a Geographer's Place

My number one reason for being a Geographer can be summed up in one word: Fieldwork. While I've written on that topic previously, I want to expound a little more on the subject and explore Field Studies . At it's core, a "field study" means you are conducting some kind of fieldwork with a specific purpose. This is why I do what I do. So I can drag people into the field with me, help them see the landscape anew! Currently, I run two international field study courses: Sustainability in the Caribbean , where I spend a couple weeks with students on the Island of Grenada, and Geography by Rail ® , a program I designed (and trademarked!) to explore landscapes using the quintessential mode of transport: the train. Both represent exciting, but different, field study programs. Students at Levera beach, Grenada, excited at the opportunity to study on a tropical island! Regardless of which they partake in however, students overwhelmingly enjoy the opportunity t...

Fieldwork. MY kind of fieldwork involves two things: working hard and playing hard. Yes, there’s also safety, planning, getting equipment and funding, etc., etc., blah, blah. But it all comes down to working and playing. It’s my goal to instill the kind of fieldwork I learned into the hearts of my students—those brave enough to embark on excursions with me. Because the only way to really learn it, is to do it. Fieldwork can be trying, rigorous, dangerous, challenging, and frustrating. In my eyes at least, it should also be fun. Sure you may get very hot or super cold, be extremely dry or soaking wet, and sweat like a puerco estacado . But you’ll also be richly rewarded...if not with good, usable data, then with experience that will, hopefully later, lead to wisdom. So here I am, in my little apartment on my beloved Island of Grenada in the Caribbean while students scamper around the Island on the annual G.R.E.N.A.D.A. ( G o, R un, E xplore N ew A nd D iverse A reas). All part o...

Someone left an anonymous comment asking what tools I use as a Geographer. This comes at a great time since I just discussed this with my class last week. I’ve written a little about the Ways of the Geographer and also what traditional  Geographers do . I’ve also put together a baby Treatise of Geography and reworked a classic Primer on Fieldwork . And that’s where I’d start: fieldwork. IMHO fieldwork of any kind is THE Geographer’s tool. Describing the earth requires being IN it...and fieldwork makes that happen. But, if I had to list more conventional tools, first on my list would be my field journal/notebook. This serves to record everything I do, observe, and analyze in the field. Second would be a digital camera—to capture those phenomena I am observing and analyzing visually. Of course, nowadays we have the ubiquitous cell phone. And it can function as a field journal/notebook and a really nice camera. Plus an audio and visual recording device, among other things. So, it's ...

For those who don’t know it, one of my interests is the US-Mexico border. Last weekend, a professor and myself took some students to investigate the towns of Sasabe, Arizona and Sasabe, Mexico in the Altar Valley. (Go find it on a map…pic below). In Sasabe, AZ, there are maybe a few dozen residents with a single store (that has EVERYthing—literally…mattresses, shoes, pork & beans, curling irons, Fruit Loops, you name it!) and post office; ranching is the main form of livelihood. In Sasabe, Mexico we estimated the population to be 3,000 to 4,000 people. The main form of livelihood in Sasabe, MX is anyone’s guess...the town is not much to speak of, as this photo shows. One thing that IS present? The ever-watchful eye of “Big Brother”. The US Border patrol has a real, on-the-ground fence (see pic), mobile watchtowers (see pic), and a virtual fence that looks like a radio tower but is actually a sophisticated surveillance system, complete with 24/7 Pinkerton security! The US-Mexico...

We’ve been having a LOT of rain here in the Valley of the Sun. One of my study sites I’m monitoring has received almost 6 inches in the past week! That’s more than it’s received in all the months previous to now! I can’t wait to see how much the site has changed after this rain! All this rain has reminded me how much I enjoy the greening and clouds associated with precipitation…so that’s what I’m blogging about today. Although I do enjoy bright colors, gray is my favorite. In any shade. You know, that gray-ish blue tint the clouds sometimes get—almost a tungsten hue. And gray skies make me smile…because they’re pretty, because they bring rain, and because I know what (usually) comes after gray skies. But others fail to notice the beauty of gray. Or rain. I was having dinner with some friends last night. One of them said, “I don’t like the cold and wet. Cold is okay, but wet I can’t handle. And the gray skies. I need sun!” Another said, “Well, where I grew-up, there were always clou...

I LOVE being "in the field"! It was one of the things that drew me to Geography! My first experience with REAL field studies was at Weber State with Dr. Murphy. He is a great Geographer and really loves field work (and traveling!). His love of the field rubbed off on me. Even today I play in the field as much as I can. This picture was taken on a recent field excursion through the Sonora River Valley in Mexico. I was driving along, observing the landscape, when all of the sudden we see this road cut that has a volcanic dike shaped like Mexico! How cool! (That's me, squatting on what would be the Yucatan Peninsula...) Of course, we HAD to pull over and take pictures! (The word "MEXICO" had already been painted on the road cut). I love finding "Natural" features that represent everyday objects. And this was one of the coolest representations I've found!