Bridging the urban-rural divide: CSULB Geography and the River Ridge Institute

April 27-28, 2024: Students from Porterville College joined students from the Geography Department at Cal State Long Beach for an experimental restoration planting on the pasture of River Ridge Ranch.

Community college students got to meet and hang out with four-year students from “The Big City” as they collected, bundled, and prepared cottonwood and willow branches for rooting and planting.  This is part of the River Ridge Institute’s “Taste of College” program that is designed to debunk the mystery of higher education for community college students in the San Joaquin Valley and explore the opportunities that are available to local youth. At the same time, urban students from CSULB got to rough it and get their hands dirty on the ranch.

Dr. Hyowon Ban introduces the Metaverse at Spring 2023 Colloquium

On April 24th, Dr. Hyowon Ban treated Geography students and faculty to her colloquium titled Practice of Geography Research and Teaching in the Metaverse.  To find out more about this virtual environment that parallels the physical world, please check out Dr. Ban’s PowerPoint presentation.

Cameron Mayer MA earns Best Masters Thesis Award!

Congratulations to Cameron Mayer for being selected as the College of Liberal Arts best Masters Thesis 2023! His thesis: New West Tension and Threatened Species Protection: The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Debate in the Morongo Basin, California was chaired by Dr. Monica Argandona, with Dr. Paul Laris and Dr. Lily House-Peters as readers. 

The Best masters Thesis is a very competitive and prestigious award in the College of Liberal Arts. Geography has had four winners since 2018.

2023: Cameron Mayer – New West Tension and Threatened Species Protection: The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Debate in the Morongo Basin, California 

2022: Julia Rose Dowell – Taking the Temperature of Climate Change in Long Beach: Concerns and Responses of Long Beach Residents Regarding Extreme Heat and Health Impacts

2021: Andrew Siwabessy – Geologic mapping of Terra Cimmeria, Mars, and resultant implications for the Martian plate tectonics hypotheses

2018: Rebecca Jacobs – Determinants of Fire Intensity in a Mesic West Africa Savanna: A Statistical Analysis of Fire Characteristics 

MSGISci Grad Anshu Pallav Is Designing Solutions for Climate Change

When Climathon, a 24-hour global climate change challenge, came to Long Beach in October 2017, CSULB grad Anshu Pallav was more than ready to contribute. The annual event invites innovators in major cities worldwide to help humanity achieve zero fossil fuel emissions in the next 30 years. Having just earned his Master of Science in Geographic Information Science (MSGISci) degree, Pallav presented his idea for a local solution that stemmed directly from his experience in the program. For more information about Anshu’s contribution to this event, please see the CPIE News web site.

MSGISci Students Angelina Carballo and Alondra Garcia Place as Finalists in SCAG Competition

The Geography Department and the CSULB Center for International Trade and Transportation (CITT) are pleased to congratulate graduate students Angelina Carballo and Alondra Garcia whose GIS presentations earned them finalist ranking in the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) student showcase.  The SCAG student showcase is hosted by SCAG’s annual Regional Conference General Assembly and exhibits sustainability GIS story maps selected through a competitive application process.  Carballo’s presentation titled “Visualizing Sustainable Transportation Choices” placed second in the completion and seeks to teach high school students about geographic information systems (GIS) and sustainable methods to commute to school.  Garcia’s presentation titled “The Role of GIS in Protecting Cultural Resources” focuses on the preservation of California’s archaeological sites as part of sustainable transportation planning.

At CITT, both Carballo and Garcia contribute their GIS skills to a number of research projects including the Southern Regional workforce Development Needs Assessment for the Transportation, the Supply Chain and Gap Analysis for the CSU Consortium, and the Caltrans Freight Academies.  The 2020 student showcase marks the fourth year in a row in which a CITT research assistant has been named a finalist and the third year in a row in which a research assistant has had a top-three placement.

CSULB Geography Department releases Statement of Solidarity

The Geography Department at CSULB is committed to addressing anti-Blackness and all forms of racism in our community.  As a positive step toward this goal, we have released a statement of solidarity with Black Students, Staff, Faculty, and Communities in the wake of the recent protests across our country and around the world.  It is our hope that our efforts, together with a similar commitment expressed by so many other departments within our campus community, will help to bring an end to racism and police violence in our society. 

Geography professors Linna Li and Hyowon Ban awarded ORSP Multidisciplinary Research Grant

Drs. Linna Li and Hyowon Ban, collaborating with Dr. Shuhua An and Dr. Jyotsna Pattnaik in the College of Education, were awarded an ORSP Multidisciplinary research grant to work on a project titled “Improving STEM Education by Integrating Geospatial Technologies into K-8 Mathematics Curriculum.” With the guidance and coaching of the faculty research team, preservice teachers will develop age appropriate geospatial technology (GT) integrated activity modules for the K-8 mathematics curriculum and will test them out in selected elementary classrooms in Los Angeles County. A mixed-method design will be adopted to assess the change in preservice teachers’ knowledge of GT integrated math education and the K-8 students’ math learning skills before and after the adoption of the modules. This will be one of the first studies to utilize geospatial technologies as a major media to teach computational thinking and mathematics in K-8 classrooms in a fun, visual, and meaningful learning environment. Funding will be available for graduate students with skills in GIScience, data collection, data analysis, surveys, and focus group interviews. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Linna Li (linna.li@csulb.edu) or Dr. Hyowon Ban (Hyowon.ban@csulb.edu).

Geography Department Seeking Part-Time Lecturer in Remote Sensing

The Department of Geography at California State University Long Beach is seeking to hire a part-time lecturer with specialization in remote sensing.  This assignment would be effective for the Fall, 2020 and Spring, 2021 semesters.  Details pertaining to this employment opportunity are provided in this posting. If you are interested in this position and you meet the minimum qualifications, please contact Paul Laris, Geography Department Chair.

Saddleback College Students Visit Geography Department

On October 25th our department welcomed a group of students from Saddleback Community College who spent a portion of their day visiting Geography at the Beach as part of a recruitment visit.  Led by former CSULB Geography lecturer and undergraduate advisor Austin Beahm, these students were able to explore the department facilities, meet faculty, staff, and current students, and learn more about the exciting opportunities for Geography majors at CSULB.  Many thanks to Austin for spreading the word about our programs to Orange County students.  We look forward to having more Saddleback transfers come aboard in future semesters.

Welcome Dr. Deshonay Dozier!

Dr. Dozier joins us this fall as an Assistant Professor in Geography. She just completed her Ph.D. in Environmental Psychology at the Graduate Center of City University New York, and has a Bachelor’s degree from CSU Northridge. Dr. Dozier’s research interests span social justice issues; her current focus is homeless activism in Los Angeles, past and present, and the politics and policies that influence the story of homelessness. Dr. Dozier will be teaching Human Diversity in the U.S. as well as upper division regional and graduate seminar courses.

Faculty Deshonay Dozier CLA, Geography
Photo by Sean DuFrene, Photographer
Strategic Communications
California State University, Long Beach