

I became an Environmental Geography major because of my interest
in all things spatial, being outside, and working with technology.
Geography courses have taught me to think outside the box and
utilize spatial analysis to solve various problems in the engineering,
survey and GIS industries. Working closely with utility companies and
being involved with major energy projects across the US has not
slowed work during these interesting times, but it is being performed
a little bit differently. Instead of traveling as much, more virtual
meetings have begun to happen and remote work is becoming more
popular. I am excited to see what new technologies 2021 has to offer
to increase productivity, safety, and satisfaction of my daily work.

My hobbies include UAS flights/photography, fishing and hunting, and I have one German Wire Haired Pointer dog. I
would love to go back to the Island of Hawaii. I was there a few years ago on a work trip for a few weeks and I’d love to go
back and visit on a vacation.

KATIE GRONG

'21, Environmental, Geography, CM

I had a difficult time deciding on what I wanted to major in my freshman year because I was interested in so many things.
Geography allowed me the freedom to pursue all my broad interests as well as challenged me to develop new skills and
think critically. The versatility of the geography education and opportunity to expose myself to such diverse experiences
is what ultimately led me to become an environmental geography major. The broad nature of my geography education
has prepared me well to work in many environments and with people across disciplines. My geography courses provided
me with a solid background in physical and cultural geography, as well as developed my writing, technical, and
communication skills in a way that will allow me to pursue my interests in a career in any environment.

I am currently greatly enjoying being able to continue working on research and developing my skills in preparation for
grad school at Missouri State University where I will start working on my masters in Geography and Geology in the fall.
The biggest change to my work life in the last year has been learning how to learn in a different, virtual, way. Figuring out
how to navigate online classes, conference presentations, and connecting with peers helped me to shift my learning and
working style to adapt to these unprecedented times.

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SYLER BEHRENS

'16, Liberal Arts, Geography

I graduated from UWEC in 2016 with a double major in Biology and Geography. My primary undergraduate research was
working with Dr. Cyril Wilson using remote sensing to monitor water quality in the Mississippi River Delta. After
graduating I moved to Eugene, Oregon where I attended graduate school at the University of Oregon. My thesis again
focused on remote sensing techniques, this time applied to aquatic ecosystems with Dr. Mark Fonstad. After graduating
with my MS in Geography, I cast a wide net and ended up working with a small environmental consulting firm in Olympia,
Washington as an Environmental Biologist. While that work was interesting and I learned a lot of unique skills, I missed
geography. I missed being able to discuss and incorporate that spatial component in biology which was hard to ignore
after my time at UWEC. I began to look for a geography-focused position and was fortunate enough to get a job

with the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. I currently work as a Cartographer in
the Habitat Program. Most of my work is focused on the High Resolution Change
Detection (HRCD) Project as a part of the Landscape Spatial Analytics section. If you
want to learn more about the HRCD project, visit: hrcd-wdfw.hub.arcgis.com/. This
position is truly a dream job bringing together my love for managing open source data
and implementing environmental monitoring.

My time with the UWEC Geography Department was invaluable and I cannot thank
my professors, especially my primary advisor Dr. Wilson, enough for helping me
become the geographer I am today. The continued support and recommendations
provided by professors like Dr. Wilson have been instrumental in identifying and
taking advantage of opportunities even after graduation and for that I will always be
give any advice to aspiring geographtehrasn, iktfwulo. uIfldI cboeutldo not be afraid to go to professors and pitch a research topic or
express interest in a particular subject. I still think back to the day I met with Dr. Wilson and discussed my final project for
the Introduction to Remote Sensing course and how I would like to conduct research under his guidance. Now, it's hard to
imagine how different my career might have been had I not taken that first step because it led me down an incredible path.
Even if it's daunting or makes you nervous, don't be afraid to take those chances to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Apply for the job you aren't sure you're perfect for, reach out to grad schools you're not sure you can get into, because you
never know until you try!

KENZ HENDRICKSON

'20, Environmental, Geography, CM

I was a closet geographer long before I knew I was. I took GEOG 104 freshman year and fell in love. It was like I had
already had all of the puzzle pieces and they finally all fit together, and I graduated with a Comprehensive Environmental
Geography major and a Spanish minor.

I am currently working as an Environmental Assistant at a metal recycling facility in Hugo, MN. I am the company's
contact for MPCA (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency). I monitor the Industrial Stormwater at the facility and am in
charge of sending the samples for testing as well as the results to MPCA. I also perform miscellaneous tasks to fill up any
extra time that I have. I learned about the impact of waste on the environment in various courses at UWEC. It is very
interesting to see how that waste is handled in person while also understanding the impact. I love my job. I get to use both
my major and minor. I have a lot of co-workers who are native Spanish speakers, and I am the geography/sustainability
expert here. It is truly fascinating to see recycling in person. It also makes an impact environmentally, so it is quite
fulfilling. Since I started my new job I will be getting health insurance soon! Health insurance is definitely an adult thing to
be excited about.

I love to go agate hunting in my free time. I have also taken up roller skating recently (but I am not very good). I have a cat
named Lorenzo and a Boston terrier named Stella. If I could choose a place to travel to right now, I would re-take a road
trip that I took a few years ago. I drove from Minnesota through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, Oregon,
Washington, B.C., Alberta, Idaho, Montana. and back. I would camp every night and enjoy the National Parks and Forests
along the way.

MATTHEW BRUESKE 9

'16, Environmental, Geography, CM

I took some introductory courses my freshman year. They were very intriguing to me. After discussions with other
professors, I better understood how geography affects everyday life and the real world applications outside of a
classroom. Right after graduation, I started with East View Geospatial as an Operations and Customer Service Specialist.
After two years in that role, I was then the Operations and Sales Manager for East View Geospatial and East View
Maplink. Currently, I'm working for Core Resources Inc, makers of Gamehide hunting clothing. I am in the sales and
marketing department, with a focus on our e-commerce platforms. Geography courses helped me greatly while I was with
East View Geospatial. While I wasn't working directly with geospatial data, I was helping customers who purchased our
data. It gave me the knowledge and skills to answer any questions they had. Now with Core Resources, I use the Adobe
Suite on a daily basis. The same tools I used to edit a map in Adobe Illustrator are helping me create marketing materials
in my current role. The company is smaller, which has offered the opportunity to make an impact in a short amount of
time. My wife and I are expecting our first child in May. We are both looking forward to being parents this year! We have
one dog (mini goldendoodle) and one cat. My main hobby is hunting. Fortunately it was an activity that I could continue
during quarantine. In the future, I would like to travel to Alaska. The mountains and abundance of wildlife are intriguing.
A few of my family members have been there and only have great stories about their travels.

SAMUEL SCHNEIDER

'19, Geospatial Analysis and Technology, CM

Paul Kaldjian’s Geog 111 (Human Geography) got me interested in geography, and then I met with Joe and Christina
Hupy and we talked about drones, GIS, remote sensing, and how that all ties in together to impact/aid almost any field. I
have been a Mapping and Spatial Data Specialist and am currently an Application Developer at Michels Corporation. I am
tasked with creating Python scripts/geoprocessing tools for the reduction of repetitive tasks, enabling operations
employees in collecting project specific data via ESRI Web Applications/Field Apps, creating GIS web map/web
applications from many different data types (CAD, KMZs, PDFs, etc.) for the use of reference and project controls.
Besides the obvious technical skills I gained in GIS/Remote Sensing/etc. Field Methods with Michael Bergervoet was
instrumental in helping me refine my previously gained skills in data collection, data application, and choosing what
collection method/field tool to use in any situation. in that course, I also gained the technical writing experience and the
ability to further communicate what I was doing and why I chose to do it this way to someone who struggles to
understand. I also gained valuable skills in my independent research classes with Harry Jol and Cyril Wilson. Working
independently with no real deadlines and learning on my own helped shape the way I work and further my knowledge
today. My research with both Harry and Cyril gave me invaluable skills in presenting and displaying my work/value to
others, especially those outside of my field. I like to go out and hike, fish, and travel. During quarantine I explored the
Horicon Marsh area as well as Lake Winnebago areas. I would really love to travel to Turkey or Kosovo or Denmark and
would love to go back to Scotland or Switzerland/France.

SHANNON ROSE
'18, Liberal Arts, Geography

I graduated from UWEC in May 2018 with a double major in Biology and Geography, minor in Environmental Science, and
a GIS Certificate. Following graduation I moved to Massachusetts to work at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst as
a Research Fellow in the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory. While in this position I worked on developing
classification algorithms for active remote sensing cropland detection and coauthored several published academic
papers. While living on the East Coast I loved traveling and did my first solo camping trip to Acadia National Park and
hiked the tallest mountain in New York, Mount Marcy. After two years working at UMass, I wanted to incorporate my
biology background by using GIS for ecological applications.
I am currently working as a Biological Science Technician for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service at the regional office in Bloomington, MN. I work with a small
group of cartographers within the Realty Department on a project to map
protected wetlands on historical easement land acquisitions. I really enjoy the
aspect of public service and environmental protection within my current
position. I am currently working from home with my co-worker Milo, the tabby
cat, and will be working from home until the fall. I am enjoying living closer to
family this past year since moving back to the Midwest. I spend my weekends
hiking, camping, and am currently training for my first half-marathon.

JOSIE MYERS 10

'20, Liberal Arts, Geography

An interest in environmental studies brought me to the Geography Department as a
first-year student, but once I found out how broad of a topic geography can be, I
realized that it fit my varied interests really well, also the cliche love of maps as a kid.
I majored in Geography and and minored in Environment, Society, and Culture, with a
GIS-Mapping certificate. Currently I am a first-year master's student at Kent State
University in the Geography Department. So far, my research is focusing on
community geography, walkability, and participatory mapping. My Graduate
Assistantship is in the Kent State Map Library, where I'm a community cartographer,
and help out other university departments and community organizations with GIS
and mapping needs. I enjoy learning, so I am glad I found a program that is a really
good fit for my interests. I also really enjoy my work in the Kent State Map Library, as
I am able to help out smaller and grassroots community organizations by providing
GIS and mapping knowledge to work together and create neat stuff. The huge

breadth of courses that were available to take in the Geography Department at UWEC helped me to develop a really
diverse skill set. The work I'm doing at Kent State is a direct result of all of the geospatial and mapping classes that I was
able to take at UWEC. The pandemic affected me in both negative and positive ways. The constant anxiety that comes
with pandemic-life and upsetting news has been really taxing, especially after moving across the country for grad school
alone, but I am also grateful that shutdowns and things this summer let me spend unexpected time at home with my
family before moving to Ohio. I also really appreciate how accessible different conferences and workshops have become,
as I have been able to attend a few different programs virtually that I would not have been able to if I had needed to
travel to conferences to attend. I am really excited to start fieldwork for my thesis research later this year, but first I have
a summer job with the National Parks Service in Ohio to look forward to! I enjoy cooking, being outdoors, and different
crafts--I have had some great opportunities for biking and hiking because I live so close to Cuyahoga Valley National Park
now, and I also was able to pick up some crafting hobbies during quarantine that I used to do when I was younger but
didn't have time for during my undergrad. I've finished 5 different quilts since lockdown started last March! I
rediscovered my love for the cold this winter and would love to travel to the Arctic Circle for more temperate summers
and endless sunshine! Big thanks to the UWEC Geography & Anthropology Department for the strong foundation you all
provide! I am incredibly grateful and proud to be able to call myself a UWEC Geography alum.

LAUREL HANSON HODKIEWICZ

'13, International, Geography, CM

I took a Human Geography class the second semester of my freshman year and became interested in learning more about
the interconnections of our world and viewing those connections through a geographical lens. I kept taking Geography
courses and declared a Geography major my sophomore year after learning more about GIS. I have been at Xcel Energy
since I began as an intern a year before I graduated. I was hired on full time as an Associate Geospatial Analyst upon
graduation. Since that time, I have moved to Geospatial Analyst and most recently Senior Geospatial Analyst. I enjoy my
job and the always changing challenges. I have been leading the GIS support for our Wind Energy build out and it has been
gratifying to be working directly in renewable energy. The knowledge I gained in GIS I and II were critical in my ability to
conduct siting analysis, database maintenance, and the basic functions of my job. In those classes I was also introduced to
resources to help find answers for questions I had on my own, and this has led me to build on my GIS skills since college.
My geography courses helped to develop my world view and to understand demographics, culture, and the impacts those
items can have on our society at large.

My hobbies have changed significantly since the pandemic began as travel and trying new restaurants hasn’t been a
possibility! I have taken up gardening during the pandemic, and I have also started to enjoy longs walks outside with my
dog. I enjoy reading; typically I read non-fiction, but like to change it up with a sappy romantic novel every once in a while.
I also enjoy going to my family’s cabin, boating, and listening to live music. Hopefully, that will be possible again soon. I
would go anywhere right now! Travel hasn’t been possible because of the pandemic. This has been challenging as it is
something I love to do and many of my family’s travel plans have been put on hold. One place I have always wanted to go
back to is New York. I went as part of Dr. Weichelt’s travel seminar in college and it was an incredible experience. I can’t
wait to go back and take in all of the sites and atmosphere again.

SAMUEL KRUEGER 11

'12, Environmental, Geography, CM

I was not very good at chemistry, business, or math, and I really gravitated towards
the Geography Department because of the curiosity, creativity, and analytical
thinking that it fostered. I had never heard of GIS at the time, and I was super
intrigued about the variety of problems that could be solved using this software as a
tool. The geography professors were also some of the most down-to-earth people
I've met, they really made my time at UWEC memorable. I loved the sense of family,
with everyone hanging around the GIS labs working through problems together.

I still keep in touch with a lot of geography colleagues I graduated with. I have held
various positions over the past few years: GIS Specialist, Civiltech Engineering,
Chicago, IL (2013); GIS Specialist, Fishing Hot Spots/Fishidy, Madison (2015), User
Experience Designer, Boberdoo LLC, Middleton, (2018); and currently, I'm a User

Experience Designer at Epic Systems in Verona, WI. Epic is an electronic healthcare record company. I'm part of a design
team that helps build digital experiences and tools for our clinicians so they can provide the best care possible for their
patient populations. I still use Adobe products daily. A big part of my job involves interviewing clinicians to better
understand what their current workflow pain points are so we can design a better workflow that will allow them to
accomplish their goals with efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction. Although I've pivoted slightly from GIS and
Cartography, the skills I picked up along the way have been immensely helpful, and I enjoy my job. Geography has allowed
me to think at a macro level. I frequently get tunnel vision on projects. The classes and coursework I took have definitely
helped prepare me on how to think big, think differently, and make sure to always approach a problem with a sense of
curiosity and creativity. My fiancé Brittani and I bought a house last June, so I've spent most of my quarantine on YouTube
learning how to use a hammer to fix things. My fiancé has an 8-year-old daughter that keeps us fairly busy. I really want to
go to the UK and Europe to travel to a few countries and catch some soccer games along the way.

CATHI (JONES) WININGS

'98, Resource Management, Geography, CM

I grew up in New Richmond and headed to UWEC in 1993. I started as a psychology major, but during my sophomore year
I took Dr. Bouchard’s Conservation of the Environment class and changed majors by the end of the semester. I loved
everything about geography--the classes, the faculty and staff, the students--finally I found a place where I fit in! I have
very fond memories of late nights in the GIS lab, California and New York seminar classes with Brady, and Geography
Club meetings where we had “soup and slide slideshows.” I graduated in 1998 with a B.S. in Geography, emphasis Natural
Resource Management, and a psychology minor.

After graduation I travelled to North Cascades National Park in Washington State,
where I started as a Student Conservation Association Resource Assistant. I fell in love
with the mountains and wilderness and ended up working there for 15 years, doing an
assortment of natural resource management work that ranged from invasive plant
control (i.e., pulling weeds!), to GIS for fire incidents, to coordinating planning and
environmental compliance with federal and state environmental laws and regulations
and NPS policies. In 2007 I got married, and after five years of only seeing each other
on the weekends, I decided it was time to give island living a try while I finished my
master’s degree in geography. I left my job and joined my husband on a remote island
in the San Juan Islands where he works. I finished my degree, just in time to have our
first daughter. Then, before our son was born, we decided to move to a more
populated island where the kids could go to school and I could find work again.
Today I’m a natural resource planner with the San Juan Islands Conservation
District. I’ve gone from managing vast tracks of federally protected lands where grizzly bears have enough room to roam,
to helping local farmers and forest owners implement conservation practices on their comparatively tiny parcels. I don’t
think there is any way that I could have successfully competed for the jobs that I have held without having my geography
degrees. The key skills that have proven most useful throughout my career have been my GIS and technical writing skills.
Thank you to the entire Geography Department for a wonderful experience! I miss everyone and hope we can someday
have a reunion!

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NATHAN SCHAFFER

'15, Liberal Arts, Geography

While I am originally a Minnesota boy (Go Twins!), I mostly grew up right in
good ol’ Eau Claire. My collegiate journey to a geography major began in a
cultural geography course taught by the prodigious Dr. Paul Kaldjian. It
became clear to me that I enjoyed thinking about problems spatially and the
way his teaching challenged my thoughts and stimulated my curiosity about
various subjects. I wanted to find a second major that was something I clearly
enjoyed and also would allow me to apply to another major to give me a
different edge when entering the workforce. After doing a bit of studying, I
could see how a major in geography would complement my economics major.
Looking back, I couldn’t be happier with the decision. I loved both of my
majors at UW-Eau Claire. But the Geography Department became “my
people”. Almost all of my close relationships are with professors and students
from the department. And, I am forever grateful they made a place for a
weird, awkward, intense guy with almost no awareness of social cues. The
people I met and grew to love were accepting and welcoming and grounded
me throughout my time on campus. I have held various positions since I
graduated: Manager, Venue Operations – Houston Marathon Committee (3
years) and Senior Manager, Elite Athlete Program & Race Operations –
Houston Marathon Committee (2 years). Since graduation, I have begun a career in the road running industry working
for the Houston Marathon Committee in Texas. We are a nonprofit organization who host the largest annual single-
day sporting event in Houston--producing a 30,000+ person road-racing event weekend (marathon, half marathon
and 5K). My responsibilities include:
·Negotiating and developing contracts with agents to sign elite athletes to compete in our events
·Overseeing all elite athlete hospitality including air travel, accommodations, on-site transportation, and meals
·Consulting with road racing governing bodies such as USA Track & Field, World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping
Agency to ensure competition rules and standards are implemented and achieved
·Coordinating with production and media teams to ensure elite athletes are in the right place at the right time for tv
interviews, media appearances, etc.
·Designing and managing elite athlete operations including athlete check-in, elite fluids, drug testing, uniform check,
and pre-race warm-ups
·Plan and manage all Start and Finish Line operations including designing start line corrals, planning for tv production,
incorporating medical support and security, and engineering for optimal participant flows, ingress and egress
First, I would not have the job I do now without Dr. Sean Hartnett inviting me to attend the Chicago Marathon with
him and experience a world-class road race. His connections and experience opened doors for me in a very small,
tight-knit industry. Second, ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR people: I design countless event maps for various stakeholder
groups and developing experience and skill with Adobe Illustrator has been invaluable. It is a powerful tool to learn
and will open doors for you when you have internships as well as help you when you reach full-time employment.
Third, when planning a single-day event with 30,000+ runners and 100,000+ spectators, spatial awareness is critical
and place-making is important to creating an optimal event experience. Both of these concepts were engrained in
geography courses at UWEC and inform how I try to design spaces and plan for people to experience them. By
combining both the engineering nuts and bolts as I think about space and focusing on building places that have
meaning and help create memories for those utilizing them, I believe I am incorporating some of the crucial elements
of geography to enhance our events. Lastly, much of what I learned from Dr. Ezra Zeitler in GEOG 200 about
communicating the correct information based on your audience informs every version of the countless maps I design
for our event site. Some are meant to communicate specifically to runners, others are for spectators trying to find out
where to meet their runners, others are for your operations teams, and each one needs a different focus, scale, and
details based on the different audience. The last thing in the world I wanted after graduation is to end up working for
some big corporation where my work didn’t feel like it mattered in the grand scheme of things. Working for a small
non-profit with 12 full-time employees allows me to feel like I am making a difference. It was also important for me to
care about the work I am doing. This job allows me to be involved with the sport I love year-round and to work with
the leaders and influencers in road racing.

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Our office has been working from home since last March. And, as an extreme introvert, working in the 4th largest city in
the U.S., I have to say, I LOVE IT (in terms of my daily schedule). That being said, it was necessary for the health and safety
of our community to cancel our January 2021 event. This was very difficult for our entire team and so many others. The
entire year leading up to our cancellation meant trying to design an entirely different event focused on social distancing
which was a major challenge since our entire event deals with large numbers of people in public spaces, many of them
sweating, and breathing hard, and compromising their immune systems by running up to 26.2 miles. We have had to work
closely with medical professionals, government officials, and crowd scientists to design new spaces and procedures while
still respecting our space and time limitations. And, the subsequent lost revenue once we had to cancel continues to
reverberate as we begin planning for 2022. (Photo: At 2019 New York Marathon - With 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathoner
and 2018 Boston Marathon Champion Des Linden)

It will be thrilling to actually be planning for an in-person event in January of 2022! As race organizers and event
planners, we live off of the joy of having runners experience our race, and we have missed them desperately. So many
sweaty hugs and tears are shared with people at our race, and provided it is safe to do so, those moments will mean even
more this year. As you may have guessed, I am rather fond of distance running. And it was my absolute ‘go-to’ de-stresser
during quarantine. I am a night owl, so I was able to run late when no one was around. Without running I would have been
an absolute mess.

While I am not normally a beach vacation kind of person, the island of Corsica has been on my mind lately. And, if I could
go anywhere, that’s what I would choose. Oregon has a special place in my heart after going there on a GEOG 368 trip
with Ezra Zeitler. I have gone back three times since graduation and each time I stay one day longer. Eventually, I will just
not come back and stay there forever. Hint: Go on a GEOG 368 trip at least once (go more than once if you can). Travel as
much as possible and take advantage of these opportunities almost no one else has access to!

JOE LITCHFIELD

'04, Resource Management, Geography, CM

I live in Middleton Wisconsin, with my wife (Lila), 2 sons (Conner 5, Grant 2),
and Pug (Bailey 7), and am a part owner of HazardHub with Brady Foust,
John Siegman, Bob Frady, and Mike Jolitz (also alumni).

I am a 16-year veteran of the Geospatial Risk Solution Industry--my flagship
expertise focuses on fire protection class, sinkhole susceptibility, advanced
wildfire, flood, distance to coast, and client centric custom data solutions. I
am a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Geography Program,
which paved the way for my time at Ayres Associates, Proxix Solutions, First
American, CoreLogic, and MG&E - where I made my pivot to Chief Data
Officer at HazardHub. I create GIS solutions that give answers to clients
allowing them to make smarter business decisions.

JACKSON BECKER 14

'14, Environmental, Geography, CM

I switched from physics to geography because I discovered I was much more interested in geomorphology than I was in
circuits. I became an Environmental Comprehensive Geography major. Since graduation, I have been working in the
recycling field in the Twin Cities Metro Region. I'm currently the Recycling Coordinator for the cities of Apple Valley,
Burnsville, Eagan, and Lakeville, MN, where I manage recycling at municipal buildings, parks, and events; work with
multifamily properties to improve recycling for their residents; and educate the general public on recycling and waste
reduction. My education in geography gave me a better understanding and appreciation for the interconnectivity of
natural resources, energy, and waste, and how they impact the environment. Also, I have found a way to incorporate GIS
into some of my projects, such as mapping recycling infrastructure at municipal public spaces, or creating a map for
residents to use when looking to dispose of bulky items. I definitely enjoy my job. I have come to really enjoy the recycling
field, although I would love to dip my toes into other aspects of sustainability (i.e. renewable energy infrastructure,
community gardens, electric fleets) as I progress in my career.

When the pandemic started, I went from five days a week in the office to five days at
home. Since last July, we adjusted it to three days at home, two in the office, which has
worked great. Besides the pandemic shutting down almost all of our community events, it
has not really affected my duties otherwise. My wife is applying to grad school for Genetic
Counseling this year. I'm excited for her, and because it's a match program, there's a good
chance we'll have to move out of state for whichever school she gets matched with. It'll be
a new adventure, but we're looking forward to it. I keep busy with tennis year-round, and
golf, softball, and backpacking when the seasons permit. (I make short geomorph videos
for my family wherever I go hiking.) I also play guitar, read, and write. I actually finished my
first novel last year after three years of writing and am in the process of pitching it to
literary agents for publication. Here's hoping! I have two cats, Llewyn and Gilly, whom I
would lay down my life for.
My wife and I were planning to honeymoon in Scotland and the Faroe Islands before the pandemic hit, so that's still on
top of my list. I'd also like to make a stop in Iceland, the geomorphologist's dream. (Picture: my wife and I at
Halloween, featuring me as The World's Chillest Wannabe Astronaut.) I think about my geography classmates and
professors often, and I'm so thankful for my experience at UWEC. You all are the best.

TAYLOR TREMAIN

'19, Environmental, Geography, CM

I was interested in environmental science and working in that field but wanted something more specific than a major in
environmental science when I was in school. Since graduating I got a job as a GIS Analyst for Ricondo & Associates, Inc.
(aviation consulting firm). Since getting hired at that company I have moved into an airport planner role. I currently am an
airport planner and GIS analyst for Ricondo. Duties include conducting analyses and developing client deliverables to
depict the results (maps, graphics, etc.) using AutoCAD and ArcGIS; airfield planning--taxiway/taxi lane design, gate
redevelopment, etc.; taxi flow analyses; compiling and developing data for clients developing an AGIS (airport GIS)
program. I enjoy my job though I’d like to move more into environmental planning and sustainability. My GIS courses and
certificate gave me a springboard into getting my job. However, Geography gave me a great background to move into a
planning position without really knowing I was moving into a planning position. I think the most valuable part of my
degree is the versatility--especially this last year. I’ve been working remotely for the last year as a result of COVID-19.
The pandemic also greatly affected airports which caused a significant decrease in workload. To keep myself valuable to
the company and avoid being laid off I sought out different work on teams that needed help which prompted my move
into airport planning. I also learned AutoCAD through colleagues to broaden my skills I’m able to provide to the company.
I’m currently looking for a new job and I’m excited at that prospect. I’m also looking forward for things to start opening up
a little more so I can use the hot tub and sauna at my apartment complex. It’s the little things. I moved at the start of 2021
to Portland, OR with my partner. One good thing out of the pandemic is working remotely which made it possible to move
and keep my job. I enjoy generally being outside (hiking, roller blading, etc.), cooking, paint by numbers because I can’t
free paint, writing, and exploring new things. To de-stress during quarantine, I would go roller blading for 30 minutes
during my lunch break every day and go for about an hour on the weekends. Eventually, I would like to go to Peru. My
partner and I had plans to go in summer of 2020 before he started grad school which were obviously cancelled due to
COVID-19. I’m dying to get back to South America.

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MICHAEL BOMBER

'16, Environmental, Geography, CM

I grew up in the Eagan MN, area until 7th grade when we moved to Eau Claire, where I lived until I completed my
undergrad at UWEC. I wanted to be outside doing active research, not sitting behind a desk. My initial contact was Dr.
Garry Running who got me interested in the Physical Geography aspect. This later led to research with Dr. Joseph Hupy
using Unmanned Aerial Systems or drones to observe and capture elements/features of physical geography and analyze
them through remote sensing and GIS techniques. Several other faculty and staff at that time helped me discover my
interests in many aspects of Geography and helped me make the most of my time there. Environmental Geography was
my major with a certificate in Geospatial Remote Sensing.

After I graduated from UWEC in 2016 I went on to get a Master of Science degree in Geography from Michigan State
University. While I was a student there, I was also serving as a teaching assistant for some of the undergraduate GIS
courses. As soon as I completed my Masters in 2018, I began working for NTP Powerline now Menet Aero, a Milwaukee
WI based company. We build tethered drone systems for military and commercial applications. I began as a technician
assembling drones and tether systems. Now I setup the flight control systems, assemble the aircraft, and work as part of
the design/test team for new products. I love my job. It is not a typical job for a geography major, but without the
knowledge and experience I gained at UWEC and MSU in that discipline I would not have this job.

Research related to my geography courses has helped me the most in my career. Building drones for data acquisition and
understanding how that process works as well as immersion in various new and upcoming technologies related to GPS
and navigation led to my current career path. Much of the course material and requirements at UWEC Geography
required large amounts of time and patience. My career is similar, requiring a high level of time management skills and
patience to be successful. From a customer support aspect, I have used my GIS and Remote Sensing knowledge to aid and
advise customers, allowing them to accomplish the various tasks our products are used for.

In the upcoming year, I am looking forward to hopefully interacting face to face with friends, family, and the many
colleagues I have met over the years through my education and personal life. My hobby lately is remodeling our house,
and I also enjoy camping, hiking, traveling, and being outdoors. Working on our house is relaxing to me, but I also did a lot
more cooking. Perhaps in the future I would like to go somewhere tropical and just sit on the beach under a palm tree. I
would love to go back to Colorado and see the Rocky Mountains. Yellowstone is another place I’d love to see again as
well. I would like to thank all the faculty and staff at UWEC Geography for the great experiences I had. My time there has
positively impacted my life in many ways and given me many lifelong friends and colleagues.

NICOLE MARCOU

'18, Environmental, Geography, CM

I started working as a contractor for CenterPoint Energy as one of their GIS Technicians
right after graduating in December of 2018. Recently, I started a new position in November
of 2020 as an EHS Specialist for Pace Analytical, working on-site at 3M supporting R&D
divisions. I am really enjoying this new position so far. I am fairly certain that my research
experience and involvement with the geography program were large factors in being hired
for both positions. I could not recommend student-faculty research enough! On a personal
note, I got engaged in 2019 and will be getting married in October of this year. Also, my
fiancé and I bought our first home this past August in River Falls and adopted two kittens.

AUSTIN RAMCHECK

'19, Geospatial Analysis and Technology, CM

Geography 135 was the course I took that led me to becoming a Geography major. I am currently a Geospatial Analyst for
a company called ManTech. My geography courses have helped my career by giving me the right experience I need in
certain programs that are used throughout the GIS industry. I have been working remotely since I started.

I am most excited for the summer and fall months to be able to get outside more and enjoy the weather. I love to go
golfing in my free time; and I have two dogs, Bronco and Jett. I just recently visited Nashville, Tennessee and would love
to go back there.

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ANNA KHAN

'19, Environmental, Geography, CM

My friend recommended taking a class in Geography because they thought I would like it. I took a couple GE's but did not
find it overly interesting enough to commit. I was going to drop out of college after my sophomore year if I did not declare
so I signed up for an immersion program to waste some more money prior to. Ended up going on an immersion trip to
Ecuador during the winter. I went with a geography professor, faculty member, and students, who were almost all juniors
and seniors in the Geography Program. Hanging out with older people in the program gave me more of an understanding
of Geography and the people were really inviting and chill to hang out with. I also found a large interest in the
Human/Environment based on Geology/ Geomorphology from the mountains and waterways as well as indigenous
culture/diaspora within the country. I use a lot of GIS at my city job. Human/Environmental Geography has helped me a
ton in work environments with understanding people and impacts that we have on each other. Especially from a
supervisor standpoint I think having these courses have helped me a lot. A good chunk of the geography courses I took
were technology based so my thought process is mostly geographical which has really helped me in my problem-solving
skills that can be applied into other fields. I worked for the City of Marshfield as a GIS intern during the summer after
graduation (2019). Then I took a gap year volunteering with AmeriCorps through FEMA on natural disasters. Currently, I
am going back to school for Engineering while working at a grocery store on the weekends and an LTE GIS Technician for
the City of Sun Prairie (WI) Wastewater Treatment Plant during the weekdays. At my GIS job I perform projects/duties
based on what the Director of the Wastewater Treatment Plant and the GIS Administrator for the city wants/needs.

My current large projects are focused around creating and maintaining utility data within an Enterprise Geodatabase,
digitizing in new data/GPS'ing points, and getting attributes, i.e. pipe size, length, etc., and also creating ESRI derivatives
like web apps/maps, dashboards, and story maps for asset management and public awareness as well as schema
conversions of other software used to survey these utilities to transfer into GIS. I am continuously communicating with
multiple people in the city and outside entities, i.e. contractors, to provide our data for surveying, construction, and other
projects in whatever medium GIS is needed. I get to learn new things every day. A lot of the GIS work I do for utilities is
understanding them first and how they are constructed and THEN creating/updating their data or web maps/dashboards
to be used by people who know the utilities, not GIS. So I get to learn about construction and utilities and solve the
problem of how we fit GIS into the picture.
I go hiking a lot and take photos of whatever I think is cool. During the first couple months of quarantine, I cleaned
out/got rid of all my childhood belongings at my parent’s house. I also researched/cooked a larger array of ethnic food
since travel was restricted.

Geography is my undergraduate degree and
therefore my foundation, it helped me
realize a lot of things as a human being that
no other degree would have. With that I am
now able to build on the foundation
structures it can hold. So basically,
Geography helped me a lot in understanding
the world and myself better. And now I am
going back to school because I figured out
what really interests me.

I think a lot of people have the impression of Secondary/Final Clarifier at a Wastewater treatment plant used to remove
going to school and figuring out what you fats, oils, grease on the wastewater surface and more dense particulates on
want to do with your life immediately. That the bottom are sucked into a pipe to a below tank to be recycled throughout
is almost NEVER the case, going to college is the plant for agricultural fertilizer. Most wastewater plants have these as a
also getting to know yourself better as an physical process towards the end of their chemical/biological wastewater
individual. How you learn, cope with stress, process.
etc. on top of having fun being independent.
So do not get distracted by feeling like you
have to be on the same track as everyone
from high school, college, or any part of
YOUR life.

DAKOTA DORN 17

'15, Environmental, Geography, CM

I decided to become an Environmental Geography major when I took a Physical Geography course my freshman year with
Dr. Faulkner for a lab section. After graduation I worked as a GIS Civil Tech in Monona, and a Parks and Forestry
Assistant in Fitchburg (both in Wisconsin). My current position is an Engineering Tech/GIS Specialist in Fitchburg for the
Administration of City’s Enterprise GIS System, co-manage the solid waste/recycling program, co-manage the erosion
control and stormwater management program, Construction Inspection. My physical geography courses have allowed me
to see the world differently when I am out in the field. I am in the Environmental Engineering division, so stormwater is a

major part of my job. Topography and the environment impact stormwater greatly so
having a better understanding of our physical environment, and water’s effect on it, have
greatly helped to improve my field presence. I also would not be in my position today if it
was not for the vast number of technical geospatial courses that I was able to take.
Having and maintaining an accurate and expansive GIS system allows for better
management and maintenance of City infrastructure, which in turn makes better use of
taxpayer’s dollars and staff time. This job allows me lots of versatility in my work, and my
work environment. My field work allows me to connect with the areas and features that I
am creating and managing digitally. I also enjoy implementing efficiencies and
streamlining processes through GIS. My co-workers are pretty cool, too.

I will be finishing up my Advanced GIS Certificate at UW-Madison in May, so I will
be looking forward to no more homework. My main hobbies are trail running and cycling. I also enjoy playing video games
and reading. I have two orange and white cats named Fennel and Fig. We also got a quarantine puppy. He is a rescue from
Alabama and his name is Bowie. He turns one in April. Bowie frequently joins me on runs and bike rides, but we have
some work to do on his endurance! Throughout COVID, my wife and I have been dreaming of going back to Galway,
Ireland, which is where we went on our honeymoon in 2019, specifically, the Spanish Tapas restaurant Cava Bodega!

ANNE AARONSON

'87, Liberal Arts, Geography Cultural Minor

I was a French minor but that was not working out for various reasons, so in my junior year, I
decided to switch to Geography. My roommate was a Geography major, and I have always
been interested in Geography. She loved her classes, so I took some and also loved them.
After graduating, I took night classes in Cartography at Glassboro State College (now Rowan
University) and went to graduate school at Rutgers University toward a degree in Urban
Planning and Public Policy, but the commute from work was almost two hours each direction
and some of the required courses were only offered during the day. One of my professors
thought I would do well in law school. I took the LSAT and went to law school at Rutgers
School of Law in Camden, New Jersey, at night while I worked during the day. It reduced my
commute by over an hour.

When I first graduated, I worked for the court system in New Jersey in various capacities
dealing with Juvenile Probation, Domestic Violence and Child Abuse and Neglect. I then worked intake for the New
Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services while going to law school. After law school, I clerked for the Appellate
Division in New Jersey and for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. Since then, I have been
in private practice, first for a large, national law firm based in Philadelphia and, since 2008, for a mid-size, regional law
firm in Philadelphia. My practice is largely corporate bankruptcy law, and I represent nonprofit and for-profit companies
as debtors in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. I also represent creditors in consumer and commercial bankruptcy cases
around the country. My geography classes helped me in Real Property and similar classes in law school. Almost none of
my classmates had taken geography classes during their undergraduate studies, so I had a real advantage in the law
school classes involving real property issues. My geography classes have also helped me in several of my bankruptcy and
litigation cases. I have had several cases involving property boundaries, particularly waterfront properties where the
mean high-water mark has come into play, obviously metes and bounds, and other geographical terms that I learned in my
geography courses. My geography background was a great help as many of my colleagues in my cases were not familiar
with the concepts.

Since the pandemic began, I have been largely working from home, but going to the office one day each week to water 18

plants for those in our firm with office plants and printing/scanning/etc. work that is more conveniently done in the

office. It is strange to see very little activity in center city Philadelphia, which is usually bustling with activity. Hearings,

depositions, settlement conferences, and other proceedings are conducted via Zoom, Teams, or conference call, which

has worked fine, but cases have moved more slowly as a result of logistical issues that would be more easily handled with

in-person proceedings. Our children’s school has been hybrid for most of the pandemic. Our younger son graduated from

8th grade last year via Zoom and the school mailed his diploma to our house which was a bit lackluster but kept everyone

safe. Our older son is a senior this year, so the college selection process, taking standardized tests, and normal high

school activities, like internships, prom, etc. have not been held. Their sports teams have played, with masks and social

distancing, as best as possible, this year--baseball and basketball. No spectators were allowed until recently, but we were

able to watch on You Tube or via Twitter. Getting in front of college coaches was difficult and largely remotely

accomplished due to NCAA regulations. When we had to drive a distance and stay in a hotel for a tournament or baseball

showcase, I was always armed with plenty of Lysol and Clorox wipes to disinfect every touchable surface before anyone

entered the hotel room. My sons now say that the smell of Lysol is their least favorite smell in the world. My older son will

be pitching for the University of Rochester in the fall and majoring in Biomedical Engineering.

The inability to travel or take a vacation is probably the most regrettable aspect of the pandemic at this point, but as
things open up, we are definitely looking forward to getting back to taking a vacation soon. While we have not gone out in
public more than is necessary (though it is hard to keep teenagers in, so they have had friends over and have gone to
friends’ houses and various other places with masks/hand sanitizer). We have continued family traditions for holidays,
birthdays, and other events as normal--but taking precautions due to the virus. My parents said that they wanted to see
everyone and be a family for whatever time they have left rather than being alone and missing family milestones for their
remaining time. I was never so happy as to have spent last July 4th at my parents’ house, with pictures and all, given my
dad’s passing a few weeks later. Fortunately, since the pandemic began, nobody in my immediate or extended family has
gotten the virus despite some of my siblings being healthcare providers, teachers, and other essential workers who have
gone to work throughout the pandemic. All in all, the past year has been challenging but very productive. Nevertheless,
nothing will be better than getting things back to normal as soon as possible.

GALEN KEILY

'15, International, Geography, CM

I was doing web and IT work for the University, but also wanted to have a real-world component, so GIS was the perfect
marriage of the two! Right out of college, I got an internship with the Student Conservation Association (SCA). This
Americorps funded position had me working with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in a few locations across
California doing GIS, field data collection, and report writing. What a fantastic resource that got me into the conservation
field! After SCA, I was hired by VESTRA Resources, a GIS Consulting firm in Redding, CA. I worked there for 4+ years and
learned a TON about the industry. I had diverse projects such as: implementing data collection platforms for post-
wildfire remediation efforts, Python scripting for GIS data QA/QC, 3D soils data visualizations, good-old-fashioned
feature editing, web map/app creation, and much more! While living here, I have become an avid hiker and
outdoorsperson. There's so much amazing topography, diversity of ecosystems, and opportunity for recreation out here.
In 2019, I left VESTRA for a partial thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). This 2,650 mile trail goes from Mexico
to Canada through some of the most amazing landscapes of the
west coast, so I was naturally enamored with it. Experiencing
living on the trail for several months was a profoundly unique
experience. I hiked about 1,000 miles over the course of those
months! Needless to say, I was super excited to be hired by the
Pacific Crest Trail Association in January of 2021 as their first
ever GIS Specialist! Though it is still pretty fresh, I have been
able to work on a number of interesting projects in getting trail
information (in the form of maps/apps) into the hands of trail
users, developing PCTA datasets, and doing some strategic
planning. In short, the geography courses I have taken have
helped a lot in my career. I have often thought back to Professor

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Weichelt urging us to resist being "GIS monkeys" by having a solid foundation in geographic concepts, research methods,
and geographic thinking. Being well rounded in those areas is something that can set graduates apart from other
candidates for jobs, grad schools, etc. When I was hired by VESTRA for GIS Consulting, the president said he knew that
UWEC was a great school, and that he was looking for someone with more than just a certificate or an associate degree in
GIS. Oh, and the blogs they had us doing came in handy, both for showing off to potential employers, and for
remembering how I did something in my classes!!

For me, a good job is one that you get some sense of fulfilment and accomplishment from and allows you to have a good
work/life balance. My jobs in GIS have afforded me these things for the most part. I have found fulfilment most readily
now that I'm working in the land management/conservation sphere on PCT related topics that I care a lot about. This is
often an underrated component of job satisfaction, I think.

I am excited for this upcoming year because I think I am going to get paid to hike a bit, doing some inventory work for the
BLM portions of the PCT, primarily in Southern Oregon. I am pretty involved in hiking and backpacking during the
summer. Probably the best de-stressing event during the heart of the pandemic involved me getting out to a remote
trailhead and doing a solo backpacking trip up to some beautiful peaks in the Trinity Alps in Northern CA. Also, I am a
musician and can often be seen (or heard?) playing guitar or drums at my house. If I could choose anywhere in the world
to travel right now, I have always wanted to travel to Latin America. I want to experience travel in this hemisphere where
I can also use my Spanish language skills. Also, I give a shoutout to Professor DeGrave's fantastic Geography of Latin
America class!

Random thought--mental wellness, pursuing passions, and living wholeheartedly can HELP you on your career path.
Sometimes emphasis is not only put on working super hard to produce results and meet deadlines but trying to be your
best self can also make your work more meaningful and sustainable.

NIKLAS ANDERSON

'16, Environmental, Geography, CM

I grew up in Poplar Grove, Illinois, but spent much of my childhood in the Chippewa
Valley Area. I made the switch from Political Science to an Environmental Geography
major and a Geospatial Certificate with an Emphasis in GIS when I took Joe Hupy's
Conservation of the Environment course; I thought I would be happier and I already had
a passion for conservation and maps.

I started out as the GIS Specialist for the Ho-Chunk Nation in Black River Falls, WI.
While in that position I created the first professional tribal UAS Program in the state
and I am now the UAS Program Administrator. I administer all UAS projects, conduct
geospatial analysis, and assist in various projects that involve land administration,
community development, emergency response, and now COVID-19 mitigation. I could
not be happier with my education and how prepared I was to enter the geospatial
profession. I only wish I could have taken more geography courses. I love my job and I

could not ask to be in a better career/industry. I golfed during the beginning of the pandemic. It was an excellent way to
stay in shape and still keep your distance from others, plus, my golf shots usually take me where no one else is… I have a
Chocolate Labrador Retriever named Riggs. He was a COVID dog and has been the highlight of this last year for me.

I would really love to travel to Greece, something about that Csa climate just really attracts me along with the history
and culture. Otherwise, I would go back to Hawaii and retrace the steps of my GEOG 368 Field Seminar with Doug. For
everyone out there that is going through a rough time right now, (whether it's from COVID, or your job/career, or just life
in general) remember that you have a network of colleagues, friends, and peers that are there to help you through it all.
Many people in our community or industry are experiencing similar obstacles, and the best thing you can do to help
yourself is reach out to someone, even if it is just to vent or ask advice. You may think your degree or education was the
most important thing you took away from your collegiate career, but really it was the opportunity to network and grow
relationships with your colleagues. Whether they are professors or former classmates, your network is your best
resource to get you through any obstacle.

20

MATTHEW MANGIN

'19, Liberal Arts, Geography

I have always been geographically inclined and when I was looking at what to go to school for, I liked what geography was
all about and the potential opportunities it provided. I have served with three Corps, Excelsior Conservation Corps,
Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps, and now Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa. At my current position, I
work with a crew to perform a variety of conservation projects. This includes prescribed burning, chain sawing, invasive
removal, recreation infrastructure maintenance. For example, recently I got to work with goats being used to control
invasives and for prairie restoration on Tribal land on Prairie Island as I was there gridling Norwegian Elm.

When working in the field on conservation projects, it helps to know how to read and manipulate maps. Also, the
knowledge I learned in physical geography classes is really helpful and cool to have when working with soils and
landscapes. Fellow corps members have been very captivated when I flex my knowledge about barns and silos that I
learned from Ezra in Geography of Wisconsin. I guess it’s that eccentric geographer energy? Corps life is not easy or
profitable, but it is the great people that you work with and meaningful service done that make it. It also brings me daily
to the great outdoors, though! There are a whole lot of worse things than AmeriCorps. If you want to travel, see things,
meet cool people, learn through great and unique experiences, build character, and procrastinate while finalizing what
you want to do with the rest of your life, AmeriCorps’ diverse variety of programs might be for you. Cemetery restoration
is a skill I picked up in Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps and decided to do in my free time with my SO who
is super into it as it is meaningful and a good reason to get outside. Professionally, I have helped restore Ely Cemetery
and Old Frontenac Cemetery, and, as a hobby, I have done work on some forgotten pioneer cemeteries in Crawford
County, WI, and St. Patrick’s Irish Catholic Cemetery in Maple Grove, WI.

TYLER DEBRUIN

'12, Liberal Arts, Geography

Since I was in high school I always loved geography and maps in general. When I was in
college I actually started off as an environmental biology major. During a grant funded
research project when I was solely an environmental biology major, I had to learn how to
use a Trimble unit for mapping fish habitat. While learning about the Trimble unit and GIS in
general, I knew geography was something I was extremely passionate about. I decided to
add a Geography major.

After graduation I had two LTE positions with Brown County and the Town of Greenville as
a GIS Technician. After that, I worked 6 years at East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning

Commission in their GIS and Planning Departments. For the past 2 years I have worked for the Town of Grand Chute as a
GIS Utility Technician. I primarily create maps and mapping applications for the town’s public works and community
development departments. During a typical day I will work on new mapping applications with ArcGIS Online, Collector,
Survey123, and Quick Capture. We also have ArcGIS Server at the town, so a lot of my duties include updating server
data with asbuilts, plats, and CSM’s. I also do quite a bit of field work during the summer months, especially when it
comes to stormwater mapping/planning. I LOVE my job. I actually built a home in the Town of Grand Chute before I
started my career with them. Being able to use my expertise and something I am passionate about to make my community
a better place is an extremely rewarding feeling.

My geography classes at UWEC have helped me out immensely in my career. There are subject
topics I have learned during my GIS and Remote Sensing classes that I still use to this day. Being
able to utilize a wide variety of geography classes at UWEC has definitely made me a well-
rounded professional. Like many others, COVID has definitely thrown a curveball for me
professionally. At the beginning of the pandemic when things were more unknown, I shifted my
focus to emergency response mapping and at-risk population mapping. From there, it was
adjusting to working remotely for approximately 5 months. Working with programs that require
high CPU usage and internet speeds definitely slowed work down initially. Luckily, I was able to
pivot for most of our remote working time to catch up on additional fieldwork. I am most excited
for things to start opening back up! My wife and I recently received our first round of vaccine, so
we are already planning our first date nights back out in public. Professionally, I am looking
forward to hopefully having conferences back in person so I can catch up with

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colleagues. My wife and I recently bought land in Door County, so a lot of my time is spent working on the land to
eventually build an Airbnb/cabin. One unique hobby I have is underwater spear fishing for panfish where it is legal in
Wisconsin. During quarantine I was able to still participate in my volleyball leagues, so that was my mini escape to de-
stress. My wife and I were able to go to Hawaii two years ago with my mom and stepdad, so I would definitely love to go
back there. We stayed on Maui and Kauai for a week each and it was one of the best vacations we have been on. I also had
a vacation planned to Las Vegas with some college friends we had to cancel because of COVID, so I would love to go back
there right now if everything is opened back up fully.

LOGAN BERGEVIN

'19, Environmental, Geography, CM

A passion for understanding how our physical environments was formed and a desire to explore how spatial contexts
shape human interactions led me to become a geography major. Currently I am a Transportation Analyst Intern at
Hennepin County. At my job I use spatial data pertaining to roadways, pedestrians, and public transit to inform decisions
on future transportation projects. I also create maps to inform county residents and government employees about the
location of upcoming transportation developments. My job is ever changing, and there is a nice mix between in-office and
field work. The geography courses I took at Eau Claire have provided me a diverse skill set. Some of these skills which I
use in my daily career include geospatial analysis, critical reading and writing skills, ability to infer information based on
satellite imagery, and of course being able to communicate effectively with other stakeholders. My hobbies include
playing hockey, cross country skiing, cooking, running, camping, hiking, and traveling. During quarantine I would say just
getting outside as much as I could was my biggest way to de-stress.

HUNTER WOOD

'19, Environmental, Geography, CM

I started at UWEC as an ecology and environmental biology major, was not really working out after
the first year, and my advisor at the time recommended me to the Geography Department and I
enjoyed that department a lot more. Right after graduation I moved to Hurrican, Utah, and worked
for American Conservation Corp (AmeriCorps). During this time, I primarily worked on saw crews,
removing hazard trees, thinning fire susceptible areas, and trail maintenance. I also got to do a few
invasive species projects as well as trail building all over Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. After my 6
months there, I moved to Winter Park, Colorado and worked on grounds crews, mostly removing
snow and snowboarding in my off time. After that, I moved to Washington state to work on a fish
and wildlife service wildland fire crew. There I worked on a type 3 wildland fire engine as a
seasonal, fighting fire all over Washington, Idaho, and Oregon as well as performing prescribed
burns when the weather allows. Currently I am still working for the Fish and Wildlife Service but I
am in the panhandle of Florida working for Eglin Air Force base. The base is the largest in the

country and we manage 500,000 acres of it with a target of 100,000 acres burned a season.
Here the primary focus is prescribed burning to avoid large fires on the firing ranges across the
base. We do have wildland fire here as well but they are just not as large and threatening as
they are out west. Since my time here I have burned in other areas such as Tyndal AFB (Panama
City), NASA/Spacex (Cape Canaveral), and Moody AFB (Valdosta, GA). I am currently working
as a firefighter type 1 trainee, and a FAL2 (intermediate sawyer). Also, a lot of GIS goes into
prescribed burning, so I have been assisting in map making. I love my job! It keeps me healthy
and I get to see a lot of cool places and meet some amazing people. A lot of what I have learned
at UWEC has come up in the fire world. Weather is a huge component in the everyday life of a
firefighter. Also, being on the frontline consequences of wildland/urban interface interacting
is something that came up in many classes. And GIS is huge out here and there are not
enough people to fill the jobs. I like having a boots on-the-ground type of job now, but in

the future, GIS would be a great thing to move into and stay in fire. Honestly my work has not been majorly affected, we've had a
few COVID close calls, but we are able to keep the ball rolling if everyone is following protocol. I will be moving back to
Washington state in May of 2021, and I can’t wait to be back with my crew out there working on larger incidents! I do a lot of
fishing, camping, riding my motorcycle, and visiting the state/national parks of the surrounding area. There are so many more jobs
that we can take as geographers than I ever imagined. You may have to start by doing the grunt work, but our major is very
versatile!

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ANDREW MOEN

'18, Liberal Arts, Geography

I fell into becoming a geography major after deciding I didn’t want to be a Social Studies
teacher. I was already taking geography classes to fulfill that requirement, and I loved every
geography class I had taken, so it seemed like a natural transition to drop the Education
major, and switch to geography. The geography courses that I have taken have given me a leg
up in the GIS world. I was an intern for a telecommunications company in Sioux Falls, SD, for
a summer in 2019, and since November 2019 I have been a Geospatial Analyst I for
Continental Mapping in Sun Prairie, WI. My job varies from project to project, but since
December I have been creating aeronautical charts for the military. Continental Mapping
hires a lot of recent grads who have never taken a GIS. Since I took a lot of GIS classes, it put
me at an advantage right from the get-go.

I love the current project I’m working on, and I never expected to be making maps for
the military. I find it rewarding, because our company is making a product that fighter
jets use, so we really have to be accurate and detailed in what we’re mapping.
Sometimes the deadlines can get overwhelming, but that’s to be expected. My
girlfriend (Allison Bolin, another Eau Claire geographer!) and I are hoping for a move
out west sometime later this year, when our lease is up! We are also planning a
camping trip in the Boundary Waters for late June! I got into cross country skiing this
past winter, which has been a great way to survive the pandemic winter. Now that the
snow has melted, I have been getting back into running and biking. Allison and I
adopted a kitten named Willy (he’s climbing our Christmas tree in the picture). If I could
take three months off, I would do a road trip around the United States.

EMILY MOOTHART

'16, Environmental, Geography, CM

I graduated from UWEC in Environmental Geography and a Geospatial Certificate in 2016 and was very involved in GAC
and around the department! After graduating, I moved to Boston for my Master’s in Environmental Science at the
University of Massachusetts-Boston where I worked on assessing the role of open spaces in mitigating the impacts of sea
level rise and flooding.

For a little work background, I am currently a senior analyst at an environmental consulting company called the Cadmus
Group. I spend most of my time on federal contracts for EPA’s Office of Water where I work on developing online
interactive maps and tools for building resiliency for water utilities (you can take a peek here if you are interested
(https://www.epa.gov/crwud ). I also process national datasets for a watershed prioritization tool
(https://www.epa.gov/rps) and have written EPA guidance for watershed protection related topics. Outside of EPA work,
I have developed prioritization for EV charging station locations and have provided maps for USAID biodiversity
assessments in Latin America and Africa. All in all, consulting can be a lot of work, but I find it incredibly cool to support
environmental work for a national/international audience. I feel really fortunate that I’ve been able to integrate so much
of my work from my undergrad and grad degrees. For example, I am our go-to gal for all things GIS and Story Mapping,
and I can fully attribute my time in Eau Claire to that. I have also been working on integrating environmental justice into
decision-making/prioritization and much of that knowledge base stemmed from human geography courses and focus on
the connections between humans and the environment.

Enough about school and work though--one of the weirdest ways I’ve spent my time during the pandemic has been
watching the live Decorah, Iowa Bald Eagle Cam on YouTube. Last spring/summer I watched the process from egg to
chick to fledgling over the course of a few months and the new chicks for this year have just hatched! I also love canning
veggies and fruits, hiking/backpacking, paddling, taking landscape photos, tending campfires, making sourdough bread,
and going to live music shows (maybe again someday!). Out here I live with my partner, Tim Condon, who also graduated
from the department in 2015. We hit it off at an AAG conference, and we have been together ever since . We live with
our cat, Dori, who has been a key source of entertainment over the past year as we’re both still working from home. She is
skilled at destroying all board game set-ups and will find every crumb she can get her paws on.

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BRITTANY RICKEY

'19, Environmental, Geography, CM

I was taking Geography 135: Intro to Geospatial Analysis as a
general education credit halfway through my sophomore year while
I was still a math major. I really liked this course and was interested
in the content that the instructor was teaching. I then met up with
the instructor near the end of the semester and ended up changing
my major. When I first graduated, I had an internship with the
Bureau of Land Management-Southern California Desert District.
My job was working on a conservation crew where we worked on
different restoration projects and also invasive species mapping.
Now I work for Rusk County in Ladysmith, WI, where I am a GIS Technician. My job includes maintaining the county
parcel map along with all spatial data associated with each parcel, i.e. permits, zoning, utilities, etc. I also assign rural
addresses, maintain all of the county's survey records, and maintain spatial data for emergency services. Many of the
geography courses I took integrated ArcGIS into them which has been beneficial. Every day I use ArcMap and/or ArcGIS
Online to maintain and edit data. I would not have gotten this position and would not be able to function in this job if I
was not familiar with Arc. Many courses also showed me how to collect my own data through different GPS methods. I
also use ArcCollector regularly to GPS address points, roadways, and ATV/snowmobile trails. My current job isn’t too
bad. The people that I work with are great and the environment is welcoming and low stress. I am not a huge fan of sitting
at a desk all day, but at least I am lucky enough to have a job so I can’t complain. If there was anything I wish I would have
learned while I was still in school, it would be more about surveying and reading legal descriptions. Even in the Field
Methods course we didn’t ever go over understanding the basics of surveying, how to breakdown or read section, town,
and range, or how to read survey maps. I think an introduction to AutoCAD would also be nice to have integrated into
coursework, as it seems to be an expected skill to many employers.

A month or so after I graduated in December of 2019, I began my
internship in California. The internship was intended to run from
February to August 2020 but was unexpectedly cut short. In
early March we were working in remote areas of California and
were told we could continue on with our projects as COVID
began to spread across the US. A few weeks later the
government shut down all in-person projects including field
crews. We waited to hear if we were going to be able to resume
work, but ultimately the remainder of the internship was
canceled and we were sent home. Once I got home it was difficult for me to find a job as most employers were beginning
to lay people off instead of hiring. I was pretty discouraged and upset about how the events in my life were unfolding.
After about two months of job searching, applying, and interviewing, I was lucky enough to find a job in my area and field.
Once I started working again, I began to feel better, because I was able to get out of the house and have some social
interaction again. It has been a rough year but I’m feeling much more hopeful now that things are starting to look
“normal” again. I am so excited for all of the live music and music festivals that will hopefully be resuming this year. If
anyone is interested, Snoop Dogg will be at Rock Fest in Cadott this summer. I have been going on many mini trips to
things around the state that I have always wanted to see, such as different hikes, caves, trails, and other roadside
oddities. I have always wanted to go to Mexico City during the Day of the Dead celebration. Too bad it isn’t November.

SCOTT GODFREY

'92, Land Use, Geography

My major was Geography with a Land Use emphasis, and my minor was Sociology. I chose Geography because of my
interest in places, local and beyond, and how they impact and are impacted by people. As I took additional courses, my
interest grew. I ended up getting the Asst. Zoning Administrator position for Iowa County, WI, shortly after my
graduation. I was interested in land use regulations, so this fit the bill. Within 8 months, the Zoning Administrator retired
and I took that position which I’ve held ever since…although it’s morphed into the Director of Planning & Development.
In general, my office is responsible for administering the provisions of the county’s Comprehensive Plan through the
enforcement of about 15 ordinances ranging from countywide general zoning to address assignment to land division.

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My specific duties include overseeing the department staff and programs…code enforcement, planning, GIS/Land
Records and Sanitation. Each day brings new challenges, so it is never a dull moment. However, there are days where I do

wonder what a little boredom would feel like!

The courses I took at UWEC certainly provided skills for me in the work
that I do. Right off, my cartography courses helped me to do the mapping
work associated with my first responsibilities, which included updating and
maintaining parcel and zoning maps. The various papers required by courses
gave me confidence in my ability to correspond effectively and efficiently.
To be honest, the immense leaps in technology since my time at UWEC has
made how I do things much different. However, the core understanding of
why I do them is rooted in the experiences I had at UWEC. This time of
pandemic has really limited my personal contact with friends and family. I
have been missing my grandson, but I hope we have turned the bend and am
in the home stretch toward a bit more normalcy. However, I count myself
very, very fortunate in that my overall experience has been one more of
inconvenience than hardship or tragedy. I have been able to continue
working full-time so have not had the financial stress that has impacted so
many. I have been able to limit my contact with people, so I have avoided
contracting this wicked virus. Through it all, I have come to appreciate the
simple things that were so readily taken for granted in the recent past. I
hope to not let that appreciation wane as life (hopefully) changes to a
greater sense of normalcy.

KAYLA COONEN

'18, Environmental, Geography, CM

I became a geography major after taking Geography 104. It was originally taken as a science credit for the College of

Business. I received my MS, Geospatial Sciences in Geography, Geology and Planning at Missouri State University in

2020. My first job after graduation was a Land Use Specialist for La Crosse County. Currently, I work at Kaukauna

Utilities as an Operational Technology Specialist. I am working to switch out GIS data over to the Utility Network in

ArcPro. I also maintain and develop the utility’s GIS, Operational Management System (OMS), and AutoCAD systems for

the Water and Electric Departments. I will be developing applications with ArcCollector to gather data in the field.

The hands-on, project-based courses help you

understand and apply the knowledge learned in the

classroom to real life situations. GIS II and Geospatial

Field Methods were two very good courses where I

reference my old blogs to this day for different projects.

Additionally, many of the physical geography classes

had excellent labs that also were a huge influence on

how I have conducted/analyzed projects in graduate

school and beyond. It took me two tries after

graduation, but I love my current job at Kaukauna

Utilities. There are countless opportunities for me to

continue developing my GIS skills as well as work

across different disciplines in the utility umbrella of

jobs. It took me a long time after I graduated with my

Master's to get a job. At first, I just took any job that

would hire me. But I did not give up; I only worked at La Hannah Adams and Kayla Coonen collecting flood
Crosse for 3 months because it wasn't for me. Because I water samples when they were both at Missouri State.
had that job stability, I was able to interview for my

"dream jobs" and had more confidence and work

experience in my interviews so that I was able to find

this job that I love.

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I am excited for this coming year to have a steady paycheck and vacation time to visit some of my UWEC friends that
have moved around the country. During quarantine, I took more opportunities to go find new hiking and walking trails.
Now that things are beginning to look up, I have the opportunity to return to the sports world and become a volleyball
coach for some of the local teams. In the future, I would love to go to Peru. I would also like to continue travelling in Latin
America. Otherwise, I am continuing my trend of visiting at least one national park every year!

ROSS GUIDA

'09, Resource Management, Geography, CM

I tried journalism, math education, and business over my first two years. Geography
was my minor, and the only courses I really loved in the core curriculum were
Physical Geography with Garry, Harry, and Doug, and Conservation of the
Environment. Even as someone more inclined to the physical side of Geography, I
also took Ingolf’s Cultural Landscapes of North America and loved that too. So, I
switched my major to Geography at the start of my junior year and never looked
back. When I finished at UWEC, I worked as a research assistant on climate change
projects while completing my M.S. at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I thought
I was going to work in consulting or for a government agency. But, I applied for one
Ph.D. program at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, received an NSF
fellowship and got to work abroad on a Tisza River project in Hungary.
After finishing my Ph.D., I started a faculty position at Sam Houston State
University. I’ve been an Assistant Professor of Geography at SHSU since 2016 and
took over as Environmental Science Undergraduate Coordinator in 2020. I teach Weather and Climate, Intro Physical
Geography, Sustainability and Environment, Geomorphology, and Hydrology and Water Resources. My research has
focused on biogeographic and flood modeling. I’m also a Co-Principal Investigator on an NSF GEOPAths grant with a
colleague, and we are trying to understand how we can more effectively get students interested in the geosciences in
high schools and community colleges around southeast Texas. Geography courses, and the professors I had at UWEC
(and my fellow students up there), changed my life path entirely. As a business major I was miserable. I wasn’t enjoying
college, and I almost dropped out to move back home. But after taking Physical and Conservation and talking with
professors and other students in the department, I decided it was a viable career path that I actually enjoyed studying.
Because I pursued environmental science and human-environment research, including GIS work, every one of my courses
at UWEC was foundational for the work I do daily teaching, researching, and advising Environmental Geography and
Environmental Science students.

As much as the course material itself, I appreciated being challenged in the Geography courses I took. I’ll never forget
Garry opening a seminar my senior year by saying, “We’re here to train future colleagues.” He went on to explain that he
had no idea where we might wind up one day, but we may wind up working on the same projects together. Doug also had
us in small Hydrology, Fluvial Landforms, and Capstone classes my senior year and spent a lot of time talking about
professional applications and research in talks both in- and outside of the classroom.

PETER SAWALL

'16, Environmental, Geography, CM

Even as a boy, maps fascinated me. When I got to Eau Claire, I registered late (undeclared) and my initial advisor put me
in a geology class. I loved the material and switched my major to Geology. I decided to take GIS 1 to get it out of the way
early, but, upon taking GIS 1, I realized, “this is what I want to do!” and switched my major to Geography. After
graduating, I worked for a Milwaukee-based civil engineering firm, Kapur Inc., as a Geospatial Technologist. I worked on
small- and large-scale mapping jobs for client and internal use. Some of my most rewarding work at Kapur was on a
project focused around developing web map viewers to optimize client access and utilization of collected data. Currently,
I’m finishing up my time at Purdue University pursuing a Master’s degree in Geomatics. At Purdue, I also had the
opportunity to serve as a Teaching Assistant leading classroom instruction in: GIS, conventional survey methods, Remote
Sensing, LiDAR, and Photogrammetry.

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Since graduation from UWEC, I’ve used at least something from every one of my classes in my professional career. GIS,

LiDAR, and UAS courses equipped me very directly for work in the private sector. For example, while at Kapur, I

streamlined our photogrammetric data collection processes with knowledge I gained from the UAS class. I also used the

skills from the LiDAR class to perform extensive mapping and classification. Other classes have had more niche

applications. Fluvial Geomorphology helped me to understand a slope failure we were modeling. Quantitative Methods

has recently been quite useful at Purdue, as I was investigating the relationship between Covid-19 spread and other

factors using regression analysis.

My most recent position of teaching assistant was a blast!

While I am not actively working a job while I finish my

program, I am excited for what the future holds as I look for

something that both interests and challenges me. Pursuing a

Master’s degree in a mostly online environment has been

difficult in many ways. The biggest challenge for me has

been the shift in accessibility as classes moved online.

Where I had a quick (or not so quick) question and been able

to stop by a professor’s office or have a discussion after

class, I am not able. A lot of learning happened in these

moments, and it’s something I wish could have been a bigger

part of the past year. I am excited to graduate in May and

settle into a position where I can utilize my new skillset. I

think I may be most excited just to wrap up the job search.

My hobbies, as of late, have included: autocross (amateur motorsport) (if anyone is interested in autocross, look up the
Chippewa Valley Sports Car Club in Eau Claire!), target shooting, and photography. De-stressing mostly includes going
on long walks with my family, we have two kids under 4.

I’ve always wanted to see the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. From the dramatic landscape to the culture and traditions, it
sounds like an amazing experience!

Thanks to all of our Alumni! We plan to continue our show and
tell. After a long break in producing a newsletter, we learned a
lot and plan to make improvements in the next one. If we
didn't reach out to you for this newsletter, please send us
information for the next one. We would love to hear from you!
It is important to us to share your stories. Please make sure we
have your up-to-date email.

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Faculty and Staff of the Department of
Geography and Anthropology, 2020-2021

Dr. Ari Anand Dr. Doug Faulkner Martin Goettl, GISP Dr. Matt Haffner

Dr. Sean Hartnett Dr. Gloria Howerton Dr. Harry Jol Dr. Paul Kaldjian

Jonathan McCombs, MA Yvonne Plomedahl, G.O.A.T.* Dr. Papia Rozario Dr. Garry Running

Peter Strand, MS Dr. Ryan Weichelt Dr. Cyril Wilson Dr. Ezra Zeitler

G.O.A.T. = Greatest of all-time

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Faculty and Staff News

MARTIN GOETTL - Geospatial Technician Facilitator

[email protected], 715-836-4709

I facilitate and coordinate the geography labs and the Geospatial hardware and software related to our department. I
specialize in basically most things Geospatial, hardware, software, and data related to it. My favorite part about working
for this department is that the people do care for each other and that is a good thing. Really why I came to this position
was to be able to have a hands-on role in preparing the next generation of geographers and geospatial professionals that
will someday take my spot moving the profession forward. I have been working in the department for ten years this
summer. I am excited to get the University back this upcoming academic year. I have missed everyone who have not been
here a lot more than I guess I ever would have expected. My most memorable experience while working in the
department was traveling to Lithuania and Latvia with students and Harry Jol, doing some incredible research, and
experiencing things I may never experience again.

My personal life is all about family. That has been a freaky thing for me. I do not have hobbies really, and that is very
unhealthy to be without an outlet during the quarantine. Netflix is my de-stress which does not help with stress at all.
Really one says you grow closer spending time together, but sometimes too much time is not good, also. We spent a lot of
time in different parts of the house really. We have one dog, Kenai, and he is a standard 3-year-old poodle. He is named
after the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. We were visiting family in Homer and a black standard poodle came and visited us.
We said if we ever got a dog this is it. That is what we got and named it after that. I have a 1978 Triumph Spitfire that my
Dad gave me when he passed away, and it is in the front corner of my garage. If I could travel anywhere right now, it
would be to Iguazu Falls in Argentina & Brazil or Victoria Falls in Zambia & Zimbabwe.

GARRY RUNNING - Professor

[email protected]. 715-836-2731

I grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota, the southern suburbs of Minneapolis. I spent my summers fishing in northern
Minnesota, and I went to Bemidji State as an undergrad, mostly because I knew I could hunt and fish; I know that is not
why you're supposed to pick your college, but I didn't really know anything about how you're supposed to do it. And,
college was cheap, so it didn't matter. It's a big financial investment now. Choosing a college is a very high-pressure
decision for students to make.

As a freshie I took those intro courses that everybody takes that we all complain about, but I took an anthropology
course, an introductory archaeology course. That really fired me up. The summer of my freshman year, I took archaeology
field camp, a six-week course where we were doing archaeology. I found I was more interested in the things we were
digging through than I was in the things we were digging up. I didn't understand why things get buried. Nobody lives
underground! How did this happen? So, then I thought, well, that must be geology. I finished my anthropology minor or
BA, or whatever it was, and I started working on geology. I found out that geologists actually love rocks, but I like
studying people. But, people live on the surface so earth surface processes are important. Towards the end of that, I took
some geomorphology kinds of classes and went, Oh, this is where all my interests combine. I got really interested in
geoarchaeology and geomorphology. They have the human context that the straight geology didn't seem to have. So, I
collected that major, too. I kind of went backwards from the upper division classes down in my geography major.
Consequently, I've never taught a course that I actually took in college. A lot of us end up in geography because it offers a
big tent and a lot of different other disciplines mesh with it. It also combines that human aspect along with the physical
aspect. So, I started out in archaeology. I realized that there's a lot more earth science stuff in there than I thought. So, I
started working on my geology major. Then, I found out I was a lot more interested in geomorphology because of the
human-environment component. By the end of my undergrad, I read a paper called geoarchaeology. I got a chance to
meet the author of that paper a few years later and said, “you're the guy that made me know what I am." When I decided
to go for a PhD, I hooked up with a professor at Madison, whose career path is even weirder than mine. He's a
geoarchaeologist. But, his undergrad is in the museum science, his Master's is in soil science, and his PhD is in geology. So,
he is a geographer who doesn't have any geography degrees. Whatever. In geography I can combine my interests in soils,
windblown deposits.

Well, when I finished my PhD, I took a position with the US Geological Survey, Water Resources Division. I was a 29

researcher, and it was pretty clear to me that though that was super neat, I didn't have any students. I didn't get to teach

it so that didn't quite fit me. I decided I wanted to teach and the undergraduate experience that I had was in a department

a lot like ours but smaller, but the same idea that everybody knew the faculty by first name. Their office doors were

always open. I started teaching at UWEC in the fall of 1996.

Personally, during COVID and the quarantine, I learned that I am prone to being whiny. I have had it so much better than
lots of people, I don't have any school age children to add to my burden or need to try to teach them at home. I could go
home and be safe. Both my wife and I still had paychecks coming in. We didn't have the financial troubles that so many
people did. And I was still whiny. I’m working on it. I also learned that even though I am a Minnesota Norwegian introvert,
I need to see faces of my students so I can see their body language and figure out what's going on in their heads and can
be more attuned to what they need when they need it.

I'm looking forward to implementing two things, once we return to normal, or normal version 2.0. First, we have the
benefit of our experience with some new technical tools, like Canvas. I think we know how we can combine the old and
the new to make the learning experience better for our students. Second, I've spent a lot of time going to CETL courses
on how to be a more inclusive instructor and foster a more inclusive learning environment. And, I think that'll come out
better with a more in-person sort of experience. I've been in a lot of reading groups, I've read a lot of books, I've
participated in a lot of discussions, and I've learned a lot from my colleagues who are far more advanced, far more
conscious than I am. I've been working on that. I want to share that with my students, many of whom, like me, grew up in a
white racialized space, and because they have not lived in areas that are more diverse.

I think it's clear to me, when I look at geography majors, from my position as the shepherd or custodian of Capstone, that
there is a hunger. Our students want to know how to make social justice and environmental issues better. They want to
make a difference. Now, we need to respond to that market demand, if you will. We do them a disservice if we fail to
provide some guidance in those areas, which means we need to bone up our game.

We have been blessed with recent hires that have expertise in those areas. We also have people like Paul, Ezra, and Ari
who have worked in those areas for a long time. We have mentors within our department so we don't have to go
someplace else to find experts.

My activities weren't really affected by COVID. I could still fish two to a boat. I could still hunt physically distanced. I
need about one day a week outside for my mental health, even if it's sitting in a duck blind watching an empty sky. I also
like to ferment things, everything from charcuterie and cheese to wine, beer, and vinegar.

PAUL KALDJIAN - Professor

[email protected], 715-836-2321

I've been a professor at UWEC approaching 20 years, since Fall 2002. I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We lived in
different places over the years because my dad was an academic. We did a sabbatical in California and another in Finland,
that kind of thing, but we always came back to Arbor. So, I did K through master's degree in Ann Arbor.

My undergraduate degree was from the University of Michigan. It was right around the time that the University of
Michigan eliminated its geography program in the early 80s. I was a double major, geology and English. Then I stayed
around for a master's in water resources policy. After that, in the mid-80s, an internship turned into a career job with the
US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC. I worked there for almost eight years. During that time, I had
this growing feeling that I wanted to get a PhD, and I was trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to study. In the
end, it was an epiphany. I realized that the discipline that puts humans on the landscape and combines culture with
environment is geography. I went to the AAG’s headquarters in DC without knowing anything about who they were, this
was before the web was available to us, and I looked at their books and documents, and talked to them. I applied to six
PhD programs without ever having had a university geography class. The University of Arizona took a chance on me and
it worked out.

I am a human geographer; I did my dissertation work on food systems in Istanbul, Turkey. Over time, my work has involved the 30
geography of food, urban-rural and local-regional food systems. It has involved the Middle East and things like community
building and community relationships in one form or another. A lot of my research over the last seven years has been with
students in our local area, and I've enjoyed that, and I think it's part of this long, geographical history of doing applied research
that has some kind of social benefits. And that is something that is important to geographers. I’ve also been doing work in
Finland and the Baltic region.

I’ve had many memorable experiences here. It is a testament to the long, intertwined relationships we have among students and
faculty. I love it when you work with students, like Katrina and Emily this semester, and then get them to engage in things that
they didn't really think about doing, and maybe I didn't even think about doing, but they said they just wanted to have more
experience working on cartography. They submitted their map to a WLIA map competition and got recognition for it. That's
rewarding for me and for them. That's the second time this has happened. It happened with Zachary Fischer and Rachel Ruth; to
work with students and get to see what we’re able to do together. It often surprises them. I think that's one of these things that
keeps me and my colleagues going, having these regular rewarding experiences of student accomplishment, whether they're
getting a paper published or working with a student on a poster that they present at CERCA or a regional AAG conference.

Personally, teaching and learning have been complicated with COVID-19. I'm trying to balance and adjust to the difficulties that
it presents for me while recognizing it's also presenting difficulties for students in a different way. I don't want my difficulties to
compound the students’ difficulties, I'm trying to figure out how I can relieve the students’ difficulties. These difficulties could
be everything from scheduling, to understanding the teacher through facemasks, or through teleconferencing things. One of
the biggest frustrations for us, I'm sure it's shared across our department, have been the severe constraints on field trips, and
the difficulties that that has created. I think the value of teachers and the role of teachers from K through whatever level has
been really highlighted in society, and the value and importance of teaching in person, of teaching with human interaction, has
been highlighted.

My wife is a teacher, also, so at the beginning of the COVID, we were both so overwhelmed with what we had to do, that we
didn't really have time for anything else. That was really a pretty stressful time. Over the summer, we enjoy spending time in our
garden. We always make our own food, and fiddle around with different recipes. I spent a lot of time baking bread and giving it
to neighbors. People in Eau Claire could still end up doing a lot of their outdoor kinds of activities so when you read the stories
about what others around the country suffered such as in New York and in urban areas, oh, how difficult for them and
comparatively easy for us!

I ride my bicycle a lot. I have a single speed and if I have appointments or go grocery shopping or something, and it's not a big
load, I like riding my bike, walking, and doing anything with my hands. I also pretend to play Ultimate Frisbee and ice hockey (I’m
in leagues).

We have a dog, Susamuru (Susa), and she is a Finnish Lapland dog. We brought her back as a little puppy after our sabbatical
year in Finland in 2009. My wife carried her on her lap in the airplane coming back, and she had her own little doggy passport.
She's been awesome. During the pre-COVID times, I'd bring her to school. I'm not a dog person but I have to say I really love
that dog.

When the country returns to normal, I would begin by visiting friends and colleagues around the world, and continuing my work
in Finland and Turkey. It's because I've worked with and been with these people in Finland and Turkey so closely for so many
years that it's painful to be apart from them.

ARI ANAND - Associate Professor

[email protected], 715-836-5481

Ezra Zeitler and I joined at the same time, fall 2008 so it's been 13 years. My background is in anthropology and critical
social theory. Since I have been here, we developed and I teach courses for the transnational geographies major and the
anthropology certificate. These include the social theory course, the culture and transnational dynamics course, the
Language in Culture and Society course, an intro to cultural anthropology course, and a few others. It was not a straight
route to becoming an anthropologist. When I was a kid, I was a big fan of reading about different parts of the world. I was
a big fan of explorers like David Livingstone, and all that stuff. As I grew up, I completely flipped, and I thought these

people were colonial jerks. As an undergrad, I ended up majoring in history. I mean, really, it was because I liked the 31
professors, and I always liked history, but it really helped that the professors were pretty good. This was in the early
90s. Increasingly, questions were being asked about the production of historical knowledge. Who gets to write
histories? How do they represent people? Those kinds of issues. I was an Indian who came to the U.S. for college, so it
was odd getting a perspective of India from the U.S. Often it seemed rather off base. It didn't seem like it was very
representative of my experiences as an Indian from India. I became very interested in the production of knowledge.
That actually led me to doing my Master's in critical theory. Critical theory, in those days, was in a field called cultural
studies, which was connected to Comparative Literature and things like that. A lot of what critical theory people were
doing was analyzing texts. I didn't find that very satisfying. I was more interested in looking at society and culture, but
using the tools of critical theory. The place where I thought I could do that was anthropology. I basically moved from the
Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature program into the Anthropology program at the University of Arizona. It's
more grounded in social dynamics and culture.

I was born in Mumbai, which was called Bombay at that time. Then when I was pretty young, my family moved up to
North India, where we lived in a village for a couple years. Then I was sent to a boarding school up in North India in the
mountains. After sixth grade, we moved back to Mumbai, so I was raised in both western India and northern India. It
was beautiful living in the mountains, I loved it. I didn't like the boarding school part of it, but I've always liked
mountains. It used to get really cold and snowy up there in winter. We would actually have a winter break, not a
summer break. Our school would be closed from early December until around March. There wasn’t any central heating.

I have missed the actual student presence with COVID. Luckily for me all my classes have had some in-person
component; I don't have any completely online classes; in fact, this semester two of them are fully in-person and one of
them is mixed (online and in-person or hybrid). During these unprecedented times, I have had more reason to check in
with where students are at. Everyone's struggling so I feel oddly enough that COVID has led to more authentic
conversations with students about just how they're coping with things. In terms of life in general, I know this isn't just
COVID but I think COVID is part of just a general sense that things are just becoming a little more unstable in general,
whether it has to do with pandemics, whether it has to do with economics or politics, we're living in a more unsettled
world these days. This is a more polarized world and I think COVID really demonstrates this sort of polarization where
even whether you wear a mask or not is a political issue.

I'm excited about this upcoming academic year, moving back to more in-person classes. I don't think of it as going back
to normal. I'm not sure that we're going to go back to anything. I think times are changing, and they're unpredictable.
But I'm looking forward to less of a sense of isolation. I think probably from my perspective, that's the most exciting
thing. I enjoy being around people, and this business of sitting at home in a room or even in my office just doesn't do
much for me. I get energy from being around people.

I have two kids, and they both like to watch certain shows, so me and my partner and our daughter watched tv. I enjoy
hanging out with my family. That's actually been one of the other weird lessons of COVID, I've spent time with the
family. And when we were in India, we were actually under a really strict lockdown. We were stuck in a small two-
bedroom apartment for two-and-a-half months, so it was driving my five-year old crazy. I feel like I spent a lot of time
either reading or prepping for class, and I'm teaching a new class this semester. That's taken up a lot of time. But it's
also a class on something I'm interested in on race, racism, and anti-racism.

There have been lots of specific, memorable things, that I remember over the years in the department and university. I
accompanied Ezra on a field trip to the Mississippi Delta. I also went with Paul to Istanbul, on a study abroad thing. I've
also taken students to India on a global feminisms program through Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies. Something
that I think is important, a general kind of experience I've had in our department, is that over time we became, I think,
much more thoughtful, around questions of social justice and equity, and particularly thinking about questions of race
and questions of gender and sexuality. When I first got here, these conversations didn't really happen much. Now we've
gotten to a point where I think we're starting to have those conversations much more, and I think they're very relevant
conversations. I think for me, one of the memorable things, I would say, is having been a part of pushing the department
in that direction, where we talk about current questions around social justice much more than we used to.

EZRA ZEITLER - Professor 32

[email protected], 715-836-5186

Like Ari, this is my 13th year at UW-Eau Claire. My core interests in Geography are located in the realm of human
geography, but they extend into regional geography and cartography as well. Thanks to the Earth Science Seminar Series
and LiDAR, I've developed admiration for geomorphology and how natural landforms influence human activities.

I grew up on a small dairy farm on the edge of Rosiere, a hamlet in northeastern Wisconsin. My parents sold the farm
when I was in high school, and we moved to Minocqua in northern Wisconsin. While attending high school there, I
became friends with Ojibwe students from Lac du Flambeau, and learning about their life ways piqued an interest in
learning about other people and how the places they reside impact their lives. I declared an agriculture major in my first
year at UW-River Falls (as one does at "Moo U"), but after taking a Human Geography class my first year and taking more
geography classes at the University of Wyoming in my second year while there through the National Student Exchange, I
changed my major to Geography when I returned to River Falls. The Geography program at UWRF was home to a number
of caring mentors (Don Petzold, Charlie Rader, Carol Barrett, and Mike Albert), and they had a big impact on my decision
to pursue geography in grad school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

For me, the COVID-19 pandemic has reiterated how important the study of geography is to understanding how
interconnected our values and practices impact ourselves and others in social and environmental realms. Systems that
maintain social and environment injustices must be addressed, and geographers and anthropologists can play a role.
These unprecedented times have affected how I teach. It has been a challenge to manage lectures and labs when half of
the class is present and the other half is tuning in live via Zoom. Managing chat room messages and dividing my attention
between the in-person and virtual cohorts took time to get used to. I’m looking forward to teaching with all students in
the classroom as soon as public health officials say that it's safe!

Planning and running geography field seminars are among the most fulfilling experiences as a professor. There is an
incredible amount of planning that goes into a trip, but it is exciting to see how students engage with the place we go.

After a long week of work, I wind down by not looking at screens. I enjoy being outdoors and walking, running, biking, or
sitting around a campfire with my family. I don’t have pets, but my home is decorated with a dozen plants that provide
good vibes.

GLORIA HOWERTON - Assistant Professor

[email protected], 715-836-2843

I grew up in the south. I was born in Oklahoma but lived in North Carolina from the time I was two through 22. Then I
went to grad school in Georgia. This is only my second year, which means that I have spent more time in pandemic
teaching than I have spent in regular teaching at UWEC. I have only had one normal semester.

As an undergrad I was one of those students who bounced around a whole lot. I started out as a psychology major, started
taking Russian studies, did broadcasting and cinema, and I was also really interested in sustainability. I was taking
environmental classes and somehow, I found out about geography. In my school, people did not know about the
department very much. Once I found out about it and realized that I could do everything I wanted to do, it seemed like a
perfect fit. It was this perfect place to meld everything that I was interested in, and then I found out I could do some cool
computer stuff with it too, and I was definitely sold. It is such a good discipline for people who are interested in
essentially the entire world.

I got my undergrad degree in physical geography and environmental studies, and I was also doing GIS at the same time. I
was interning for the county GIS department, so I was a GIS and physical person which seems really weird, since I am now
a critical human geographer. I essentially got tricked into taking human geography courses in graduate school, because I
went there wanting to learn about urban agriculture and mapping. My advisor said you should probably take the urban
geography class and I did, and then I learned that all of my questions are really about power, and so they roped me in in
my first semester of my master's degree. My first semester I was taking classes like plant geography and geoecology. I
take one urban class and then the next semester I was just a human geographer.

During the pandemic I’ve had to learn to teach online. The first half-semester, courses were a struggle because we had 33
around a week to figure out how to turn them into online classes. I then had the summer and the winter break to really
work on it. I think I’ve learned a lot about structuring my classes and figuring out how to make engaging material for
online courses. It forced me to think about online course presentations that will still be really useful when I’m back in
person. We will still have our canvas pages, and if I can make the material really accessible in addition to teaching in
person, I think that will be a good outcome.

That first COVID semester, I was helping with Professor Faulkner's Hawaii class, and we were all set to go a week later.
Then there was a meeting where the students were told they could not go anywhere because of COVID. It was really
kind of inspiring the way the class took it. Naturally, the students were so disappointed. But the class really acted like this
caring community and were consoling each other a little bit, and you could immediately see that the students tried to see
the positives, such as, it is okay, we will all just go to Hawaii and meet each other there one day anyway.

I’m hopeful once people can be in spaces together again that the department’s sense of community will re-emerge, and
the students who started during the pandemic will get to be brought into that. That is one of the reasons that I really
wanted to work here in the first place. I could see that when I came to interview and I was like, oh wow, people in this
department actually like each other.

I started doing a lot of camping and backpacking and hiking during quarantine time, which was really great during the
warmer weather. I also got into gardening; I got a community garden plot. I learned that gardening is like constant
warfare with the little bugs and the rabbits, and you are just making up little schemes in order to protect your crops. I also
did a lot of knitting, so I got a couple of new knit sweaters out of the pandemic. That is one of the nice things about living
in Wisconsin now. Because when I lived in the south, I did not really have a lot of reason to wear things that I knit. I also
consider myself a movie person. I like films a lot. I had majored in cinema as an undergraduate before I found geography,
so, through the pandemic, I found myself watching a lot of movies.

If I had to pick one thing to do right now, I would walk the Wales Coast Path. I did a walking trip through about 90 miles of
Scotland to celebrate finishing my PhD, the West Highland Way. You are just walking through this beautiful area in the
Scottish Highlands. It is just so nice. If you ever get the chance to go, it is worth it. The Wales Coast Path is like 800 miles,
so I probably would not do the whole thing right now, but I’d like to get out there.

DOUG FAULKNER - Professor

[email protected], 715-836-5166

I grew up in North Platte in Nebraska. I always say it’s in western Nebraska, but it’s actually central. Still, it’s on the
treeless plains. It seems western.

Why did I become a geographer? I can almost put my finger on what got me on the path to geography. When I was in fifth
or sixth grade, an older brother and sister-in-law gave me a world atlas for Christmas. I fell in love with it. It became my
security blanket. I always took the atlas whenever we went on family trips, and I always wanted to know where we were.
Later, as a junior high-schooler, I became the family navigator and would plan out our routes. And on school nights before
bedtime, I would go through the atlas, studying maps and reading about different places. By the time I was an eighth
grader, I knew I wanted to be a geographer, even though I didn’t really know what a geographer was. I still didn’t really
know when I was a senior and made a visit to the University of Nebraska, which is where I was planning to go to college. I
selected geography as the one department I wanted to visit. I remember meeting with a professor who talked about what
geography is, and it blew my mind. I had no idea geography was that broad. It was so different from my preconceived
ideas, but it was also, like wow, really cool. It solidified my desire to be a geographer. Since then, I’ve always had a strong
interest in the whole realm of geography. Even as an undergrad I knew I was more interested in physical geography than
human geography, but I loved human geography and did a senior thesis on settlement patterns in my home county. It was
a fascinating project, yet I remained more interested in the physical than the human landscape. So here I am now, in my
21st year at UWEC, a physical geographer with a specific specialization in fluvial geomorphology and an interest in the
whole realm of geography that’s as strong as ever. COVID has made work challenging. Splitting teaching between in-
person and online, dealing with new and unfamiliar technologies, lecturing while masked to masked students in the
classroom (those who show up), talking to screens where you know someone is on the other end but have no real sense

34

anyone is there. The result has been a loss of personal connection, even in smaller classes where everybody is present all
the time. That’s been tough for everyone. One positive outcome is that the challenges of the past year have made me
realize how I tend to take work for granted when it’s going well. They’ve made me think about being more thankful, more
appreciative, all the time. About focusing on the positives, because they do greatly outweigh the negatives.

I’m on the books to teach Geography 368 field seminar in Spring 2022 with a focus on the human-environmental
geography of Hawai‘i. While I am excited by the prospect, I’m also a little apprehensive because of last year’s experience.
I was teaching 368 last spring when the pandemic hit and scuttled all travel plans, including the planned excursion to
Hawai‘i. It would’ve been the fourth time I’d taken students to Hawai‘i. As each of the previous trips was an amazing
experience of opening students’ geography eyes, I was horribly sad last year’s students didn’t get that chance. I’m hopeful
next spring’s 368 cohort will.

We have a small dog—a rescue pooch from Alabama—named Hazel. She’s our third and has been with us for two years.
Each of our first two lasted for 15+ years. So, all in all, we’ve had dogs for most of our marriage. That’s mainly because
Ellen is a real dog person. I am now, too. Somewhere along the way, she turned me into one.

Given what I was saying before about falling in love with an atlas as a 5th grader, there is no place on earth I do not want
to go. If someone said, pick one place where you would like to go, we will buy you a ticket and pay for your way, I guess
right now I would probably choose New Zealand. For one, I have never been to the southern hemisphere. For another, the
landscape diversity in such a small space seems unrivaled. It’s a place I’d really like to see.

My wife and I became homebodies during the quarantine and have been for most of the pandemic. We haven’t gotten out
and about much, though last summer we did go camping a couple of times in our year-old teardrop camper. One new
thing I did was join an informal group of kettlebell enthusiasts (thanks to Garry R. for inviting me). I’m an enthusiast now,
too! And I’m glad I am. My creaky joints are less creaky and I’m fitter than I’ve been in years.

RYAN WEICHELT- Associate Professor

[email protected], 715-836-4426

I was a history education major at UW-Eau Claire, and I did not like history. I took a physical geography class, and I was
like, wow I love geography because I love maps and all that other fun stuff. I took that one class and became a geographer
and took a whole bunch of others and then the rest is history. I did one year of my master’s in Vermont. It is beautiful
there, but I transferred to Texas State where I finished my master's and did my PhD in Nebraska. I specialize in electoral
political geography, demographics, and statistics.

I started in 2009 so I guess that would be about 11 years going on 12 in the fall. Back in 2013 or 2014, a bunch of us had
received this huge grant for geospatial stuff. We got almost a half million-dollar grant to develop the geospatial program,
and I was the main person that wrote the geospatial major. That whole project was an incredible experience. I helped put
my footprint on the department. Working with other people on the project and helping move that forward was probably
an even greater experience. It is great to look back and see what the students are doing. It is kind of humbling in that
particular sense. I was one of the student representatives who helped hire Harry Jol and Garry Running. I do not
remember watching Garry’s presentation, but I remember watching Harry’s. These were once my professors, and now
they are my colleagues.

I am one of the lucky people during the quarantine. I was on sabbatical so I missed all the craziness. All I caught was the
tail end of when we were in quarantine. I’ve been teaching online so it wasn't that big a deal to transition for that little bit
of time but I can only imagine, after talking to other faculty, how crazy things have gone. I think in some cases there's
probably things that will help in moving forward. Everyone is a bit more flexible in creating more online material. Most of
the professors are here but you do not see the students. You just missed the students and the sort of interactions and
some of that type of stuff. So it'll be nice to be back.

COVID has been really trying on my son who is 10 so he has been probably taking the brunt of this. Everything got
canceled last year and then he was only in school two days a week. He was not adjusting to all the virtual environment, so
you have a greater appreciation of someone that is an educator, but even more appreciation of educators and what
school actually means for people, for kids, for families, and the importance of that in their lives.

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My wife and I go on walks all the time, which was nice. We made that a priority because you are stuck there. I went biking
as much as I possibly could because there was not anything else to do. My daughter, luckily, was at daycare all the time,
which was nice.

I love Europe so we were supposed to go to Portugal last summer for a conference, and it got canceled. We were in Paris
a couple months before that and that was awesome. My wife and I were so excited and then it got canceled. It was
supposed to be this summer, and it got canceled again. I have never been to the UK so I would like to go to Scotland and
London.

My one big passion is tennis. I played a lot of tennis so I was very fortunate that the tennis center was able stay open
throughout the winter. It was kind of weird to wear masks, but needless to say, I could play tennis. Then I fell in love with
road biking about two years ago, and I run a lot, so those were my de-stressors.

PAPIA ROZARIO - Lecturer

[email protected], 715-836-3618

I grew up in eastern India, in a city named Kolkata, formally Calcutta. Mother Teresa is associated with that area. We
used to take a lot of family hikes in my formative years, mostly in the Himalayan region. I was always in awe, of the
structure, formation, and environment of that region. My parents had a tradition of gifting books. If there is a birthday,
you get a book, and I would request these colorful atlases. That was kind of my affinity towards the discipline.

When I was working at Texas A & M University, Galveston campus located in Pelican Island, TX, I used to commute from
one island to the other every morning, crossing a single connecting bridge. That was fun. When I move to a new place, the
first task has always been to explore local cuisine. The pandemic restricted this. So, instead, we explored the local area,
neighborhoods, and trails. From a general perspective, the pandemic has made me appreciate plain everyday things a
little more. Simple things in life such as freedom, comfort, and human interaction. I have been at UWEC for two
semesters now. I'm a physical geographer, specializing in GIS-based modeling, and Remote Sensing of the Environment.
In the fall, we're offering Geography 390, Geospatial Applications of UAS (Drones). We have a new sensor that will be
utilized. Students will get a first-hand experience on acquiring multispectral and thermal data. That will be exciting. I
have two ongoing research projects with students. One of them is utilizing the Blugold Supercomputing Cluster for Deep
Learning Applications in Remote Sensing. The other one is monitoring crop health using the drones. Another forthcoming
event is UWEC’s first summer workshop in computational science. I will be demonstrating to high school students how to
process drone imagery in our high-performance cluster.

This is a wonderful department, with great infrastructure, supportive colleagues, and good students. We were having a
field activity in Geography 336 where the students were required to create landscape models using sand. In one of the
sandboxes, when the students opened the lid, they saw something moving beneath the sand. All of us were a little
apprehensive to approach that box. After a little poke we discovered baby snakes. Then, to our surprise, one student
scooped the whole thing in their hand and carefully placed it in a safe spot. That was impressive.

Eau Claire area has a lot of biking and walking trails that you can visit, especially along the river. I have a 40-gallon and a
20-gallon planted freshwater aquarium. When we drove from Texas to Eau Claire, we brought the fish with us.

MATT HAFFNER - Assistant Professor

[email protected], 715-836-2316

I was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and I lived up and down the East Coast for the first 14 years of my life between
Washington DC, Newport, Rhode Island, and Jacksonville, Florida. When I was 14, my family moved to the Kansas City
area, which is where I graduated from high school and where I call home, because all my family is still there. But I have
lived in seven different states.

I moved to Eau Claire in May of 2018, so this is my third year at UWEC. My path to becoming a geographer is probably
different from a lot of people. I first took a world regional geography class because I saw that the professor was easy on
Rate My Professor which is really the only reason why I took it. After taking the class my mind was just blown with all of
these facts and things about the world I had never heard of or thought about before. So, I declared a minor in geography

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at that point, not thinking I would do anything with it but just because I liked the topic. I was a math major so I was
planning to teach math and coach cross country and track. I finished my math degree and did my student teaching, but I
was not super into teaching high school and decided to go to grad school in geography. For me it was not a single moment
that I felt like I was predestined to be a geographer; it was more of a slow process of becoming increasingly more
interested in the topic. My expertise is more on using methods. I teach a lot of our geographic information systems
classes, but I would say my sort of niche area for research is a field called spatial data science. It is a newer sub-discipline
of geography that uses statistical methods, specifically for spatial data to answer questions, focuses on workflows,
handling spatial data, and spatial analysis.

In relation to this last year and teaching during COVID, I have always tried to make my classes very much web based. I
have created my own websites for my courses, but I guess having to do this hybrid format forced me to think about
streamlining my teaching workflow a lot more, for example, doing attendance through a digital poll rather than passing
out a sheet. Obviously, the situation is not ideal but there are some good things about the hybrid format. For example, in
a class of 90 students, in the past I might have three or four people put forth responses to a question, and those are the
people who talk in class most of the semester. But with the chat window in Canvas, I have been able to get a lot of
response and feedback in ways that I haven't in the past. In general, this past year has made me thankful for my health
and the health of my family. I do not have any family members who have died or been really sick as a result of COVID so
I’m just thankful for that. I am excited about getting back in the classroom and having more interaction with students
because there are students who have taken classes from me that I have never actually seen in person before which makes
me sad. Hopefully it will go back to normal like being able to take my kids to watch hockey games or have my family come
to campus for a picnic on the lawn.

I don't have pets, but I have two toddlers which are kind of like pets. One of my kids’ favorite things to do is go around the
house and act like cats. I am not a big dog person or cat person, and I am highly allergic to cats. I would like to have a
saltwater aquarium someday, but it is a lot of maintenance, of course. For my hobbies, people probably know this by this
point, but I am on my bike a lot. I ride to campus and I like going on rides around Eau Claire, especially on the south side.
There are some cool routes out that way. I like cross country skiing, too, although I am not very good at it. I go running
every now and then but pretty much just endurance sports, and then also just spending time with my kids and my family.
Taking the kids out to some of the county parks like Big Falls is one of my favorite things to do. I play a lot of video games
too; my brother and I play games together a couple times a week. During the lockdown, my whole family got really into
this game called Mindustry. It’s an industrial tower defense game, which sounds super nerdy (it is), but the cool thing is
that you can host your own server. So, a friend of mine and I collaborated to figure out how to automate the creation of
servers for hosting games, and that was a blast. My wife and I would play with my brother, my brother’s wife, my sister,
my wife’s brother, and other people here and there. We would sometimes have eight people all playing together and just
catching up over Discord.

There are a few European cities that I want to go to. I really like walkable and bikeable places. Ljubljana, Slovenia,
considered one of the most walkable cities in Europe, is toward the top of the list. Then also, Copenhagen, Denmark,
Utrecht, Netherlands, and some other cities in the Netherlands are on the list as well. I was in Prague a few summers ago,
and I’d like to go back to the Czech Republic and stay in some of the smaller cities.

I can think of a couple things that have been very memorable over the last three years. From this past semester, I had a
couple of students who applied for jobs that they really wanted, and they got an interview and had technical questions
that they had to prepare for. I was able to help them prepare for those questions and when the students got the job
offers, that was a really gratifying experience. It makes me happy seeing y'all be happy and get the sort of jobs that you
want. Another one was from my very first semester here. Occasionally I'd come to the office in the evening after putting
my son back down to bed. So around seven, eight or nine o'clock, I’d be in my office, and there'd be students in the lab
who had questions, which I was happy to answer. But one time I was in my office at around 1:30 am and a student walked
by and saw that I was there and he's like, “Can I ask you a question?” I'm like, “Well, why not?” So I walked down to the lab
and helped him at close to two in the morning. Seeing the dedication of students firsthand to stay up late, work hard, and
be in the labs late into the night (as long as it’s not pure procrastination!) inspires me to work hard.

SEAN HARTNETT - Professor 37

[email protected], 715-836-5376

I arrived at UWEC in 1984, so this is year number 37. I started college in a pre-law program, graduated pretty high in my
class and was accepted to two law schools, but I found geography kind of late in the game. In my junior year, I added a
double major in geography. I went to Beloit College, and everyone had to do an internship, called a Field Term. I actually
did two field terms, one with a law firm and a second one with the chair of the Geography Department at UW-Madison. I
found out that if you're a lawyer, you're always doing somebody else's work. You are carrying their case, you are serving
their case; when you're a geographer, nobody knows what you're doing so you can do anything you want in geography.
You have artistic control over your career path. I knew that geographers did a lot of neat things. I also knew I could teach.
When I started graduate school at UW-Madison, I stepped into a heavy load of teaching assistant assignments and found
a certain comfort in that niche. When I was born, my dad was a college basketball coach, but at that time (1950s) people
told him to get a real job. While he moved on to a personnel director at an insurance company, he continued to instill a lot
of coaching principles in our family team of eight children. While I am a professor, I like to see myself as a coach, be it a
cartography coach, or a conservation coach, and in my first 14 years at UWEC, a cross country and track coach. I was
fortunate to receive a world-class graduate school training as at the time UW-Madison was the #1 ranked program in the
country and I benefited from the mentoring of some academic super-stars. My major advisor in historical geography was
David Ward who went on to serve as President of the AAG, and not once but twice as Chancellor of UW-Madison. I also
worked extensively with the distinguished historian Allan Bogue and his wife Margaret who first introduced me to the
Aldo Leopold Shack in 1982. My PhD was in historical geography and I won the AAG Specialty dissertation award, and
also was honored as Allan Bogue’s legacy at the 50th anniversary of the Economic History Association which is kind of a
subset field. A lot of what I did in historical geography was making maps of past times, what was the population, like in
1860 on the frontier. At the time UW-Madison had the top cartography program in the world headed up by Arthur
Robinson who with his associates Randal Sale, Joel Morrison, and Phil Muerche produced the leading textbook, Elements
of Cartography. After using this text in my first undergraduate cartography course at Beloit College, I took the
opportunity to study and work with all four of Madison’s distinguished cartographers, learning design, and started in on
the emerging field of computer mapping. Timing led me to cartography, as the recession of the early 1980’s severely
limited academic hiring and in 1984 when I hit the job market there was but one job in historical geography, and three in
cartography--one being UW-Eau Claire. Over the years I developed a variety of research interests. I have several
significant publications in historical geography including one in Agricultural History that included 19 maps, a record for
150+ year old publication that the editor assures me will never be broken. I also was invited to be part of an historical
geography plenary session at the 1992 AAG Annual Meetings. In 1986, I got a call from DNR Lake Specialist Buzz Sorge
and asked if I’d be interested in doing some lake mapping in support of the DNR’s collection of bathymetric maps, known
to most folks as ‘Fishing Maps.’ What Buzz didn’t know was that I had studied these maps for years at our family’s
summer vacations on Lake Tomahawk, my grandfather even had one laminated so we could take it out on the lake. Since
1986, I have produced some 48 maps of lakes and rivers in western Wisconsin, with almost every single map yielding
some sort of methodological advance, be it embracing advances in sonar, integration of GPS, surveying strategies, the
introduction of color maps to the DNR archive, and the development of mapping strategies for free flowing rivers--as
most strategies dealt with lakes or impoundments.

I have also developed expertise in what I call the geography of the marathon. As a college cross country runner, I got to
know the library’s periodical specialist as I’d be waiting for the arrival of the monthly publication of Track & Field News--
which I would then read from cover to cover. This continued at UW-Madison and I started doing a little journalistic work
writing concert and record reviews for the Daily Cardinal. This was a hoot--getting paid to go to concerts and interview
some of my favorite performers, from Elvis Costello and Neil Young, to Ray Davies and Joe Strummer. My last year in
Madison I wrote several stories about the NCAA champion cross country team, and in my first year at UW-Eau Claire
began writing for Track & Field News--a publication found in the UWEC library dating back to the early 1970s. Since 1985,
I have written over 300 articles for the magazine, and in 1992 I became their marathon correspondent and have reported
on most every major marathon competition since then including six of the past seven Olympic competitions and all 11
world records since 1998. My journalistic activities opened the door to some geographic opportunities. First, I started
making elevation profiles of marathon courses like the Boston and New York City marathons. Based on these maps, I was
asked to produce a map for the 2012 London Olympics. People that compete in the Olympics are given a map of a course
and what is called a technical map that shows an elevation profile with the water stops and the course itself. A couple
months back I got a call from officials working on the Tokyo Olympics, and have just produced a technical map for the
Olympics.

38

The last nine world records in the marathons also have had one thing in common. I’ve been 20 meters in front of the
runners with a digital display screen telling them what their paces are throughout the race, how fast they've gone, what
their projected finish time is. It's simple geography, time over distance. When the lead runners pass a kilometer mark, two
seconds later they know how close to the world record they are. I have then featured the pace data, along with a race
story and photos in a How the Race was Won map--much like the bathymetric maps--I have produced an extensive set of
over 30 of these maps including the last nine world records. These maps are featured prominently in the homes of
champion runners, and on the Track & Field News where I’m known as Professor of Marathon, a tag given to me by
Ethiopian world record holder Haile Gebrselassie.

Another area that I have developed an expertise is GeoDesign. Like bathymetric mapping, this expertise is based on the
experience in working on a lot of projects. I spent a year before graduate school working at the Southeastern Wisconsin
Regional Planning Office and picked up a little experience locating trails in a park. In Eau Claire, I began work on several
projects on- and off-campus. The design of Phoenix Park came from my computer and a somewhat contentious two-hour
presentation to the Eau Claire City Council. Recently retired local radio host Dean Kalembach reflecting on his 30 years
of news coverage in Eau Claire singled out my map presentation at a community planning session as crucial for the
advancement and adoption of the Confluence Center--which was first advanced in a 2009 map titled Top-Ten Ways to
make Eau Claire a world-class River City. On campus, the recently completed projects on the Garfield Avenue Mall and
the Outdoor Classroom took shape in geography courses dating back to 2006. That same year, I was asked to participate
in the design of the Cross Country course at UW-Madison, with a million dollar budget and the directive of producing the
best NCAA course in the county. Attaining that goal in 2018 as the site of the NCAA Championships, and in honor of my
contributions, I was given a Big Ten Champions Ring at the team banquet--much to the surprise of the vice chancellor
who presented the award and did a triple take--when announcing that I was affiliated with the Geography Department at
UW-Eau Claire.

As for current research activities, last summer, I worked with Aiden Mills, currently a student in the technique class. One
of the areas that hadn't been mapped was the Eau Claire River from the Lake Altoona dam to the Chippewa River here in
town. It hadn’t been mapped because it's got a series of rapids and more or less rock ledges that you wouldn’t be able to
use the zodiac because it wouldn't even float over the ledges. We outfitted the kayaks with a sonar mounted under the
seat. We can do the shallow river like the Eau Claire River and it was actually a little bit of a joy ride because there are
nine rapids along the way.

HARRY JOL - Professor

[email protected], 715-836-3473

I have been at UWEC since 1996, so about 24+ years. I grew up in Ontario and southern British Columbia, Canada.
Growing up, my family used to go camping quite a bit and the camping sites were very similar to Western Wisconsin. In
middle school I had geography classes taught by Mr. Root, and then I continued taking human and physical geography
courses right through high school. At Simon Fraser University, I trained as a broad-based geographer and then moved
into physical geography after some gap years working in international development (Indonesia) field. Throughout my
undergraduate career, I was able to focus in on taking roughly four course sequences in one’s area of expertise.
Throughout my research I have focused on physical geography, coastal and aeolian geomorphology, and then more
recently incorporating EDI concepts into UWEC’s Holocaust Geoarchaeology program.

It will be good to have everyone back on campus this coming fall as well as lead more field trips. Depending on what gets
funding, I will be leading student-faculty research projects this summer in Eastern Europe, Israel, Lake Superior region,
northeastern Minnesota, and the Nebraska Sand Hills. We will be imaging the sand dunes in Nebraska on a project we
started several years ago with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Preliminary results show a different model than one
that is presently accepted. Northeastern Minnesota is a new project looking at the former shorelines of Glacial Lake
Agassi. With the new LIDAR imagery available, the coastal spits are now more delineated and will allow us to target our
work. Once dated we will have a better idea of timings of the floods down the Minnesota River. A colleague of mine at
University of Toledo has published multiple papers up in that region and one of our UWEC students will be mapping the
area for the USGS as part of her graduate program. Up in Lake Superior, we are continuing research on the Duluth barrier
system which is presently at the highest water levels since the 1980s. This project, in collaboration with UW-Superior,
UMD, and Large Lakes Observatory, will look at how such a large barrier continues to grow during a transgression

39

especially in such an urbanized environment. We will also have coastal sites in the UP and Utah and will be working with
the USGS, UU, and BYU. Of course, everything is tentative until the university decides on funding and COVID19 travel
restrictions.

Most likely my most memorable experience while working in the Geography and Anthropology Department is working
with students on different projects and different locations around the world. We were working in the Cave of Letters
(Israel) years ago and just last week they had one of the largest discoveries in the 21st century, to date, including finding
some more Dead Sea Scrolls. A student and I were in the Cave right across the Wadi and these discoveries shed light on
many of today’s events. In addition, I think the field seminars the department offers are wonderful opportunities to put
your theoretical concepts you learn in class to practice, as well as interact with collaborators from different universities
around the world.

COVID19 has forced us to try to be more interactive online. It has led to a significantly less ability to do field research
with students. Talking with numerous students and faculty, one can see that this idea of an in-person/hybrid class model
is quite dysfunctional. One can either teach online or in person. From a teaching pedagogy point of view, there are a lot of
things you cannot do so that's been problematic for many STEM disciplines.

During COVID19, my daughter graduated and was going to be an environmental educator. When the Wolf Ridge
Environmental Center closed, she lost her job and her grad school funding. She had to come home and start working here.
She has recently decided to do a fire ecology internship at Bandelier National Monument. My son graduates from North
this month--after a very challenging academic year. My spouse has had to pivot her business to a more online model than
hands-on in her career. It has been good to have the ability to stay in Eau Claire and come to the office/work daily to
interact with students and colleagues. My family enjoys the outdoors. This winter my son and I purchased an Indy Pass
and we were able to ski all over the Midwest on weekends. We have also been able to go camping, swimming, getting
outdoors, and walking the beaches of the UP. Enjoy the summer.

JONATHAN MCCOMBS - Lecturer

[email protected], 715-836-3313

I'm a PhD candidate, currently still at University of Georgia, and am finishing up my PhD there. I was hired as a temporary
instructor at UWEC. Last fall, I taught two sections of Conservation of the Environment, and this fall I'm teaching
Conservation, Cultural Landscapes of North America, and the Geography of Russia and Eastern Europe. I would definitely
say I'm a geographer, but I came to geography via sociology. I was a sociology BA in college, and then I did my Master's in
sociology and social anthropology at Central European University in Hungary. Then I got into geography via that, so I feel
like I'm a mixed bag of social science. I'm an urban geographer, mostly so I study cities. I do my research in Hungary. I'm
also a geographer of post socialist cities specifically, so I look at cities after socialism, all the crazy dynamics that go on
there. When the pandemic came, I was still at Georgia teaching a huge super section, about a 300-person class. I was a
very lecture-heavy professor, and the pandemic forced me to get a little bit more acquainted with online teaching and
technology. I think it actually helped me become a better teacher in the sense that it forced me to break out of my
comfort zone of just like getting up there and telling everybody what they need to know. I felt like I had a good
opportunity to implement some of those practices from the ground up, more assignment-driven teaching and less
lecture-heavy teaching. That's something I've tried more and more to implement in every aspect of my teaching, as I've
developed it, and something I plan to continue to do as I go forward. I think the other main thing that I've learned from all
of this is there is now more of an attention to issues of accessibility. I think in the future, we as professors, and as a
university, could do better to make our classrooms more accessible. For most of us who have had some experience
teaching in the COVID era, we actually have some concrete strategies to do that. And I think that is a really positive thing,
and something that I hope we continue to develop more, as professors and as an academic community. I'm really looking
forward to getting back in the classroom. I miss seeing all of the students’ faces when I'm teaching.

Gloria and I were living apart last year, she here and I in Georgia. When UGA closed, I ended up moving here. Gloria and
I've gotten into backpacking. At the beginning of the pandemic, we bought some camping hammocks and some backpacks
and stuff. We started to get into it where we would go camping for a couple of nights around Eau Claire, and we did
sections of the Ice Age trail. At the very end of August, last year, we went to Pictured Rocks up in the northern peninsula.
I think that just solidified it for us. We were like, this is something that we want to do a lot. This is incredible. I also love

40

football; I am a Dallas Cowboys fan. You can take the boy out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the boy. Sorry
to l the Packer fans up here.

I lived in Hungary while I did my Masters. I have a lot of friends in Hungary and a lot of both work and personal
connections to the place. Whenever I have the opportunity to travel, I'm going back to Budapest, my second home. I
probably can't make it this summer because of my dissertation and also the pandemic situation in Hungary. It is really
not great, especially right now.

CYRIL WILSON - Professor
[email protected], 715-836-3454

I have been a professor in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at UWEC since 2011. My specialization is in
human-environment interactions with an emphasis on geospatial techniques. I come from a family of mostly
geographers. I grew up in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

My affection for maps and place at an early age drew me to geography. COVID has affected how I teach during these
unprecedented times. Teaching during COVID has been challenging for everyone. Juggling between in-person and
virtual classes took considerable time and improvisation especially with geospatial courses. COVID makes one better
appreciate the pre-COVID world and hope for a much better post-COVID world. I was on sabbatical in spring 2021
mostly working on data analysis and writing of manuscripts for a National Geographic Grant project. The project
examined the role of land cover, microclimate, and water quality on human health in Sierra Leone. I am looking forward
to normal in-person classes with hopefully minimal-to-no COVID related restrictions. I am always excited to see
students graduate from UWEC and build successful careers beyond UWEC.

My hobbies include traveling, music, cooking, and going to the gym. Once we can resume travels, I would like to take a
trip to Kenya.

YVONNE PLOMEDAHL - Academic Department Associate

[email protected], 715-836-3244

My favorite part of working in the department is the students. They make me feel a little younger, and I am always interested in
what they are doing, in their classes and in their own lives.

I babysit my granddaughter quite a bit. She is three and a carbon copy of my daughter. It is so entertaining to watch her
enthusiasm for the little things we completely ignore. I also have two grandsons. One will be a sophomore next year and the
other one will be a senior and has been looking at colleges. I bowl and golf (if you want to call it that). My idea of golfing is looking
at the greens, watching for wildlife, checking out the course to see if it has flowers. In other words, I pretend to golf! We have
seen a couple does, both with fawns. A turkey landed on the green next to us at one of our outings. A couple years ago my
husband and I were golfing with a couple friends. They were ahead of us and we were driving along some woods. We saw this
cute sign poking out of the woods with a bear head. All of a sudden the head moved, our friends took off and so did the bear.

I am happy that we are starting to get back to normal. When we were in quarantine at home, it made me realize how much I
depend on being around people. Since my husband and I have always worked full time until he retired, we have not been home
together during the day that often, so it was a new experience. Winter in Wisconsin is tough unless you like to ski, snowmobile,
or are active in some other winter sport. I am definitely not a homebody.

Fun Faculty 41
Statistics Tea

The Faculty's Favorite Ice Cream Destinations

Olson's Ice Cream
Ramone's Ice Cream
Parlor
Cold Stone Creamery
Eau Claire Cheese
& Deli
Culver's

The Faculty's Preference of Coffee or Tea

Coffee Both

42

Emeritus News

BRADY FOUST (Geography Faculty 1971-2009)

I’ve kept busy after retirement with lots of travel, time with grandchildren, and work. When I graduated from college and
went to graduate school I had made 96 skydives. I wanted to get to 100 before I turned 75. Making the 6 jumps was fun,
but I realized that I was too old and stiff to easily get out of small airplanes.

A huge chunk of my time in the past 6 years was devoted to the development of Pablo Center at the Confluence. I started
as part of a fundraising committee early on, then joined the Board of Directors, and served as President for one year. I am
extremely proud of this beautiful performing arts center.

After retirement I helped start two companies with long-time collaborators in California and Colorado. The first,
LeadValu, failed as do most start-ups. We were a couple of years late to the market. The second company, HazardHub,
was started 5 years ago and is doing well. We three founders put in several years of sweat equity. The first two hires were
two of my students, Joe Litchfield and Mike Jolitz. Last year, we hired another Blugold, Paul Heiman. We have other
geospatial analysts from UW-Madison, UW-Whitewater, and UW-La Crosse. We have an office in Madison. Our work is
geospatial in nature so we are always looking for great GIS people.

I keep in contact with a large number of former students. The best years of my life was my time in the Geography
Department, but the only thing I really miss is being around college undergraduates. They kept me young. When I retired,
I went from having mostly friends between 18 and 25 to a bunch of geezers. That is tough.

Internship Spotlight Matt Dewitte
Patrick Galarza
MATT DEWITTE - FALL 2020, SPRING 2021

I am working at the National Marrow Donor Program (Externally known as Be the
Match).

As a Geospatial Analyst intern, I oversee the dissemination and facilitation of GIS
at the NMDP. This involves using GIS and its systems to optimize the bone
marrow transplant processes through location analysis. I am also involved in
researching the spatial distribution of genomic data in NMDP donors. This
research has led me to automate the creation of over 40,000 maps through
python and other scripting languages.

JEDEDIAH LORENZ- SPRING 2021

Pepin County Department of Land Conservation and Planning

PATRICK GALARZA - FALL 2020, SPRING 2021

I am currently working for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation as a
surveying intern. One current project of mine involves performing static surveys
for the 2021 modernization of the national spatial reference system. This
modernization takes place nationwide where the WisDOT is only a small part. The
project aims to improve accuracy of the system nationwide and help with day-to-
day local surveying accuracy.

ALEX WEBBER- FALL 2020

TDS Communication

43

Department of Geography and
Anthropology 2020-2021 Student Awards

Excellence in Leadership Overall Excellence in Geography

Lauren Becker Makayla Jones-Klausing Lauren Becker
Cameron Wingren
Tressa Lange Jessica Peterson

Madelyn Loeffler Cameron Wingren Outstanding Juniors

Excellence in Scholarship Matthew Dewitte Claire Lovelace
Braxton Doucette Patrick O’Rourke
Antonio DeRosa Molly Larson Alee Erickson Jessica Peterson
Erin Garvey Antonio Meyers Abigail Fischer Shaelyn Talley
Katie Grong Patrick Galarza Grace Uchytil
Erin Garvey Cedric Warner
Excellence in Research Margaret Guetschow Eric Xiong
Drew Knecht
Katrina Berg Katie Grong

Amy Blazanin Hailee Jeffries

Emily Decker Madeline Lundquist

Hunter Delikowski Grace Uchytil Outstanding Seniors

Abigail Fischer Cameron Wingren Katrina Berg Madelyn Loeffler
Benjamin Brown Madeline Lundquist
Special Recognition for Conference Kennedy Domerchie Antonio Meyers
Presentation Luke Freeman Charles Petri
(AAG, UWEC CERCA, and/or WLIA) Katie Grong Zachary Rau
Savanna Grunzke Melanie Rausch
Katrina Berg Jennifer Harvey Rebecca Reif
Emily Decker Ryan Heyrman Dustin Shimoda
Hunter Delikowski Luke Holterman Ally Somerville
Katie Grong Makayla Jones-Klausing Abigail Tekiela
Hailee Jeffries Benjamin Krochmalski Marie Unke
Tressa Lange Nathan Walker
Research Awards Molly Larson Cameron Wingren
Geospatial Sciences Category:
Congratulations 2020-2021
Matt Dewitte, “Optimizing Deep Learning Department Award
Architectures for Remote Sensing Image Analysis” Recipients! Thank you for all
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Papia Rozario your dedication and hard
work.
Natural Sciences Category:

Katie Grong and Hunter Delikowski, “Fluvial
System Response to Abrupt Base-Level Fall:
Mapping Tributary Stream Terraces in the Lower
Chippewa River Watershed”
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Doug Faulkner

Social Sciences Category:

Jessica Peterson, “Exploring Anti-Homeless
Architecture in Minneapolis: A Novel Google Earth
Street View Approach”
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Gloria Howerton

44

Awards From Conferences
and the University

REILLY ALBERT

University Student Excellence Award for Domestic Immersion Leadership, 2020

MADDIE LOEFFLER

University Student Excellence Award for Environmental
Sustainability, 2020

MADDIE LOEFFLER

College of Arts & Science's non-STEM 2021-2022 James R..
and Vicki Lord Larson Undergraduate Research Fellowship

EMILY DECKER AND KATRINA BERG

WLIA Map Contest, Received recognition for
Anabaptist Executions 1524-1614 (Most Unique,
Runner-Up, 2021). Prof. Paul Kaldjian was the
mentor.

45

CERCA Presentations 2020 and 2021

Provost’s Honors Symposium
Josie Myers (Prof. Ezra Zeitler)

Representing a State: Shifting Themes in Minnesota’s Official State Highway Map

Geography and Anthropology – Poster Presentations

Kelly Jerviss, Joseph Beck, Logan Bergevin, Cameron Wingren, Hailee Jefferies, Madeline
Fuerstenberg (Prof. Harry Jol)

Using Subsurface Imagery to Locate the Old Ramayles Yeshiva in Vilnius, Lithuania

Ethan Sailer-Haugland, Logan Bergevin (Prof. Harry Jol)

Surface Imaging at Usha Archaeological Site, Israel: Searching for the Lost Synagogue

Wyatt Pajtash (Prof. Sean Hartnett)

On-water Bathymetric Survey of the 1,237-Acre Old Abe Flowage in Chippewa County Utilizing a Lowrance Integrated
GPS/HD-Sonar

Cameron Wingren, Joseph Beck, Logan Bergevin, Kelly Jerviss, Hailee Jefferies, Madeline
Fuerstenberg (Prof. Harry Jol)

Locating Execution Trenches Using Geophysical Survey Methods at Fort IX, Kaunas, Lithuania: Holocaust
Geoarchaeology

Katie Grong (Prof. Douglas Faulkner)

Fluvial System Response to Abrupt Base-Level Fall: Mapping Tributary Stream Terraces in the Lower Chippewa River
Watershed

Townes Adams, Parker Layton (Prof. Harry Jol)

Investigating Aeolian Sand Dunes in the Niobrara River Valley, Nebraska Sand Hills, U.S.A.

Wyatt Pajtash (Prof. Ryan Weichelt)

Redistricting Geographies: Effects of Gerrymandering on Competitive Elections

Madeline Fuerstenberg, Logan Bergevin, Cameron Wingren, Hailee Jefferies, Kelly Jerviss
(Prof. Harry Jol)

Documenting and Photographing Archaeological Research at a Holocaust Mass Extermination Site: A Rare Opportunity
at Fort IX in Kaunas, Lithuania

Ryan Heyrman, Carter Brown (Prof. Matthew Haffner)

The Development of “Mapsurvey”: An R Library for Implementing Spatially Enabled Surveys

Molly Larson (Prof. Paul Kaldjian)

Geography of Mental Health: Wisconsin’s Landscape of Distress

46

Carolyn Bauer (Prof. Paul Kaldjian)

Space and Solitude: The Geography of Introversion

Jennifer Harvey, Anne Kaldjian (Prof. Paul Kaldjian)

Enrollments, Migration, and the Changing Complexion of Wisconsin’s Public Schools

Lauren Becker (Prof. Ezra Zeitler)

Moving Forward: Factors in the Retirement of Indigenous Mascots within Four Wisconsin K-12 School Districts

Matt Dewitte (Prof. Papia Rozario)

Optimizing Deep Learning Architectures for Remote Sensing Image Analysis

Patrick Galarza (Prof. Papia Rozario and Martin Goettl)

Comparison of Rolling Shutter Effects on Photogrammetric Accuracy Using UAV Platforms

Jessica Peterson (Prof. Gloria Howerton)

Exploring Anti-Homeless Hostile Architecture in Minneapolis: A Novel Google Earth Street View-Based Approach

Katie Grong (Prof. Douglas Faulkner)

Fluvial System Response to Abrupt Base-Level Fall: Mapping Tributary Stream Terraces in the Lower Chippewa River
Watershed

Amy Blazanin (Prof. Harry Jol)

GPR Investigation of the Great Dune Ridge, Nagliu Nature Reserve, Lithuania: A Historic Landscape Threatened by
Natural and Anthropologenic Causes

Aidan Mills (Prof. Sean Hartnett)

On-Water Bathymetric Survey of a Steep and Rocky Segment of the Eau Claire River

Grace Uchytil (Prof. Harry Jol)

Progradation on Wisconsin Point Along the Superior Barrier Using Ground Penetrating Radar

Briar Striegel (Prof. Cyril Wilson)

Quantifying Agricultural Contributions to Surface Water Quality Impairment in the Lower Wisconsin River Watershed

Peyton Tohulka (Prof. Paul Kaldjian)

Street Sign Namescapes: An Analysis of Eau Claire, WI Street Names

Hailee Jefferies (Prof. Harry Jol and Martin Goettl)

Subsurface Investigation of Cape Kolka, Latvia: A Progradational Strandplain Along the Baltic Coast

Katrina Berg (Prof. Paul Kaldjian)

The Geography of Community

Katrina Berg (Prof. Paul Kaldjian)

Anabaptist Executions, 1524-1614 (Illustrative Map)

47

Geography and Anthropology Club (GAC)

Picture from Spring 2021 meeting outside because of COVID restrictions.

L to R: Zachary Rau, Matt Polum, Lauren Becker, Taylar Bogdanovic, Alee Erickson, Maddie Loeffler,
Allison Bast, Jessica Peterson, Mallory Woodle, Sam Hanneman, Zack Blackert, and Molly Larson.

GAC Officers:

President: Maddie Loeffler
Vice President: Sam Hanneman
Treasurer: Mallory Woodle
Secretary: Jess Peterson.

To the right is a photo from
a masked neighborhood
cleanup that was done by
GAC. Thank you for
helping our community!!

48

Scholarship Awards

Scholarship: Wickman Applied GIS This scholarship has been created to support a sophomore or
Scholarship Recipient: Matt Dewitte higher who has a declared major or minor in geography with
special interest in geographic information systems (GIS). The
student must show applied use of GIS in their academic work, and
great potential for success in a future career. Academic success
and potential should be the highest criteria for selection.

Scholarship: Palm Family Students must be geography majors and have completed their
Scholarship Recipient: Madelyn Loeffler junior year with an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher, with GPA of 3.0
or higher in the major.

Scholarship: Bruce Gelvin Anthropology This scholarship will be awarded to a student pursuing an
and Conservation Anthropology certificate who has taken a course in conservation
Scholarship Recipient: Quinton or sustainability. The recipient must be in good academic
Gilbertson standing.

Scholarship: Henry W. Kolka Geography Geography students with good scholastic records who are
Scholarship Recipient: Jessica Peterson outstanding individuals.

Scholarship: Jana Minnick Field Study Designated for students enrolled in the geography capstone
Scholarship Recipients: Tatum Shea seminar or equivalent course. Must be a junior or senior and
Fehrenbach and Tressa Lange show academic accomplishment as well as financial need. The
money is to be used for travel expenses associated with the
capstone course.

Scholarship: Kerlin and Ethel Seitz The Kerlin and Ethel Seitz Scholarship is designed to benefit a
Scholarship Recipients: Madeline serious-minded Geography Major at the UW-Eau Claire.
Lundquist and Makayla Jones-Klausing Preference will be given to Geography majors with emphases on
land management, conservation of resources, and environmental

problems. The student recipient(s) will have completed all of the

100- and 200- level core courses required by the department plus

Geography 178 and 270 (or similar courses if future changes are made) before receiving the scholarship. The grades for

the above-mentioned courses will be used to compute the scholarship's GPA requirements. The student may be either a

junior or senior if the other requirements have been satisfied. If a student receives the award during their junior year, the

student may compete for scholarship renewal. Minimum GPA requirements are: 3.0 average (on 4.0 scale) for all

completed Geography courses. The student must exhibit to the selection committee a high potential for success and

contribution to their chosen profession in the area of community service and/or research. The student should have well-

defined goals and realistic plans for reaching those goals.

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Capstone Research Projects - Spring 2021

Abby Tekiela “The Impact of Phosphorus Filtration using the Wastewater Byproduct Spent Lime, on
the Water Quality of Lake Susan, Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA”
Townes Adams
Liam Brandt “Ground Penetrating Radar Investigation of Linear Dune Pairs Within the Niobrara
Aiden Mills Valley Preserve, Nebraska, USA”
Hailee Bushman
“Sand Stringers in Clark County, Wisconsin, USA”
Emily Decker
Lauren Becker “Conducting a Kayak-based Bathymetric Survey of the Eau
Claire River, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA”
Ben Pingel
Michael Sauer “Assessing Campus Accessibility for People with Physical
Maddy Rauscher Disabilities”
Nathan Moll
Aaron Dekker “An Analysis of Wildfire Risk in Wisconsin, USA” Liam Brandt preparing
Nathan Johnson for presentation.

Luke Freeman “Space for Controversy: Factors in the Retirement or Retainment of Caricatured
Allie Karpenske
American Indian Mascots Within Four K-12 Districts in Wisconsin, USA”
Mel Rausch
Lyndsey Tyznik “Creating a Better Hill Shade Map Using Non-Proprietary Software”
Dustin Shimoda
Hailee Jefferies “Spatial Relationship of ERCOT Utilities and Racial Demographics”
Harrison Smith
“The Geography of Art and Community: A Case Study of the Relationship Between
Community and the Artistic Landscape in Downtown Eau Claire, WI, USA”
“Tornado Risk Analysis: A Geospatial Approach to Assessing Tornado Risk in Wisconsin
Counties”
“Deer Crashes: Does the Topography Make Crashes More Likely?”

“Outdoor Recreation Tourism Potential of Reclaimed Sand Mines: The Silver Lining of
the Frac Sand Mining Debate?”

“Low Income Communities VS Payday Loan Store Locations in Milwaukee County”

“Immigration Trends and Company Composition by Birthplace in Eau Claire County,
Wisconsin, USA, 1840-1914”

“Creating a Better Coon Fork Lake Campground Map”

“An Evaluation of the Spatial Relationship Between Greenhouses and Crime Rates in
Three Wisconsin Cities, USA”

"Examining the Spatial Relationship Between Missing People and Caves in the USA”

""Subsurface Investigation of Cape Kolka, Latvia: A Strandplain Along the Baltic Coast"
"Mapping Bigfoot"

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Capstone Research Projects - Fall 2020

Ryan Heyrman "Analyzing Landuse/Landcover Changes in Brown County, Wisconsin, and Exploring the
Possible Drivers"
Rebecca Reif “Silenced Geographies: Roberto Tecpile's Journey from Mexico to Western Wisconsin”
Ethan Coyle
Ally Somerville "Political Polarization: Examining the Urban-Rural Partisan Divide in Wisconsin"

Tatum Fehrenbach “Summer of 2019 versus Covid Summer, 2020: Comparing Tourism Trends in
Jennifer Harvey Stockholm, WI and Red Wing, MN”
Hunter Delikowski "Door County Tourism and the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Content Analysis"

Richard Smilowski "An Analysis of De la Gente Coffee Distribution"
Reilly Albert
“Analyzing Ground Penetrating Radar Facies of a Barchanoid Dune in the Eastern
Algodones Dune Field, California, USA"

"Tracking Deforestation in the Amazon: A Socio-Geospatial Approach”

“Mapping College Campus Accessibility and Proposing Future Improvements”

Cameron Wingren “Locating Execution Trenches Using Geophysical Survey Methods at Fort IX, Kaunas,
Lithuania: Holocaust Geoarchaeology”

Katie Grong “Autogenic Response of the Lower Chippewa River to Late Wisconsinan Base-Level Fall:
Testing the Model Part 2”

Makayla Jones-Klausing “Wisconsin Beekeeper Demographics”

Luke Holterman "Hunting as Conservation: The Future of Deer Hunters in Wisconsin”
Jedediah Lorenz "Avitourism in Wisconsin: A Recreational and Economic Success”