Department of Geography at Augustana College

20/02/2024

We were very happy to welcome Hannah Weber ('23) back to campus earlier this month for a Map and Munch presentation on her MA Geography thesis (at Southern Illinois University Carbondale), which focuses on sustainability initiatives at liberal arts colleges in the Midwest

20/02/2024

We are excited to be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Geography Department this April. If you're able to join us, here is information about the two-day event at Augustana, which includes field trips (of course), a networking session, and presentations by alumni working in many different exciting fields. We hope to see you back on campus this spring!

Augustana College will recognize the 75th anniversary of the Geography Department with a special alumni event April 26-27, 2024.

20/11/2023

Excited to see geography alum, Ben Ford, on our local billboards!

07/11/2023

Celebrating student work! Way back in 2020, students in Dr. Burnham’s Digital Cartography class were commissioned to create maps for a publication that Dr. Jason Koontz (Biology) was working on.

Being sent home for remote learning in March of 2020 put a bit of a damper on completing the maps as intended. Fast forward to 2023 and the seeds of the student map work has finally been published.

Twenty maps of larkspur distribution have been published in Dr. Koontz’s work in Crossosoma this month. Check out some of the samples! Lots of teamwork involved, but we are excited with the results and pleased to have contributed to this important scholarly work.

09/10/2023

We were very pleased to welcome 2015 graduate, Rosalie Starenko, to campus last week. She spoke to our students about her path to her career in landscape architecture.

20/09/2023

We are collecting updated contact information of Geography alumni ahead of our 75th anniversary this April. If you tried to enter your information yesterday but weren't able to because of an error in the Google Form, we have fixed the form. Here's the link again and thank you! We look forward to seeing some of you on campus next spring!

The Augustana Geography Department's 75th Anniversary celebration will be held April 26-27, 2024. We'd like to gather updated contact information from our alums in order to keep in touch and let you know the details about this exciting celebration. Please fill out the following form and we will be i...

19/09/2023

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Geography Department at Augustana College, and we are excited to host a celebration on campus on April 26-27, 2024. We'll have more details soon, but we want to make sure that we can get in touch with alumni and would be grateful if you could provide your updated contact information in this Google Form. If you would be interested in connecting with current students about your career path, let us know that too. Thank you!

Access Google Forms with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

20/07/2023

Congratulations to Ben Castro ('21) and current Geography students Amanda Gravelle, Carter Thompson, and Sarah Villani for their fourth place finish in a national Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure (IYAI) competition. Ben, a transportation planner at MetroLINK, and Geography students used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to study uneven food access and public transit in Rock Island

A project led by Ben Castro '21 to better understand uneven food access and food insecurities within QC MetroLINK’s service area placed fourth in a national competition. The project is tied directly to Castro’s Senior Inquiry for his geography major.

17/07/2023

Save the date! This year we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of our department! On October 27 and 28th we invite all alumni to join in a celebration. We'll have a field trip, dinner, talks, networking, and more! More details to come.

11/07/2023

This summer, Geography majors Ally Magsombol and Carter Thompson are using GIS to map the experiences of cyclists in the Quad Cities

26/05/2023

A few highlights from Geography's end-of-the-year celebration at Schwiebert Park in Rock Island

26/05/2023

Congratulations to Geography senior Iván Fregoso, who presented his fascinating Senior Inquiry research project on remittance houses in his hometown of Zacatongo, Mexico today

23/05/2023

Another geographer makes the "More Than I Imagined" page! Here is what Hannah Weber has to say about her time at Augustana.

Geography/English double major Hannah Weber '23 wasn't sure what she wanted to study when she came to Augustana, but then she found the geography department and its (oh so) supportive faculty. She is headed to Southern Illinois University Carbondale to pursue a Master of Science in Geography and Env...

12/05/2023

Our final senior recipient of our departmental awards won the Geography Senior Research Award – Rachel Montesano. Rachel is from Bartlett, IL. In addition to Geography, she is also majoring in Computer Science, as well as minoring in Geographic Information Science and Technology and Japanese. The title of her senior research thesis is "Modeling a Small Suburban Catchment with Drone Imagery and Storm Sewer Data." Congratulations, Rachel!

12/05/2023

Geography is hiring! Know anyone who would be interested in a part-time position teaching introductory human geography classes next year? Details below:

Augustana College Job Posting: Part-time Instructor, Geography

11/05/2023

Today we are recognizing our senior recipient of the Robin Hoffman Memorial Award for Service and Scholarship in Geography – Hannah Weber. Hannah is from South Elgin, IL, and is a double major in Geography and English with a minor in Geographic Information Science and Technology. Congratulations, Hannah!

11/05/2023

Current and former Geography students presented their research at yesterday's Celebration of Learning. Congratulations to Claire Bess, Caroline Sorenson, Holly Chesney, Abdul Kamara, and Robert Burke ('20), who presented with on a panel with Dr. Chris Strunk as part of a larger book project on Augustana College's history

10/05/2023

It’s that time of year! This week we proudly announce the senior recipients of our department awards.

The Illinois Geographical Society Outstanding Senior Award goes to Claire Bess. Claire is from Springfield, IL, and in addition to Geography she is also a Sociology/Anthropology major and has minors in Public Health and Geographic Information Systems and Technology. Congratulations, Claire!

09/05/2023

Yesterday, we were very excited to welcome Kristin Schnoenecker ('18) back to the Geography Department for a virtual presentation about her path to graduate school and fascinating M.S. research project on stormwater management in solar energy installations in rural Pennsylvania

05/05/2023

As commencement nears, we would like to highlight the future plans of our graduating Geography majors. Caroline Sorenson has an internship with Reyes Holding as a Sustainability and Asset Management Intern for the summer. She will then be attending Virginia Tech for an MS in Geography.

04/05/2023

Urban planning students are working hard to get ready to run a community meeting at Longview Park next Thursday (May 11). Rock Island residents, please stop by the park in the morning (10:30am-12:30pm) or evening (5:00-7:00pm) to share your views on future improvements for Longview!

Urban planning students at Augustana College will host a meeting for residents as part of a semester-long project to create a master plan for Longview Park.

03/05/2023

Urban planning students spent a day in Chicago learning about sustainability and citywide planning in Elgin, Humboldt Park, and the Loop

02/05/2023

It’s hard to capture all the beauty and color around Swenson this week. This picture hardly does it justice. 🌷🌺☀️

26/04/2023

Geography major, Claudia Vallejo, is featured in Augustana's 'More Than I Imagined' series.

For geography major Claudia Vallejo '23, Augustana's Office of Student Life was her "little home on campus" that gave her opportunities to make friends, grow as a person and expand her work skills.

17/04/2023

GIST minor, Eric Reinertsen, featured in Augustana's "More Than I Imagined" series:

When he came to Augustana, Eric Reinertsen '23 wasn't sure what he needed to study for a future career. He discovered the interesting combination of public health and GIS (Geographic Information Science and Technology), and he's ready for what's next!

14/04/2023

GIST minor, Abdul Kamara, featured in Augustana's "More Than I Imagined" series.

At Augustana, Abdul Kamara '23, from Monrovia, Liberia, discovered and fell in love with GIS (Geographic Information Science), which allowed him to combine his interests and develop solutions to real-world problems.

13/04/2023

Geography major, Shadrick Muntari Whabyely is featured in Augustana's "More Than I Imagined" series.

Saying goodbye to Augustana is bittersweet for Shadrick Muntari Whabyely '23 of Buchanan, Liberia. He says he'll miss the close-knit community, stimulating classroom discussions and campus events like SloughFest and AfroFest. Find out where he's headed after graduation!

12/04/2023

Urban planning students conducted a steering committee meeting with community leaders as part of our semester-long project to develop a master plan for Longview Park in Rock Island

02/04/2023

Through Augustana’s Upper Mississippi Center, Ben Ford ‘22, from Geneseo, Ill., conducted water sampling for the Sustainable Urban Watersheds project, a long-term partnership between Augustana and the Quad-Cities community.

Today he designs and implements soil conservation practices to help farmers and protect the environment.

“If it wasn’t for the geography, GIS and drone curriculum at Augustana, I wouldn’t have found this career path and position I’m so passionate about.”

Explore your passion at Augustana: https://bit.ly/3LXl1Ko

26/03/2023

Claire Bess presented her Geography and Sociology senior inquiry project on refugee food accessibility at the American Association of Geographers conference in Denver today