Five University of Wisconsin-Platteville geography students and faculty members recently presented their research at the American Association of Geographers annual conference April 3-7 in Washington, D.C. The conference featured more than 6,900 presentations, posters, workshops and field trips by leading scholars, experts and researchers in the field. More than 8,500 geographers from 62 countries attended.
The UW-Platteville cohort was led by Dr. Chris Underwood, assistant professor of geography, and Dr. Evan Larson, associate professor of geography. Both are also research associates in the university’s Tree-Ring, Earth, and Environmental Sciences Laboratory.
“The AAG annual conference was an outstanding professional skill-building experience for the students,” said Underwood. “It not only gave them an opportunity to present their research and network with other researchers in the field, it gave them a chance to visit a major U.S. city and experience different foods and cultures.”
“This was my second year at the AAG conference presenting our cedar tree research in which I found myself in a much more comfortable state regarding my ability to discuss complex concepts relating to our research,” said Tia Federman, a senior geography major from Mineral Point, Wisconsin. “This conference was full of research that is relevant to my career interests, which allowed me to further explore the topics available after my undergraduate education. As this was my last conference as an undergraduate, it was nice being able to reflect on the progress of our research as well as the knowledge gained through my research experience at UW-Platteville.”
The conference also gave students an opportunity to share their research with international experts. “Our students did an amazing job at the conference,” said Larson. “They were professional and served as outstanding representatives of our campus. The research they presented is at the cutting edge of science and, on multiple occasions, I watched them share their ideas with some of the most brilliant researchers in geography. Scholars who have published hundreds of papers and multiple books stopped by their posters multiple times to carry on conversations about their work.”
Larson said it was thrilling to watch the students display the skills, knowledge and expertise that they have developed over the past few years. “This kind of experience is an incredible cap to the careers of the three UW-Platteville students, all of whom have worked in the lab for multiple years,” he said. “They have taken on leadership roles in our lab group, have built an impressive mastery of their research projects, and spoke eloquently and effectively about the results of their work. I cannot think of a more beautiful illustration of what they are taking from their time at UW-Platteville.”
Federman, Elissa Granger, a senior education major from Platteville, and Sophie Pitney, a junior geography major from UW-La Crosse who conducted tree-ring research with Federman and Granger in the TREES Laboratory this summer, presented “Temperature-sensitive redcedar chronologies from the Driftless Area enable a new suite of climate reconstructions for the Great Lakes region.” Their research explores eastern redcedar tree-ring chronologies at two sites in the Driftless Area of southwest Wisconsin to expand the network of available proxy data for the region. Underwood and Larson were co-authors of the research.
“The collaboration with Sophie and UW-La Crosse illustrates that the TREES Lab is recognized throughout the region and state as a valuable, viable research site for students, faculty, staff and other researchers,” said Underwood.
Underwood presented “The case for soil charcoal in multi-proxy reconstructions of fire history.” His research argues that soil charcoal analysis can be combined with dendropyrochronology to provide multi-proxy, site-specific information on fire history in many forest types.
Caleb Cizauskas, a senior geography major from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, presented “Snake fungal disease distribution in the Driftless Area, Wisconsin, USA.” His research focuses on environmental stressors that negatively affect snake populations in the Upper Midwest region of the United States, including snake fungal disease. Dr. John Peterson, assistant professor of biology at UW-Platteville, and Underwood co-authored the presentation.
Underwood is also the chair of the AAG’s Climate Specialty Group. Another highlight of the conference for him was hosting Dr. Louis Uccellini, assistant director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and director of the National Weather Service. Dr. Uccellini delivered the Climate Specialty Group plenary talk on “Building a Weather-Ready Nation.”
Federman and Cizauskas traveled with support from the Student Research and Engagement Fund Travel Grants, which provide support to students traveling to present their original work.