join the ucla friendsof geography ucla ......this presentation of very topical information was...

Join the

UCLA FRIENDS OF GEOGRAPHYand the UCLA GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT for their

Annual Luncheon and Presentation

California Love:Harnessing the State’s Diversity to

Survive Apocalyptic TimesCentered around California’s changing demographics, this keynote talk will explore how wecan understand the state’s growing diversity as a major resource rather than a challenge, witha geographical interpretation of how diversity matters for creating a more socially justCalifornia.

Dr. Juan Herrera, Assistant Professor, UCLA Department of Geography

Come to Meet Old Friends and Make New Ones!Sunday, May 20th, 2018 Noon to 3:00pm

UCLA Faculty Center, California Room

Meter parking in parking structure #2 is available for $3.00 per hour or $12.00 for the day. Enter at the WestholmeAvenue or Charles E. Young Drive East entrances. RSVP for the event is on the Friends of Geography MembershipForm in this newsletter. A return envelope is included with the newsletter for your use. E-mail Jenee Misraje [email protected] with questions. Reservations will be held at the door.

Spring 2018 Newsletter, Volume 40

The FoG Horn ~ 2 ~ Spring 2018

2017 FOG ActivitiesAnnual LuncheonBy MARY MILLER

The annual FoG luncheon for some ninetyattendees was held at the UCLA Faculty Center atnoon on May 20, 2017. President Marianne Wrightwelcomed everyone before we were served a lovelylunch of salad followed by either Vegetable Strudelor Chicken with Mushroom Risotto then CrèmeBruleé. Shortly after 1 PM, Marianne thanked theBoard, staff members, and her husband who hadassisted with the luncheon planning and execution.

She next introduced our undergraduate scholarshipaward winners – Ryan Lam, 2016 and AngelinaNguyen, 2017 – and gave them “study snack” giftbags, then turned the podium over to ProfessorGlen MacDonald, who detailed the Department’srecent growth and success:

• A high number of majors and minors(including many in combined Geography/Environmental Studies) and transfer anddoctoral students

• Many awards for such activities asundergraduate research as well asfellowships from a variety of organizations

• Professorships for Department PhD’s

• Honors for current faculty members

• An encouraging increase in facultydiversity

He also thanked current chairLarry Smith who is finishing hisfourth and final year in thatjob.

Presentations were given bytwo graduate students –Alexander Naylor, who spokeabout various processes (wind,water, etc.) affecting drylands,and Frank van der Wouden, who addressed variedeconomic results in US cities, results that areinfluenced by collaborative technology networks.

Keynote Speaker, Department Chair Larry Smith –next shared details of his research on the Greenlandice sheet and what that reveals about climatechange and sea level rise. Dr. Smith is calculatingthose impacts by looking at:

• whether meltwater enters the ocean basedon remote sensing of the condition of water at the edge of the landmass as wellas information from the collection ofsamples of that water,

• a determination of the pathways andprocesses by which that meltwatermovement occurs, which entails using GISto compare digital maps of the top and base of the bedrock, drone boats, photographs that reveal streams ending inmoulins, and remote sensing to determineflow rates, and

• the accuracy of predictions of global sea level rise using photos and drone mapping;the predictions seem to overestimate the outflow at the beginning of the season – a determination that is not corrected by theend of the season.

This presentation of very topical information wasenthusiastically received by attendees.

Fall HikeOn Saturday, September10th, the second Friends ofGeography activity in 2017was a hike and brown baglunch at the UCLA La Kretzcenter at Rocky Oaks Park inthe local Santa MonicaMountains. Six hearty soulsjoined UCLA GeographyProfessor Tom Gillespie, aswe learned about local flora and fauna.

The morning into afternoon event also includedthree recent alum Nick Nobles, Irene Farr and AshleyBanuelos. Prof. Melanie Renfrew, UCLA alum andcurrent Professor of Geography at Los AngelesHarbor College also added tremendous insight, with

Marianne and MattWright bringing upthe rear of thegroup. A good timewas had by all, withgreat pictures toboot.

Attendee’sNancy Cummings &Ricahard Marston


Prof. Greg Okin Named asGeography Department ChairLaura E. Gómez, J.D., Ph.D. Interim Dean of Social Sciences, UCLA College of Letters & ScienceProfessor of Law, Professor of Sociology and Chicana/Chicano Studies

I am pleased to share the news that Professor GregOkin has agreed to serve as the next chair of theGeography Department. He will serve a three-yearterm, July 2017-June 2020. Greg has served thedepartment in many capacities, including, mostrecently, as Vice Chair for Graduate Studies. I knowthat Greg will be a dedicated and fair leader. In ayear when three new assistant professors join thehuman geography side of the department, I knowhe will do all in his power to see that they thrive.

I am grateful to Chair Larry Smith, who has servedwith great energy for the past four academic years.As interim dean, I particularly enjoyed working withLarry this year to turn one junior search into threehires. Whether interacting with the provost, deanor alumni, Larry has been a fierce advocate forGeography faculty, staff and students, sometimesquietly but always adamantly. Larry, we salute yourleadership and fervently hope you will return toUCLA after your year in Providence – and wepromise to send selfies with blue skies and palmtrees in the background!

From the ChairGreg Okin(Ph.D., California Institute of Technology,2001) Professor with research interests ingeomorphology, plant-soil interactions, aridenvironments, nutrient cycling, spatialmodeling, and remote sensing. Professor Okinteaches courses in Physical Geography, Soils,and Remote Sensing.

As I work my way through my first year as Chair, Iam more amazed than ever about my colleagues inthe Geography Department. From this vantagepoint, for the first time, I have the privilege offocusing on the accomplishments of ourdistinguished faculty and students. In the last fewyears, we have had one faculty member elected tothe National Academy of Science, two facultyelected Fellows of the American Association for theAdvancement of Science (AAAS), two facultyelected Fellows of the American Geophysical Union(AGU), two faculty elected Fellows of the American

Association of Geographers (AAG), one facultyelected Fellow of the American MeteorologicalSociety (AMS), and one elected as a Fellow of theBritish Academy. Just this past year, Cindy Fan wonthe Distinguished Scholar Award from the AAG’sAsian Geography Specialty Group, Juan Herrerawon the Distinguished Contributions to ResearchArticle Award from the Latino Sociology Section ofthe American Sociological Association, DennisLettenmaier won the Charney Medal from theAmerican Meteorological Society, Shaina Potts wonthe Ashby Prize from the Environment and PlanningA in recognition of the most innovative articles

published in the journal during the previous year,and Eric Sheppard won the AAG’s Meridian BookAward for Outstanding Scholarly work inGeography. Our faculty continue to be recognizedin other ways. John Agnew was granted anhonorary PhD from the University of Oulu inFinland. Judy Carney was awarded a Rachel CarsonCenter for Environment and Society Fellowship. BillClark was a visiting scholar at the University of Paris.Lieba Faier won two distinguished fellowships: theACLS Fellowship from the American Council ofLearned Societies and the Howard FoundationFellowship from Brown University. Marilyn Raphaelwas named to the Royal Society’s Women in ScienceList of 90 Women in Antarctic Science as well as theScientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).Yongwei Sheng was named an Overseas Expertfrom the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The plaudits do not stop with our faculty. Ourgraduate students, too have received impressiveawards, including three UCLA Dissertation YearFellowships this year, three extra-departmental fieldwork grants, and two Social Science ResearchCouncil International Dissertation Research

PICTURED: Prof. Helga Leitner, new Member-at-Large of the FoGBoard of Directors, taken in Jakarta doing field work,interviewing kampung residents about their experiences withdevelopers buying up the land in their kampung and displacingtheir neighbors.


Fellowships. One of our recent PhDs won animpressive three paper awards and two travelawards from the AAG. Our students received anunbelievable three NASA Earth and Space ScienceFellowships, two NSF Fellowships, and onescholarship from the US Geospatial IntelligenceFoundation. As a reflection of this outstandingquality scholarship, I’m pleased to say that ourstudents have also been getting prestigiouspostdoctoral research positions and faculty jobs. Inthe last few months alone, we have heard that fiveof our recent PhDs have received tenure trackfaculty positions at top institutions.

I am pleased to say that our department’sscholarship and teaching is stronger than ever.However, in the last half-year I am also learning howprecarious this all is. Reductions in state funding,massive increases in the numbers of undergraduatestudents, and limited graduate funding all threatenthe quality of undergraduate education that we areable to provide. Geography has always been knownas a department with exceptional teachers, and wehave more than our fair share of University TeachingAwardees. That has not changed. Nor has thequality, motivation, and sheer awesomeness of ourundergraduate students. I was reminded of thiswhen I took 20 students to the White MountainResearch Station in Owens Valley in early March,2018, to learn about the soils and the story they tellabout California (and LA’s) history and prehistory.But large classes with little teaching assistantsupport from graduate students make theseformative experiences for students ever-more ararity at UCLA. For Geography, where many of usbecame interested in the discipline precisely becauseof these kinds of experiences, this is a keen loss.

Much of this is out of our hands – a growing UCLAis inevitable given the state’s politics anddemographics, and we’ll welcome with open armsas many new geographers as we can recruit! But,graduate students are the glue that holds the

Department together. They play critical roles in boththe teaching and research missions of theDepartment. And yet, we have not been able tosignificantly raise their stipends in several years. Weare losing excellent potential graduate students toother universities, including other UCs who canoffer better stipends in areas with lower cost ofliving. As the University concludes its CentennialCampaign, graduate funding, which is so crucial forsuccess of programs across the University and theundergraduate students they serve, has not seenmuch love.

That is why graduate funding will be a major focusof our fundraising in the years to come. I see thisgroup of incredible emerging scholars as the linch-pin of departmental success at all levels. Geographyis more important than ever as a discipline.Geography is more important than ever as adiscipline as it is supremely suited to address manyof the (geo)political, innovation, environmental,social, and other issues facing the globe. Geographyat UCLA remains one of the best departments in theworld as the accomplishments of our faculty,graduate and undergraduate show. Thedepartment has a tremendous amount to offerUCLA undergraduate students, many of whom arelooking for ways to make informed, positive changein the world. Our continuing ability to attractundergrads from across campus is clear evidence ofthe pivotal role we play within UCLA and the worldas a whole. As a member of Friends of Geography, Ihope you’ll continue to support all of this.

Establishment of the SANDRA ANN MABRITTO

Graduate Fellowship EndowmentThe Department of Geography is honored by thegenerous bequest made by a longtime friend andsupporter, the late Sandra Ann Mabritto (1949-2017), which will establish the new Sandra Mabritto& Stephen Bell Memorial Fellowship. The gift,initially of $500,000, is intended to supportgraduate students in the area of cultural-historicalgeography, broadly defined, a field in which thedepartment has accumulated around a century ofresearch achievement. Professor Greg Okin, theGeography Chair, says this is expected to betransformational in the department’s ability toattract the very best students from around theworld. The bequest is particularly important as itcomes at a time when living costs in the Los Angelesarea have made graduate student finances anincreasing challenge. It should greatly help new

generations of scholars to study and thrive here. Thefellowship is designed in part to build upon theearlier philanthropy of the late Professor Henry J.Bruman (1913-2005), who endowed the Alexandervon Humboldt chair, and it serves to help reinforcegeography’s future contributions as a discipline inthe humanities.

A native of Los Angeles, Sandra Mabritto studied artat Cal. State, LA, then mainly political science atUCLA. She was a skilled investor in real estate. Asher success grew in this field, so too did hercommitment to a wide range of philanthropiccauses. Well-read and a lifelong learner, Sandraremained passionately interested in the arts, history,culture, and exploration of the wider world,including education. In the course of her life, hergenerosity supported numerous smaller-scaleinitiatives, including of Hispanic students at SantaMonica College. Observing the positive impact ofthese earlier gifts led her to a gradualdetermination in estate planning that the majorityof her assets would be directed to supportingseveral graduate programs at UCLA.

Although Sandra had taken at least oneundergraduate course in the UCLA Department ofGeography, she later came to know the departmentmuch better through Professor Stephen Bell, herdear friend and former partner. She was a lively andbright presence for some years at many geographyevents and occasions. Even during her long andvaliant battle with cancer, when she retreated fromattending departmental events in the main, sheremained quietly engaged with the Department ofGeography. Her passing was keenly felt by all thosein the department who knew her. Sandra Mabrittowill long be remembered for her keen intelligence,warmth of spirit, and sense of the public good. Thedepartment is greatly appreciative of her efforts toprovide what is intended to be a long-lasting legacy.

Money in the MangrovesUCLA Geography faculty, graduate students, andundergraduates have collaboratively produced andreleased a short documentary, "Money in theMangroves", available on Vimeo:

https:// vimeo.com/260665950

Generously funded by UCLA's Lemelson Award forInnovative Digital Projects in Social Research, thefilm is the culmination of two years of work,incorporating fieldwork, interviews, and designcontributions by professors Judith Carney and KyleCavanaugh and students Ashley Fent, Rémi Bardou,Christie Ford, Johnneson Mymala, Jonathan Atallah,and Robert Burns.

Through remote sensing, drone imagery, qualitativeinterviews, desk research, and illustrations, "Moneyin the Mangroves" demonstrates the complexitiesand controversies surrounding the mangrovereforestation in Senegal and The Gambia. It tracesthe genealogy of community-based mangrovereforestation, which sought to revitalizeeconomically important ecosystems in response tothe Sahelian droughts of 1968-74 and the 1980sthrough more contemporary reforestationcampaigns. Financed by international actors, suchas the Danone food group and motivated bybiodiversity conservation and carbon offset marketmechanisms, the film brings African voices tocontemporary climate-change discourses. The filmshows that mangrove reforestation initiatives haveremade incentive structures, economic benefits, andsocio-ecologies in ways both promising andproblematic.

From thePresidentMarianne Wright

In a note of housekeeping, our Friends ofGeography has again received an approval for ourUCLA Support Group Application. Many thanks tothe Geography Department staff who always makeour annual application so easy. All funds that theUCLA Friends of Geography raise are with the helpof the University, and our Certificate of Recognitionis an essential part of our ability to support thedepartment. It’s renewed annually in the fall.


Our income and expenses were as follows for theyear academic 2016 – 2017. Categories are definedby the requirements of the Support GroupApplication.

Income and Expenses 2016 -2017Funds from Previous Fiscal Year $9,404.00(2015 – 2016)

ExpensesEvents $9,031.00Administrative costs $0.00Printing for newsletter/publications $918.00Salaries and wages of staff $0.00Travel $0.00Conferences, conventions and meetings $0.00Postage and shipping costs $530.00Contributions transferred to UCLA Foundation $0.00

Other Sources of ExpensesUniversity Gift Fee $1,175.00Undergraduate Scholarships $1,000.00Envelopes and Supplies $139.00

Net Revenue (includes funds from previous fiscalyear and support collected during 2016 - 2017) $27,479.00Total Expenses $12,793.00Net $14,686.00

Our Friends of Geography Board met in January of2018, and thanks to the direction of the newDepartment Chair Greg Okin, our board has grownwith 3 new faculty members suggested by Greg.

Our ranks now include:

Marianne Wright, PresidentWilliam Selby, Vice President

Mary Miller, SecretaryTanishia Wright, Treasurer

Glen McDonald, Faculty RepresentativeKasi McMurry, Department Representative

Members at Large: Jared Diamond, Judith Carney, and Helga Leitner

We will add a few more to the Members at Large atthe Annual Meeting in May.

2017 FoG ScholarshipWinnerAngelina Nguyen

I vividly remember a weekend morning back whenI was in middle school, sitting on the couchthumbing through an Adventures of Tintin comic.The living room flanked our kitchen, allowing thearoma of homemade crêpes to hover overhead,announcing that it was time to set the book downand eat breakfast. In hindsight, the scene from mychildhood is a textbook example of the waygeography has shaped my life. I, a Vietnamese-Italian American, was sitting at my home inCalifornia, reading works by a Belgian cartoonist asmy mother made a traditional French dish. I’vealways been cosmopolitan in this sense, my mothereager to formulate new traditions for us in Americaby merging her Vietnamese heritage with America’smelting pot of cultures.

Geography encompasses a slew of complementarydisciplines, studying physical and human processeson Earth as well as the interactions between thetwo. The interdisciplinary nature and overallapplicability of Geography to all other subjects iswhat preliminarily attracted me to the field. Mygoal throughout my college education has been toembrace this interdisciplinary mindset, marryinglessons from STEM, social sciences, and thehumanities to garner new insights about our world.I also hold a strong affinity for environmentalstewardship and found a community of like-mindedscholars within the Geography Department. As adouble-major in Political Science and Geography,physical geography and GIS classes supplement mytheoretical policy-oriented social science courseswith scientific foundations.

In exploring extra curricular classes on campus, I’vemade it an objective to bring a geographicperspective to areas it would be otherwiseoverlooked. A primary instance is my work withEdubase, a student organization that providesnonprofit marketing consulting services. The realmof marketing and consulting typically targetsEconomics and Statistics majors to develop andexecute numbers-based strategies. However, Ibrought to the table my knowledge of populationand economic geography, coupled with GIS skills, todevelop targeting strategies to acquire new clients.I researched the agglomeration of nonprofits in theLos Angeles area and pinpointed areas dense inprospective contacts. Furthermore, the multifacetednature of Geography taught me to assume manyviewpoints, enabling me to address projects in aunique manner that incorporated business, societal,and environmental considerations. After UCLA, Iplan on to use the STEM foundations laid down by



my Geography education to pursue a career inenvironmental law. With an understanding of theunderlying mechanisms and implications behindpolicies in this field, I believe I will be able to betterlitigate on behalf of the environment.

My passion for geography had sparked my academicperformance, leading to a 4.0 GPA in the major andDean’s Honor List since the winter quarter of myfreshman year. My transcript includes a multitudeof rigorous GIS classes, including Remote Sensing,Environmental Systems Modeling, and GISProgramming, in addition to cultural geographyand biogeography classes. I have an eagerness tolearn that does not stop with the prescribedrequirements of the university, prompting me totake classes such as Physics of Sustainable Energyand Vietnamese Language for personal growth.

I successfully competed against numerous PhDcandidates to earn an internship with the NationalPark Service under the George Melendez WrightYoung Leaders in Climate Change program thesummer before my senior year. Stationed at NorthCascades National Park Complex, I spent twelveweeks developing a geodatabase and ArcGISOnline-compatible mobile app survey for the parkto address the issue of inventorying infrastructurein remote areas. I relied upon my knowledge of GISand programming to link a database to an ESRI appthat enabled park staff to collect information oninfrastructure in the field. I also developedaccompanying citizen science project guidelines forthe park to harness volunteers in surveying. Ipresented my developments in a poster session atthe George Wright Society Conference in March2017 and am currently in the preliminary stages ofadapting this technology to create an easy-to-usemobile app for children in inner city areas todiscover nature in urban settings.

Receiving the Friends of Geography scholarship is atremendous honor and great financial help for myfamily, as I have been raised solely by my motherand am a first-generation college student. Mymother recently underwent treatment forpancreatic cancer, and we will be sending myyounger brother off to college this fall, making

finances extremely tight for us at the moment. It isonly through the help of scholarships such as thisthat I am able to pursue higher education, and Iimmensely appreciate the support organizationshave offered to students in trying financialsituations such as myself.

Faculty Focus – 3 New Faculty!Juan Herrera(PhD, UC Berkeley, 2013) is an Assistant Professorwith research interests in race, social movements,queer of color critique, spatial theory, and womenof color feminisms. He teaches courses on spaceand power, race, Latinx geographies, andmigration.

From 2013-2015 Dr. Herrera served as a UCPresident’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the departmentof Chicana/o Studies at UCLA. He specializes in thefields of Latino migration, comparative race/ethnicity, and urban studies. Juan is currentlyworking on a book manuscript entitled ‘‘Care IsPolitical: Social Movement Activism and theProduction of Space.” Focused on Chicano activismin Oakland, CA, the book examines how socialmovements mobilize to make changes in existinggeographies. But far more than space being just asurface upon which social movements evolve, thebook posits that social movements take part in theproduction of space. His work can also be found inDu Bois Review, Latino Studies, and Social Justice.

Juan is a proud first generation faculty memberwho enjoys writing and teaching about Latinogeographies, race, and social movement struggles.At UCLA he teaches courses including Geog 3:Introduction to Cultural Geography; Geog 184:California, and next year will be teaching agraduate course on Race, Space, and SexualDifference. Originally from Guatemala, Juan grewup in Los Angeles and is thrilled to be back home.His next book project will examine the making ofLatino Queer geographies in Los Angeles. Fromqueer Latino nightclubs to Latino LGBTorganizations, and other social movement spaces ofactivism, the book will be the first book-lengthexamination of Queer Latino LA.

Kelly Kay(Ph.D, Clark University, 2016) is an AssistantProfessor with interests in nature/societygeography, political economy, social theory,land conservation and natural resourceindustries. She teaches courses on politicalecology and North America.


Kelly holds a BA in Environmental Studies fromLewis and Clark College and an MA and PhD fromthe Graduate School of Geography, Clark University.Before joining the Department at UCLA, Kellyworked as an Assistant Professor in Geography atthe London School of Economics and held a Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellowship in NaturalResources and Political Economy at UC Berkeley.

Her work has been published in a range ofgeography journals, including the Annals of theAmerican Association of Geographers, Environmentand Planning A, Geoforum, and Antipode and hasbeen funded by the National Science Foundation,Rockefeller Foundation, and various specialtygroups of the Association of AmericanGeographers. Her research is focused in NorthAmerica and looks at the changing politicaleconomy of forestry and land conservation, withparticular interest in the changing nature ofproperty rights and regimes, law, and governance.At UCLA, Kelly teaches undergraduate andgraduate courses on political ecology and NorthAmerican geography. As a native SouthernCalifornian, she is excited to be part of thedepartment and to spend time exploring all that LosAngeles has to offer.

Shaina PottsPh.D, UC Berkeley, 2017) is Assistant Professorin Geography and Global Studies, withresearch interests in post-colonial sovereigndebt relations, transnational legal-financialgeographies, and the politics of territory.

Shaina completed her B.A. at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley in 2005 with a degree inIntellectual History and a minor in German. It wasduring this time that she became fascinated withthe role of ideas in shaping social, political andeconomic practices. After a four-year hiatus inwhich her interests in critical theory, space andfinance developed, she eventually returned to UCBerkeley to pursue a Ph.D. in Geography.Somewhere along the way, she became interestedin the law as well, and in 2017 she completed adissertation on the role of US courts in governingrelationships between Third World sovereigndebtors and private creditors and on how nationalterritorial boundaries have been reconfigured in theprocess. She is currently publishing articles onsovereign debt markets and the geopolitics of law,as well as transforming her dissertation into a book.

She is delighted to have joined UCLA as a facultymember in Geography and Global Studies in Fall2017. She has taught one senior seminar on ThirdWorld debt crises, and will be teaching a geographycourse on Border Studies in Spring 2018. She looksforward to teaching the Introduction to GlobalStudies lecture next year, and to offering graduateseminars on political economy, race and capitalism,legal geographies and more.

Alumni NewsFred Adjarian’s educational accomplishments

include a Master’s degree inPublic Administration [withdistinguished thesis honors] in1984 from California StateUniversity, Long Beach. Heearned his BA in Geography –Ecosystems [senior thesis option]from UCLA in 1977. He also

earned professional certifications from theCalifornia State Water Resources Control Board inWater Distribution [Grade D-4] and Treatment[Grade T-2].

Fred has worked professionally in California’s waterindustry for over 43 years. He served as generalmanager for five public and private water utilitiesin San Diego, Santa Barbara, Orange and LosAngeles Counties. In 1996, Fred was appointed byCalifornia Governor Pete Wilson to the San DiegoRegional Water Quality Control Board, serving threeyears on the RWQCB Board of Directors.

In 2014, Fred was elected to the Board of Directorsof the El Toro Water District (ETWD) in OrangeCounty. He serves as the alternate ETWDrepresentative to the South Orange CountyWastewater Authority. Additionally, Fred is theETWD Representative to OC LAFCO, and to theACWA Joint Powers Insurance Authority.

Fred’s professional affiliations include the AmericanWater Works Association and the Orange CountyWater Association.

In his spare time, Fred is a passionate UCLA sportsfan, guest lecturer at UCI and UCLA, studiesadvanced Spanish, enjoys birdwatching, and beach-walks, good cuisine and wine with his wife Cathy!

A luxury lineris just a bad play surrounded by water.

— CLIVE JAMES


Richard Marston received a B.A.in Geography-Ecosystems fromUCLA in 1974). After receiving hisB.A., Marston earned an M.S.(1976) and a Ph.D. (1980) ingeography at Oregon StateUniversity. His most recentacademic appointment was atKansas State University, wherewas head of the Geography

Department from 2005 through 2011. Since hisretirement from KSU in 2016, Marston has held thetitle of University Distinguished Professor Emeritus,Department of Geography. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of Geomorphology since 1999. Marstonspecializes in physical geography, geomorphology,mountain geography, and water resourcegeography. His main research interest is separatingthe effects of human activities on landscapes fromchanges that occur naturally. In late 2017,Marston was named a Fellow in the AmericanAssociation of Geographers (AAG), one of 20 in theinaugural class of AAG Fellows. The AAG has over12,000 members and no more than two-tenths ofone percent (0.2%) of AAG membership (orapproximately 20 Fellows) will be selected in anygiven year. The AAG Fellows program recognizesgeographers who have made significantcontributions to advancing geography.

Reese Benson – In Memorium— ROSEMARY BENSON

Reese was born in Los Angeles on April 2, 1926,passed away on April 20, 2017, at the age of 91, andis interred at Rose Hills, Whittier. Reese andRosemary were married for 65 years, having metwhile both were students at UCLA.

Pictured at the UCLA Friends of Geography Luncheonin May of 2016. Left to right: Rosemary Benson andReese Benson, with Judith and Gerald Tyner.

What were Reese’s special areas of expertise andinterest? He was interested in picture books withtext on anywhere in the world as well as maps oflocations all over the world. Wherever a tourstopped, he seemed to be able to find a store that

sold maps of the country and city. His favorite storefor travel books and maps was Stanford’s in London.The tour company we most used was Swan’s, and asit was a British company, the tours always left fromLondon (happily full of bookstores).

On land tours Swan’s always had a college professorto give lectures. There was a Mr. Swan — we weretold he would never stop so anyone could shop. Hewould say, “If you want to go shopping, you willhave to take another tour.”

Reese worked for the Automobile Club where hewas an insurance salesman. Many people he sold towere delighted when they learned he had been totheir home country.

Children? None, but we took some of the 10 niecesand nephews with us early in our marriage whenwe camped everywhere with just a sleeping bagand air mattress on the ground — no tent. Wedrove from Southern California to British Columbiaand to the Indian Country in Arizona. Reese neverstayed anywhere more than one night.

We first went to Europe when charter flights began.They would fly you to Europe, leaving you in onecountry and picking you up in another. Each year itwas a different set of cities. We rented a car andReese drove.

He has older twin sisters, now 98. Each husband hada job in Africa — one in Northern Rhodesia(community development) and the other inSouthern Rhodesia (hydrology). Wanting to travelbut finding that independent travel in Africa wasprohibitive, Reese remembered talking to someonewho had mentioned Swan Hellenic. It seemed halfthe tour members were Americans, but it was somuch fun being with the British that Reese didn’twant to go with anyone else. The next year Reesehad to take his vacation in September. Where didSwan’s go in September? —Iran. So in 1975 whenthe Shah was still there, we went to Iran.

We both took pictures wherever we went. We andour friends who traveled a lot were going to lookat our slides when we retired. We never got aroundto it, but they started, decided it was boring, andthat was the end of it.

In addition to Reese’s seven-years older mirror-twinsisters who live in Corona del Mar and another sistera little over two years older than Reese, he had a lotof practice getting what he wanted as the youngestchild and only boy. He was very funny and it worked— at least with me. As you can see, I can get carriedaway, but now you have the story.

Geography Trivia1. Pliny the Elder, a Roman Historian, isoften credited with popularizing the nameof what archipeligo, which he so namedbecause of the multitudes of large dogswho (apparently) lived there?

2. As a result of the 1899 Triparte Convention,Samoa was divided among two countries. The US wasassigned lands east of 171 degrees west latitude, andwhich other nation received the islands to the west?These western islands have since achievedindependence.

3. From 1971 until 1997, the country that is todaythe eleventh-largest in the world (by area) was knownby what name?

4. What cartographic projection has been used since1998 by the National Geographic Society for its worldmaps? This composite projection, which averages x andy coordinates from two other projections, takes itsname from the German cartographer who designed it.

5. In 2013, the phrase "Black Lives Matter" of hash-tag and social movement fame was used by AliciaGarzain a Facebook post entitled "a love letter to Blackpeople," following an acquittal in the killing of a youngblack man. In what state did this acquittal occur?

6. Appalachia is defined as 420 counties spreadacross how many states?

7. In what state was the first major American goldrush?

8. In what country is the world's longest place namelocated?

9. Hurricane season of which year holds the currentrecord for largest number of names storms, at 28 (somany that the World Meteorological Organization'syearly list of named was exhausted, and they wereforced to use the Greek alphabet)?

10. In what country did the Velvet Revolution occur?

11. Sandstone rock formations in which US state wereused as background scenery for the Vulcan homeworld,in the 2009 feature film Star Trek?

12. What ecoregion name in Africa is derived from theArabic word for "shore"?

Earth Day March For Science, April 22nd, 2017

AAG President and UCLA Professor of GeographyGlen MacDonald and his wife Joanna at The Marchfor Science, held in Washington, DC on Earth Day,Saturday, April 22nd, 2017. Many satellite marcheswere held around the world. The AmericanAssociation of Geographers was a partnerorganization for the march.

CONTRIBUTORSThanks to those in the Geography Department:Greg Okin, Chair • Kasi McMurray, Management Services Officer

Matt Zebrowski, CartographerJenée Misraje, Administrative Assistant

Thanks to those who contributed to his newsletter: Matt Zebrowski,Glen MacDonald, Mary Miller, Marianne Wright, Matt Wright,Angela Nguyen, Laura Gomez, Greg Okin, Juan Herrera, Kelly Kay,Shaina Potts, Fred Adjarian, Richard Marston, and RosemaryBenson.

FRIENDS OF GEOGRAPHY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Marianne Wright, President Bill Selby, Vice PresidentTanishia Wright, Treasurer Mary Miller, Secretary

Glen MacDonald, Faculty RepresentativeMembers at Large:

Jared Diamond, Judith Carney, Helga Leitner


Answers: 1. Canary Islands; canis is Latin for dog 2. Germany; 3. Zaire; 4. WinkelTripel; 5. Florida (Sanford); 6. There are thirteen states: West Virginia, Alabama, Georgia,Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, SouthCarolina, Tennessee, and Virginia; 7. North Carolina, 1799; 8. New Zealand (Tau-matawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhen-uakitanatahu, a particular hill); 9. 2005; 10. Czechoslovakia (1989); 11. Utah; 12. the

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UCLA FRIENDS OF GEOGRAPHY

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Annual Luncheon – May 20, 2018 – Reply Form

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SAVE THE DATES:Saturday, October 20 or 27, 2018 — 7:30am – 10:30am

A Special Event for Friends of Geography Members and Friends

Join Dr. Jared Diamond, UCLA Department of Geography and Pulitzer Prize Winning Author of

Guns, Germs, and Steelas well as, The Third Chimpanzee; Collapse;

and The World Until Yesterday

for

“Bird Watching in Stone Canyon, Santa Monica”.Reservations very limited

A donation of $50 is requested for this event.

Please reserve your spot by contacting: Jenee Misraje, Geography Department Administrative AssistantOffice: 310-825-1071 or e-mail: [email protected]

GF-29Friends of GeographyUCLA Geography DepartmentBox 951524Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524

join the ucla friendsof geography ucla ......this presentation of very topical information was...

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