Speakers, presentations and bake sales held from Nov. 14-18

By Zachary Huss

The KU geographical society hosted geography awareness week, holding events through Nov. 14-18. The geographical society started geography awareness week with a bake sale that was held in the Boehm lobby.

On Nov. 15, professors Steven Schnell, Moira Conway and Michael Davis from the geography department shared their experiences studying geography and how they ended up at KU at the graduate center.

The geographical society hosted a presentation on Pennsylvania’s state parks in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the National Park Service, by Dr. Chris Sacchi from KU’s biology department in Boehm 262.

On Nov. 16, Michael Gilmore, a professor of integrative studies from George Mason University in

Virginia, visited KU. Gilmore gave a presentation titled “Saving the Amazon,” which showed how he was able to help the Maijuna, a native tribe of the Peruvian Amazon, save their ancestral lands through the use of participatory mapping. The project allowed the Maijuna to form an indigenous federation to project their land from loggers and poachers that were threatening the area.

On Nov. 17, three more of the geography department’s professors shared their experiences with geography in their careers. Professors Mario Cardozo, Mathias Le Bosse and Jerry Griffith spoke about their studies in geography, discussing their decisions on entering the workforce or continuing on to earn a Ph.D. or a Master’s Degree. Later that night, professors Richard Courtney and Davis hosted geography trivia night in the Boehm lobby.

The Geographical Society closed out the week with a pizza party in the graduate center lobby to allow faculty, students and potential geography majors to socialize and celebrate geography awareness week.