Department News

Awards and Accomplishments

Nirvana Heidarian, Ph.D. Student, was also awarded the P.E.O International Peace Scholarship worth $12,000! Nirvana is advised by Dr. Devine.

Tighearnan Juarez Murphy, Ph.D. Student, won the Best Graduate Student Paper award from the Geomorphology Specialty Group (GSG) and was elected as Student representative for the GSG! Tighearnan is advised by Dr. Meitzen.

The SWAAG GeoBowl Team (Bren Vander Weil, Andrew Adams, and Tighearnan Juarez Murphy placed 3rd out of 7 teams at the 2024 annual AAG meeting! They were one question away from making the finals at the end of a thrilling back-to-back-to-back sudden death situation.  Tighearnan tied for 3rd place in overall individual scoring!

Alisa Hartsell was awarded the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding PhD Student award as well as the Outstanding Geography and Environmental Studies student! Alisa’s advisor is Dr. Blue.

Garret Pugh was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student in Geography and Environmental Studies. Garrett’s advisor is Dr. Jensen.

Amory Baudoux was awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Geography and Environmental Studies

Mikael Lopez won First Place Research Poster for the College of Liberal Arts Research Expo. He was awarded $1,000 for his research presentation! Mikael works with Dr. Myles’s research group.

Dustin Sanchez (advisor Dr. Tiefenbacher) was awarded a highly competitive Critical Language Scholarship Program from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Dustin will study Turkish.

Xiu Wu (advisor Dr. Zhan) passed her proposal defense and advanced to PhD candidacy.

Dr. Soe Myint was selected as the 2024 award recipient of the AAG E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Award. This annual award recognizes members of the Association who have made truly outstanding contributions to the geographic field due to their special competence in teaching or research.

Dr. Sarah Blue has been selected for a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award! Dr. Blue will split her time between Guadalajara, Mexico and Halifax, Canada (January-August 2025) researching North American immigration policy. Congratulations to Sarah for this awesome accomplishment and recognition of her impactful scholarship!

Congratulations to Ekeanyanwu (Nakky) Chikodinaka, Ph.D. student, for receiving a $10,000 P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship for the 2023-2024 academic year.  Nakky's advisor is Dr. Yongmei Lu.

Two graduate students were recognized at the Southwest Division of the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Keenon Lindsey, Masters Student, won 3rd place for graduate student poster competition with his poster project titled, “Spatial Unit for Gentrification Vulnerability Analysis of Austin, Texas”. Kennon’s advisor is Dr. Yongmei Lu

Andrew Adams earned 3rd place as an individual in GeoBowl. Andrew will be on the SWAAG GeoBowl Team to compete at AAG GeoBowl during the Denver Conference in March 2023. Andrew’s advisor is Dr. Robert Mace.

Hilary Ama Ansah, Ph.D. Student, is awarded Best Paper for Communication/Storytelling. Hilary presented her paper, “Recognizing Texas Woman in Time and Space – A Qualitative GIS Inquiry into Historical Markers”.    
Hilary’s advisor is Dr.Yongmei Lu.

Chikodinaka (Nakki) Ekeanyanwu, Ph.D. Student, is awarded Best Paper for Map Use/Information Graphics. Nakki presented her paper, “Modelling and Mapping Flood Hazard with a Flood Risk Assessment Tool: A Case Study of Austin, Texas”. Coauthors on this paper include Priyanjali Bose, Matthew Beavers, Dr. Yihong Yuan, and Inioluwa Obisakin. Nakki’s advisor is Dr. Yongmei Lu.

Dr. Brian Cooper is selected by the National Council for Geographic Education to receive the Higher Education Distinguished Teacher Award 2022. NCGE will acknowledge Dr. Cooper and present him this award at the banquet in Minneapolis during the NCGE 2022 Annual Conference in mid-October. Dr. Cooper’s recognition brings the number of our faculty recipients of this prestigious teaching award to fifteen, counting from “the very beginning of the records” since 1982.

Dr. Colleen C. Myles’ book , Fermented Landscapes: Lively Processes of Socio-environmental Transformation, as well as her latest research project, are featured in episode #28 of Ferment Radio, “Macro consequences of micro processes,” which was published on Sept 21, 2022. In the episode, she outlines how fermentation drives cultural and environmental change and introduces her ongoing ethnography of tastemakers, a key component of her latest research project on how taste makes place.

Geography undergraduate student, Evan Wilson, was selected by the Central Texas Section of the American Planning Association to receive Central Texas APA Section Student Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship was presented to Evan during the 2022 Central Texas APA Section Award and Ethics CM Credit event on Friday, September 16, 2022. Wilson follows Chayanika Sigh, a previous doctoral student who was recognized by this scholarship a few years ago.

Drs. Jennifer Devine, Tom Ptak, and Colleen Myles publish in The Conversation journal

Congratulations to student award winners at the annual SWAAG Meeting

• Madeline Wade, 1st place in Graduate Student Poster Competition – Madeline is a Master’s student. Her advisor is Jason Julian.
• Chayanika Singh, 2nd place in Graduate Student Poster Competition – Chayanika is a PhD student. Her advisor is Yongmei Lu.
• Joanna Weathersby, 1st place in Individual Award category for the GeoBowl Competition – Joanna is a Master’s student. Her advisor is Jason Julian

Congratulations Veronika Teiler, 3rd Place $500 scholarship winner from Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA)

Dr. Brian Cooper receives 2021 Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching

Student Spotlights:

Christina Lopez, PhD student, 2020 - 2021 Outstanding PhD student in College of Liberal Arts
Andy Pinon, Ph.D. student, 2021-2022 Fulbright Scholar Program Semifinalist
Ekeanyanwu Chikodinaka, Master's student, SCUAG (South Central Arc User Group) scholarship recipient
Jeremy Walker-Lee, Undergraduate student, recipient of the Austin Geological Society Minorities in Geosciences Textbook Scholarship Award

Congratulations to Dr. Injeong Jo for receiving the Award for Excellence in Online Teaching. Dr. Jo has been leading the developing and teaching of online courses for MAG in Geography with a Concentration in Geographic Education.

Congratulations Geography Students

PhD student, Chayanika Singh has been awarded a $1,000 Central Texas APA Section Student Scholarship.

PhD student, Mael LeNoc, received a five month fellowship from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies for his research project, "Towards a Geography of Persecution: The Case of the Arts-et-Métiers and the Enfants-Rouges Quarters of the Third Arrondissement of Paris, 1940-1946." The fellowship award is $4,000 per month for a five-month consecutive residency period at the Mandel Center at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, from September 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021. LeNoc’s advisor is Dr. Alberto Giordano.

PhD student, Mael LeNoc, received a Dissertation Fellowship from Phi Kappa Phi (the first for a Texas State student!). He is one of only 10 recipients nationally of this prestigious award in the amount of $10,000. LeNoc’s advisor is Dr. Alberto Giordano.

PhD student, Christina Lopez, is one of the three recipients from Texas State University for the 2020-21 P.E.O. Scholar Award. This $15,000 merit-based award recognizes and encourages academic excellence and achievement by women in doctoral-level programs and provides partial support for study and research. Only 100 students are selected annually from among almost 1,000 applicants, and the students went through a lengthy selection process, including on-campus interviews and nomination by local P.E.O. chapters. Lopez’s advisor is Dr. Rusty Weaver.

PhD student, Mei Yang, is awarded a P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship for the 2020-21 year in the amount of $12,500. Although, this scholarship is need-based, the recipients were selected from many outstanding candidates. The funds will be used to offset Mei’s expenses for tuition and registration fees, books, supplies, equipment, and fees associated with course of instruction, and other school or living expenses. Yang’s advisor is Dr. Ben Zhan.

PhD student, Joshua Hodge, has been awarded Honorable Mention and $125 by the Coastal and Marine Specialty Group (COMA) of the AAG for the research talk he gave as part of the Norbert Psuty Student Paper Competition. This competition is held yearly at the AAG Meeting, but this April it was held as a Virtual Competition via Zoom (April 7, 2020). Hodge’s advisor is Dr. Richard Dixon.

PhD student, Raihan Jamil, has been awarded a Research Fellowship by San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance in the amount of $2,000 to support his research project title “Urban Greenspace Distribution and Connectivity: A Case Study of San Marcos, Texas, USA”. Jamil’s advisor is Dr. Jason Julian.

Undergraduate student, Haley Tacker, has been awarded a Research Fellowship by San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance in the amount of $2,000 to support her research project title “Trail-Side Inventories of Ligustrum lucidum and Nandina Domestica Throughout Prospect Park and Spring Lake Natural Areas”. Tracker’s advisor is Dr. Kimberly Meitzen.

  Congratulations to Dr. Denise Blanchard for being elected to the Board of Directors for the Applied Geography Conferences.  Join us for the 43rd Annual Applied Geography Conference Baltimore, Maryland October 18-20, 2020 at The Hotel Indigo

Congratulations to the following students for research fellowships:

Ph.D., student, Mael Le Noc (advisor: Alberto Giordano), for being selected to receive a Doctoral Research Support Fellowship in the amount of $5000.00
Ph.D., student, Shadi Maleki (advisor: Ron Hagelman), for being selected to receive a Doctoral Research Support Fellowship in the amount of $4978.27
Congratulations to their advisors as well!

 Ph.D. student Molly Miranker received a $1500 travel grant from the Forensic Science Foundation to attend the American Academy of Forensic Sciences 2020 conference in Anaheim, California.

Congratulations to Geography Undergraduate student, Theresa Clifford for being selected to received the URF Scholarship! Theresa is conducting her thesis research under the supervision of Drs Eric Sarmiento, Colleen Myles, John Tiefenbacher, and faculty members from other departments. She has also been volunteering on Dr. Sarmiento’s Dunbar research Project.

A BIG Congratulations PhD student, Joshua Hodge, for being selected to receive a Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award! This award is a great testament to Joshua’s academic performance and potentials. Joshua plan to use the funding from this award to support his attendance and presentation at the AGU (American Geophysical Union) Meeting in San Francisco in December 2019. Joshua’s advisor is Dr. Richard Dixon.

Texas State geography students capture 4th consecutive Wild Rice Geobowl 1st place prize during the Southwest Division of the American Association of Geographers Conference in Ft.Worth.
Pictured from left right are Eric Wilson (Master's student), Walter Furness (PhD student), Joshua Hodge (Team Captain), Nina Garcia (undergraduate student), Mael Le Noc (PhD student) and Sean Companion (undergraduate student).

Dr. Jennifer Devine part of discussions hosted by the Costa Rican government in The Verge article titled, “Cocaine is driving deforestation, climate change, and migration”

Allison Glass-Smith receives the Texas State University Staff Council Award for Employee Excellence - Dr. Lawrence Estaville Employee Excellence Award.

Ph.D. alumnus Brian Brettschneider '06, is featured in this CNN story on Alaska’s record temps  https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/weather/alaska-climate-crisis-summer-weir-wxc/index.html

Dr. Michael Solem has been awarded a NSF grant of $293,369 to support his research “Building Capacity for Educational Assessment Research in Geography”. The grant will fund professional development activities related to a multi-level statistical analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Geography Assessment datasets, in collaboration with Dr. Russell Weaver (Geography) and Dr. Larry Price (Director, Methodology, Measurement and Statistical Analysis). This research will explore factors associated with varying levels of student achievement in geography as measured by NAEP since 1994. This award will support Dr. Solem and the team’s research through summer salary and funding for a doctoral research assistant. As a culminating activity, the National Center for Research in Geography Education (NCRGE) will sponsor a research conference to apply the findings of the NAEP analysis in future research proposals and programs to improve geographic learning in schools. http://www.ncrge.org/naep-geography/

The Department of Geography was ranked 13 out of 160 programs of its kind in the U.S. and 1 out of 6 programs in Texas as a “Best Value for the Money” in the annual nationwide ranking of U.S. colleges and universities by College Factual.

Dr, Edwin Chow featured in New York Times article titled, "How A.I. Helped Improve Crowd Counting in Hong Kong Protest".

KXAN Austin reports on Dr. Tom Ballinger's research connecting Arctic temperature with U.S. heat waves. 

Dr. Edwin Chow featured in NY Times article titled, “How A.I. Helped Improve Crowd Counting in Hong Kong Protests”.

KXAN Austin reports on Dr. Tom Ballinger’s research connecting Arctic temperature with U.S. heat waves.

The Texas State University System Board of Regents has named Lawrence Estaville Regents’ Professor. Lawrence received the designation during the ceremony on Friday November 16 in Huntsville. 

The Regents’ Professor designation honors outstanding members of the System’s professoriate who have achieved excellence in teaching, research and publication, and community service, while demonstrating an unwavering dedication to their students and university. Estaville is the 15th TSUS Regents’ Professor honored at Texas State, and the 3rd from the Department of Geography.

Dr. Jason Julian is featured by Texas Monthly for his research on natural areas, particularly those surrounding rivers, by using “an innovative mix of geographic tools and human behavior analysis”. Attached is the article.

  Texas State geography students take 1st place in the Geobowl competition at the 2018 SWAAG conference. Congratulations students!

The following geography faculty members received Alpha Chi Honor Society Favorite Professor Award for 2018. The award ceremony was held on the evening of Friday November 9, 2018.

David Butler, Ed Chow, Jennifer Devine, Rich Dixon, Ron Hagelman, Jennifer Jensen, Tim Loftus, and Rusty Weaver

Dr. Lawrence Estaville will be honored with the title of University Distinguished Professor award.  This award honors individuals whose performance in teaching, research, and service has been exemplary and recognized at the state, national, and international levels.  Congratulations Dr. Estaville.

Congratulations to Drs. Tom Ballinger, Brian Cooper, and Christi Townsend and Delores Van der Kolk, who were designated “Favorite Professors” by the Alpha Chi Honor Society.

Undergraduate student Gustavo Flores (Math major, Geography minor) has been awarded the South Central Climate Science Center’s Undergraduate Summer Internship for Underrepresented Minorities. Gustavo will be involved in “handson activities related to climate research that will allow him to see the direct impacts of climate variability and change on the bayous, delta and coastline of Louisiana, prairie and forest ecosystems and tribal cultures in Oklahoma, and the West Texas Southern High Plains.” Gustavo’s mentor is Rich Dixon;

Ph.D. student Alisa Hartsell (advisor: Blue) has been selected for the 2018 Boren Fellowship. Alisa plans to use the fellowship to study in China during the 2019 calendar year;

Ph.D. student Upendra Bom (advisor: Tiefenbacher) was awarded the EuroAsian Specialty Group Field Research Travel Award and the Regional Development and Planning Best Proposal Award at the AAG Meeting in New Orleans;

Ph.D. student Joshua Hodge (advisor: Dixon) was awarded a 2018 Summer Research Scholarship by SWAAG for the project “Geographic Patterns of the Hurricane Ike Storm Surge Sediment Deposit on Southeast Texas Gulf Coast Marshes”;

Ph.D. students David Mills, Guixing Wei, Niaz Morshed and Shadi Maleki were awarded a grant by Texas State University’s Environmental Services Committee (ESC) for their Bobcat Clean Air Project. Geography’s representative in ESC is Carter;

Ph.D. student Jennifer Villa (advisor: Butler) received a travel grant from the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America to attend the society’s regional meeting in Flagstaff, AZ;

Ph.D. student Paepin Goff (advisor: Butler) was awarded a grant from the University of Wyoming National Park Service to support her dissertation research;

Ph.D. student John Ponstingel (advisor: Weaver) was admitted to the 2018 George Washington University’s CIBER Summer Doctoral Institute, to be held from May 30 to July 25, 2018. Dr. Elizabeth Chacko, Professor of Geography and International Affairs at GWU, will serve as SDI faculty collaborator. Admission includes a stipend, travel expenses, and free housing in Washington, DC;

Dr. Jinhee Lee, a recent graduate of the Geographic Education Ph.D. program (advisor: Jo) was selected as a 2018 recipient of the Salvatore J. Natoli Dissertation Award from the National Council for Geographic Education. Jinhee will be formally recognized at the annual meeting of the NCGE at the Quebec City, Canada in August.

March Achievements

Dr. Rebecca Davio and IGI were awarded a $151,000 competitive project from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles;

The Texas Economic Atlas was showcased at SXSW in Austin. Team Mentor: Dr. Lawrence Estaville; Team Members: Mark Deka, John Ponstingel, Ritchie Jose, and Kaliegh Benck;

PhD student Upendra Bom (advisor: Dr. John Tiefenbacher) was awarded the 2018 AK Chakravarti Award for the Best Graduate Student Proposal on South Asia by the AAG Asian Geography/ Regional Development and Planning affinity group;

PhD students Guixing Wei (advisor: Dr. Ben Zhan) was selected as the Outstanding Doctoral Student from the College of Liberal Arts;

Master’s student Andy Pinon (advisor: Dr. Dave Butler) has been awarded a $300 grant from the Rising Scholarly Travel Activity and Research (S.T.A.R) program, sponsored by the Student Government at Texas State University, to attend the AAG Annual Meeting in New Orleans next month.

Ph.D. students (Milad Korde; advisor: Rusty Weaver) is part of a team that won first prize in the "Future of Energy Challenge" sponsored by Shell. The team has been invited to present its project and compete at the "Powering Progress Together Conference and Shell Eco-marathon" in San Francisco next month.

Dr. Suzon Jammes has been awarded a $107,537 grant from the National Science Foundation, NSF-Geoprisms (Geodynamic Processes at Rifting and Subducting Margins) program for the project “Effect of contrasting structural and compositional inheritances on the development of rifting margins.” Dr. Jammes is PI on the project. Co-PI is Dr. Luc Lavier from the University of Texas at Austin.

Congratulations to students Lucas Chavez, Julian Emerson, and Emma Highberger, whose 4427 class project is featured in a recent issue of the Community Impact Newspaper 

Dr. Fenda Akiwumi has been announced as the recipient of the 2018 AAG Harm de Blij Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Formal recognition will occur at the 2018 AAG Annual Meeting in New Orleans during the AAG Awards Luncheon on Saturday, April 14, 2018.

 Dr. Injeong Jo receives new grant for Transformative Research
 

Dr. Don Huebner leads a highly successful study abroad trip to Norway

https://www.tk.no/kultur/rindal/kunst/helt-texas-pa-dalalaven/s/5-51-323815

 Dr. Ron Hagelman and Dr. Brendan Lavy highlighted in KUT 90.5 news story
 https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2017/06/tree-protection-programs-may-not-impact-property-owners-many-believe/

Texas State geography department's graduate program featured in Spring 2017 issue of ArcUser

Dr. Rebecca Davio has been selected for the 2016 College of Liberal Arts award for Excellence in Grant/Contract funding

Dr. Alberto Giordano voted President-Elect of UCGIS (University Consortium for Geographic Information Science)

Dr. Jennifer Devine voted the “2016 International Studies Professor of the Year”

Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Jensen, Co-PI on the following grant for 2017-2019:

Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative. “Developing a process and conservation application for Landscape Conservation Design for the Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative”.  Clay Green, Jennifer Jensen, Thom Hardy (Co-PIs).  $200,000.

Ph.D. candidate Joshua Hodge receives $1,000 graduate scholarship from the Texas State Graduate College.

2017 AAG Awards and Honors

PhD student Paepin D. Goff (advisor: Butler), received the M. Gordon "Reds" Wolman Doctoral Student Research Award from the AAG Geomorphology Specialty Group;
PhD student Joshua Hodge (advisor: Dixon) was elected to the position of PhD student board member of the Coastal and Marine Specialty Group;
MAG student Elizabeth Yarbrough (advisor: Hiner) won the student paper competition from the Wine, Beer, Spirits Specialty Group;
MS student Paula Jones (advisor: Weaver) received the "Alternative Mode of Scholarship Competition" award from the Urban Geography Specialty Group;
PhD student Shadi Maleki (advisor: Hagelman) was elected to the position of Council Representative for The Graduate Student Affinity Group;
Dr. David Butler received the James J. Parsons Distinguished Career Award, "In Recognition of Outstanding Lifetime Achievements in Biogeography", from the AAG Biogeography Specialty Group;
Dr. Sarah Blue received a 2017 AAG Research Grant;

Ana Yanes-Garcia received a regional Alpha Chi $250 scholarship. She was also elected the Region I student representative to the National Council of Alpha Chi.

Doctoral student Ross Martin receives the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Graduate Student Award
 

Congratulations Chunhong "Chloe" Zhao on receiving the Joseph E. Pryor Fellowship

Drs. Jason Julian, David R. Butler, and Kimberly Meitzen receive NSF grant award.

  Ph.D. candidate Maël Le Noc has wins the  2016-2017 CSGS Outstanding Master's Thesis Award in Digital Scholarship.
 

Dr. Benjamin Zhan receives the Graduate College Outstanding Mentor Award
 

Dr. Alberto Giordano wins award for outstanding achievement in international education.

  Ph.D. student Monica Medel receives 2016 USGIF Scholarship

David R. Butler, Regents Professor, has been appointed Editor of the Annals of the American Association of Geographers with a focus on environmental science and physical geography.  His term will begin on January 1, 2017, and will run until December 31, 2020.

 Yongmei Lu featured on KVUE news discussing how climate change affects the spread of diseases.

Injeong Jo receives national grant from the NCGE Centennial E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller for Research in Geographic Education

 Yunuen Regadas (Ph. D. candidate) receives full scholarship by CONACyt the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (National Council of Science and Technology)
 

Maël Le Noc (advisor: Giordano) has won The Graduate  College’s Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award in Digital Scholarship for his thesis, “Family Arrest and Separation during the Holocaust in Italy.” Maël will receive $500 and will be recognized at The Graduate College’s Awards Ceremony next April.  He has also been entered into the Conference of Southern Graduate School’s competition for best master’s theses in the above-mentioned category.

Congratulations to Texas State's Geography team , the Texas State Wild Rice, for winning the Geobowl competition at the SWAAG Meeting in Denton,Texas. The GeoBowl Team is composed of: Tom Shelton (coordinator), Joshua Hodge, Walter Furness, Paula Jones, Mael Le Noc, Katie Alegro, and Elizabeth Yarbrough. Paula Jones was one of the top individuals and will represent our Regional Team at AAG in 2017.

Two of our students won awards in the student competitions: Ioannis Kamarinas (advisor: Dr. Jason Julian) won 2nd place in the Graduate Student Paper category, and Grant Moss (advisor: Dr. Jason Julian) won 3rd place in the Graduate Student Poster category.

Dr. David R. Butler received the "Certificate of Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing", from the Editors of Geomorphology (Elsevier) for 2015.

Meadows Center's Andy Sansom honored as hero of Gulf conservation

Dr. Lawrence Estaville presented with the 2015 Distinguished Scholar Award, AAG Ethnic Geography Specialty Group at AAG Meeting in Chicago

Former Ph.D. student Clayton Whitesides and Regents' Professor David R. Butler have co-organized and co-edited a special issue of a leading journal, Physical Geography.  The issue contains papers by current and former students and current faculty of the Geography Department, including Rachel Cavin, Susan Peters, Stephen Tsikalas, Clayton Whitesides, Dr. Christi Townsend, Dr. Rich Dixon, and Dr. David Butler.

MAG Student Jordan Adams receives grant

Doctoral student Graciela Sandoval wins the Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award ($500) for Fall 2015.

Three geography Phd students recently attended the Alpha Chi National College Honorary Society conference in Chicago, IL. Monica Medel, current Texas State Phd geography student received Alpha Chi's most prestigious award for $5000. Brendan Lavy and Erin Dascher also made student and chapter presentations at the conference.

The Department of Geography hosts water panel.

Dr. David R. Butler receive The Graduate College Outstanding Mentor Award.

Dr. Lawerence Estaville publishes 9th booked titled, Teaching Ethnic Geography in the 21st Century.

The Kappa Upsilon Chapter of Texas State University earns the Presidential Honors Chapter Award for 2014.

Drs. Michael Solem and Dick Boehm have been awarded $200,000 by the National Science Foundation for the project "RAPID: Geospatial Resources, Materials, and Tools for STEM Teacher Preparation." This is the first award that results directly from the creation of NCRGE, an initiative of the AAG, the Grosvenor Center, and Texas State Geography.

Dr. Jason Julian has been awarded $72,184 by the National Science Foundation for the project "Collaborative Research: Cross-Scale Interactions Among Climate, Land-Use, and River-Water Quality."

Dr. Jennifer Jensen, Co-PI on NSF grant, "CC*IIE Networking Infrastructure: Enabling and Improving Data-Driven Research at Texas State University," has been awarded the sum of $499.896.

Dr. Kanika Verma nominated for the 2014 CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Award for her dissertation titled, “Geospatial Thinking of Undergraduate Students in Public Universities in the United States.”

 Dr. Jason Julian, a 2012 Fulbright Scholar, was recently interviewed at the US Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand,
 

Dr. David R. Butler's new book, "Fire Lookouts of Glacier National Park", was recently published in the Great Falls Tribune, as well as the Hungry Horse News from Columbia Falls, Montana.

Dr. Alberto Giordano’s-led research on the Holocaust featured at research.gov.

 Dr Ron Hagelman, current Regional Councilor for SWAAG, elected to Chair of the AAG Regional Division Councilors

Jon Kedrowski featured in CNN article, “What happens to your body on Mount Everest”