Conference tackles rock hard geography topics

On September 12 and 13, the Association of American Geographers (AAG), Great Plains-Rocky Mountains Division, held their annual conference on the UND campus.

The city of Grand Forks had not hosted the division conference since 1979, and welcomed professionals, professors, and both graduate and undergraduate students from 17 states and two Canadian provinces.

In all, around 150 individuals attended, with seven geography majors and five faculty members representing UND. Other students attended from Kansas State University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, South Dakota State University, the University of Wyoming, and even the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs.

The meeting began Friday morning with attendees given the choice of attending one of three field trips.

The first field trip focused on the unique agriculture of the Red River Valley, and included a tour of Tri Campbell Farms, the North Dakota Mill - the only state-owned mill in the nation - and finally, of the American Crystal Sugar Company plant in East Grand Forks.

The concentration of the second field trip took participants to see the prehistoric glaciers' affect on the drift prairie region of the state. They got a chance to observe the impact of saline lakes on the surrounding environment, the formation of rivers and beach ridges, and the characteristics of the area tills.

Field Trip 3 consisted of the examination of Grand Forks after the 1997 flood. A presentation on the flood was given followed by a tour of the recently completed $413-million flood protection project.

An opening reception was held later that night, at the North Dakota Museum of Art, featuring keynote speaker, Professor John Agnew of UCLA and president of AAG.

Saturday gave geographers the opportunity to exhibit posters and presentations on various geography topics, such as graduate student Jordan Neau's "Success of Renaissance Zone Program in Northeastern North Dakota Communities." Participants as well as students could also compete in the Geography Bowl, a Jeopardy-style trivia game focused on geographical issues. UND took second place, edged out by the University of Wyoming.

Associate professor Bradley Rundquist, chair of the Great Plains-Rocky Mountain Division and conference organizer, called the meeting a success.

"The conference went very well," he said. "We had lots of positive comments about the meeting, UND, and Grand Forks. Many were very impressed with Grand Forks."

One participant, Professor of Geography at South Dakota State University, Darrell Napton was especially pleased. "Everyone came away from the meeting with a better appreciation of North Dakota and UND," Napton commented, "…and a renewed appreciation for and respect of the UND Geography Department."

Geography students Ben Prusa and Brooks Hansen could not agree more. Prusa, a first-year graduate candidate, showed his presentation, "Search and Rescue: The Mt. Rainer Story," and felt his work for the conference would "…prepare me for my career, with meetings and presentations I will have to give. It was an excellent learning experience."

Hansen, a senior, presented his exhibit on "Land Cover and Land Use In the Vicinity of Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge." Both students did volunteer work for the conference - Hansen helped prepare the field trips and drove for the shuttle service provided for conference-goers. Both also had the chance to meet and speak with students from other colleges that were present at the conference.

The Great Plains-Rocky Mountain Division's annual meeting for 2009 is to be held in Logan, Utah. The conferences are open for geography professionals, professors, students, and those with just an interest in the science to attend.