latitudes - Department of Geography and Anthropology - Louisiana ...

LAT ITUDES
Newsletter of the LSU Department of Geography & Anthropology
New 3D Digital Imaging Lab Funded by a
Louisiana Board of Regents Grant
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Year 2008–2009
Dr. Heather McKillop, Dr. David by allowing faculty and students to a peat bog below the sea floor in Belize
Chicoine, Dr. Patrick Hesp, Dr. Rob create three-dimensional images of where remains of dozens of ancient
Mann, Dr. Rebecca Saunders, and Dr. artifacts, three-dimensional maps, and wooden buildings and associated
Robert Tague were awarded a integrate these into the three- artifacts of wood, stone, pottery, and
Louisiana Board of Regents grant dimensional cultural and natural shell have been recovered from
“Digital Imaging and Visualization in landscape. The three-dimensional mapping and collecting on the sea
Archaeology (DIVA) lab” to start a 3D digital imaging meshes well with our floor.
digital imaging and visualization lab in current GIS expertise and need to
the department. The specific objectives better record and study our artifacts.
of this proposal are to acquire Working with Geography Ph.D.
equipment and software to digitally s t u d e n t s ( A n t h r o p o l o g y
r e c o r d , s t u d y, a n d p r e s e r v e concentration), M.A. Anthropology
archaeological sites and artifacts in s t u d e n t s , a n d u n d e rg r a d u a t e
three dimensions. Anthropology students, the PI and Co-
The grant includes funds for PIs will use the equipment to study
equipment and software to make 3D artifacts and skeletal remains from
images of artifacts for study, display, Louisiana (Saunders, Mann), Belize
and integration within digital (McKillop), Peru (Chicoine), Canada
archaeological sites, as well as other (McKillop, Tague), and the Gulf of
related equipment and software. The Mexico (Hesp). The major impetus for
grant will facilitate a major step into this proposal comes from the PI's
the three-dimensional imaging world, recovery of thousands of artifacts from
Climatologists Awarded NOAA Grant
to Study Climate Hazard Planning
Geography & Anthropology
CT scan of ancient Maya canoe paddle by Dr. James
Ruiz, Woman’s Hospital. Image by Imtiaz Hussein,
LSU Faculty Technology Center (McKillop et al., ms
2009)
Regional Sciences and Integrated outreach.
Assessments (RISA) program that The SCIPP project has already
seeks to bring together physical and made a major impact in G&A. Dr.
social scientists with public and Lynne Carter arrived at LSU in April
private stakeholders to identify, study, 2009 to serve as the SCIPP program
a n d a d d r e s s c l i m a t e - r e l a t e d manager. Lynne brings a wealth of
Barry Keim, Kevin Robbins, and vulnerability. Focusing on the six- climate policy experience to the
David Brown, along with colleagues state region of Oklahoma, Texas, project through her previous work at
at the University of Oklahoma, are the Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and NOAA and in the non-profit sector.
principal investigators on a new 5- Mississippi, the SCIPP team will Additionally, five graduate students
year, $3.8 million grant to study investigate major climate hazards of are currently working on SCIPPclimate
science and local-level the region and actively engage related thesis and dissertation
climate hazard planning processes in community-level decision makers to research, ranging from tropical
the south-central United States. The determine hazard planning and storm impacts along the Gulf Coast to
NOAA-sponsored project, entitled climate data gaps, develop a web- urban drought planning, with the
"Southern Climate Impacts Planning based all-hazards assessment tool, and majority being funded with full-time
Program" (SCIPP), is part of NOAA's provide climatological education and graduate assistantships.
continued on page 2

From the Chair
2008 – 2009 turned out to be another wonderful
year. Several distinguished visitors graced our halls,
faculty obtained a significant number of grants, three
“Rainmakers” were chosen from Department ranks,
multiple books and articles were published, the Disaster
Science Management (DSM) program was revitalized,
we saw great achievements from many of our talented
students, we hosted several lectures, conferences and
symposia, and upgraded and rejuvenated the “Indian
Room” Museum to mention a few achievements.
The Department has seen significant expansion
despite the economic woes of the State, with Dr.
Rebecca Saunders (archaeologist with the Museum of
Natural History) and Dr. Rob Mann (Regional
Archaeologist with the State) transferring from the
College of Basic Sciences into the Department, Dr.
Rachel Dowty and Dr. Melanie Gall transferring from
SDMI in the College of Business into the Department to
support the DSM program and broaden our capabilities
as a research and teaching base for hazards and disasters
research, and Dr. Lynne Carter joining the Department
as the NOAA sponsored climate impacts (SCIPP)
program manager.
We continued the fabulous tradition of having a
(award winning) float in the local Baton Rouge
Southdowns Mardi Gras parade, and started two new
“traditions” with a Department Halloween party, and a
Faculty children’s Christmas party. Santa came, and so
did the snow in December.
To all our alumni and friends – may you continue to
be successful, and keep in touch.
LAT ITUDES
Patrick Hesp
RJ Russell Professor and Chair
Latitudes, the newsletter of the LSU Department of Geography & Anthropology, is
published once a year. Correspondence relating to the newsletter may be submitted to:
Latitudes
c/o Patrick Hesp
Department of Geography & Anthropology
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Phone: 225/578-5942 � FAX: 225/578-4420 � E-Mail: gachair@lsu.edu
Chair: Patrick Hesp Assistant Editor: Katherine Renken
Designer: Mary Lee Eggart
2
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Geography & Anthropology
City-Dwellers Have Higher
Risk of Cancer according to
research by Wang and
McLafferty
People who live in urban areas are more likely to
develop late-stage cancer than those who live in the
country. That is the conclusion of a new study by Sara L.
McLafferty, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois and Fahui
Wang, published in the June 15, 2009 issue of CANCER,
a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
The study's results indicate a need for more effective
urban-based cancer screening and awareness programs.
Diagnosing cancer at an early stage can improve
outcomes. Studies show certain groups, such as low
income populations, are more likely to be diagnosed with
cancer at later stages. While some studies have also found
that geography can affect the timing of cancer diagnoses,
research on rural-urban disparities has produced mixed
and conflicting findings. The researchers found that for
all four cancers studied (breast, colorectal, lung, and
prostate), risk was highest in the most highly urbanized
area (Chicago) and decreased as areas became more rural.
However, in the most isolated rural areas, risk was also
high. Risks were considerably low among patients living
in large towns in rural areas. Differences in age and race
did not explain the geographic disparities seen for lung
cancer, indicating that other factors—such as cancer
awareness or diagnostic differences—account for the
rural-urban differences in late-stage lung cancer
diagnosis.
The Disaster Science and Management (DSM)
program is now hosted by the Department of
Geography and Anthropology. Dr. Patrick Hesp
(G&A) and Dr. Rachel Dowty are co-directors of
the program. Visit http://www.dsm.lsu.edu for
details.
NOAA Grant (from page 1)
In collaboration with SCIPP, David
Brown, along with colleagues in
Communication Studies and the
Manship School, has also received
funding of $137,774 from NOAA
SeaGrant to examine information
processing between government,
media, and public user groups in
Louisiana during hurricane events.
Future SCIPP collaborations with
other physical and social scientists
across the LSU campus are likely as
the program matures in the coming
years.

LSU Geographers Conduct
Wind Tunnel Experiments in
Beijing, China
Drs. Steven Namikas and Patrick Hesp spent the first half of
August 2008 on the outskirts of Beijing, China working with Dr.
Yuxiang Dong in the wind tunnel of the Laboratory of Blown-Sand
Environments and Engineering, part of the State Key Laboratory of
Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology at Beijing Normal
University. Their research is funded by a China NSF grant. The wind
tunnel is one of the largest currently available for aeolian process
research, at 70 m long with a 2 m x 3 m cross section in the working
section. It is powered by a 400,000 Watt electric motor that drives a
turbine more than 3 m in diameter (see photo), and can produce
maximum wind speeds of approximately 45 m/s (160 km/hr).
Several sets of experiments were conducted, including
investigations of wind flow over simulated dune slopes, through
blowouts, and around artificial vegetation plots, and of the vertical
distribution of aeolian mass flux during saltation. The experiments
were designed to compliment and supplement a field research
program undertaken the previous year. This research project has been
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Although the researchers were not able to catch any of the
Olympic events in person, they are pleased to report that the combined
US-New Zealand-Chinese squad soundly thrashed the Chinese
National team in a late-night pickup match of wind tunnel soccer.
A new, major scientific report that details the impacts of climate change on the
United States was released on the 16th June. The nonpartisan report, commissioned in
2007, is an authoritative assessment of the most up-to-date climate change science
available.
The report was authored by a team of 31 leading climate scientists from the U.S.
Global Change Research Program including Dr. Lynne Carter, Associate Director of the
Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP) in the Department of Geography
and Anthropology, and Associate Director of the Coastal Sustainability Agenda at LSU.
Reviewed by hundreds of scientists, “Climate Change Impacts” will provide policy
makers and citizens with the science-based evidence they need to inform their climate
policy decisions. It also provides a window into the actions being taken or that could be
taken to respond to climate change.
3
Department Hosts
Conference
In October 2008, G&A hosted the annual
Pioneer America Society and Eastern Historical
Geography Association Conference in
conjunction with the LSU Office of Research
and Economic Development, LSU College of
Arts and Sciences, and the Geographical
Review. The keynote address was given by
Malcom Comeaux of Arizona State University
about “Cajuns: Environments and Material
Culture.”

FA C U LT Y H I G H L I G H T S
New Faculty Profiles
Kathe Managan David Chicoine
D r . K a t h e
Managan is a new
Assistant Professor in
Anthropology. Her
general interests include
linguistic/sociocultural
anthropology, language
and performance in the
circum-Caribbean, and
theories of creolization.
Dr. Managan's previous research included two
main, interrelated strands. The first explores
aspects of individual identity, such as gender and
age, and how Guadeloupean collective identity is
conceptualized in relation to local conceptions of
race, geography, and language variation. The
other component of her research examines the
concept of community of practice in voluntary
organizations in both Guadeloupe and New
Orleans from an African diasporic perspective.
Her current research examines the linguistic
varieties and social personae depicted by
Guadeloupean actors in comedic theater. By
studying the performances–both live and on
videotape–of Kréyòl language comedy troupes,
she hopes to elucidate how actors manipulate
locally salient language varieties and draw on
their sociocultural connotations to portray social
stereotypes and make their comedy work for the
Guadeloupean audience. Her study uses detailed
ethnographic research on language use and
performance in order to better understand how
Guadeloupean comedy sketches, performed live,
distributed on DVD and broadcast on local
television, both create an image of shared
homogeneous island identity, but also circulate
images of island diversity.
Before coming to LSU, Dr. Managan taught
as Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks and, before that, at
the University of Michigan for two years as a
Mellon Fellow. Also prior, she conducted
postdoctoral research at Tulane University as a
Rockefeller Humanities Fellow after receiving
her PhD from New York University in 2004. She
teaches classes in Latin American and Caribbean
Cultures and Ethnographic Methodology and will
offer a course on the Anthropology of Media in
the spring.
4
In August 2008, Dr. David
Chicoine joined the department as
a n a s s i s t a n t p r o f e s s o r i n
anthropology. Dr. Chicoine is a
specialist of the archaeology and
material culture of South America
and the Central Andes. His research
broadly explores the development of
ancient complex societies in coastal
Peru where he has been conducting
research for the last decade. His
work touches upon a range of topics
including the design and use of
architectural spaces,feasting and
other modes of social interactions,
the dynamics of political systems,
mortuary practices, and visual arts.
Since 2003, he uses Nepeña, a valley near Chimbote,
coastal Peru, as a laboratory to investigate these
anthropological issues in the context of emerging urban life.
His work examines the multiple meanings attached to local
cultural manifestations and the ways these relate to broader
social, regional and environmental processes. In June 2009,
Dr. Chicoine undertook new excavations at the center of
Caylán, a 3,000 year-old settlement that will bring primary
data on the origins of civilizations in coastal South America
and serve as a platform to develop an archaeology field
school [http://www. ga.lsu.edu/chicoine-caylan/caylan
home.html]. In addition, Dr. Chicoine teaches courses on
World Archaeology, Method and Theory in Archaeology,
and Ancient Civilizations of South America.
Dr. Chicoine joined LSU after holding a post-doctoral
research position at the Department of Archaeology at
Simon Fraser in Vancouver, Canada. He earned his PhD
from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK,
focusing on patterns of architecture and social life as viewed
through the elite center of Huambacho (800-200 BC) in
Nepeña, Peru. Results of his excavations at Huambacho
have been published in the Journal of Field Archaeology.
His research in Peru has been mainly funded by the Fonds
Québécois de Recherches sur la Société et la Culture, the
Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and
the Americas, and the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada. Before leaving his hometown
in 2002, Dr. Chicoine completed his undergraduate and
master's degrees in anthropology at the Université de
Montréal. He enjoys arts of all forms, culinary experiences,
basketball, and ales. He has settled well in Louisiana among
his Cajun cousins, far away from the cold Canadian winters.
Dr. Rob Mann and Dr. Rebecca Saunders (Archaeologist and Associate Curator in the LSU Museum of Natural
Science) transferred from the School of Basic Sciences at LSU into the Geography and Anthropology Department. Dr.
Mann, a regional archaeologist for the State of Louisiana and French colonial archaeologist, graduated with his PhD in
Anthropology in 2003 at Binghamton University (SUNY). Dr. Saunders' general interests include contact period
studies, Southeastern United States prehistory, pottery analysis, cultural complexity, and coastal adaptations. After
receiving her PhD in 1992 from the University of Florida, she became involved in forensic archaeology and worked in
Guatemala and the former Yugoslavia. She came to the LSU Museum of Natural Science in 1993 as the Regional
Archaeologist for Southeastern Louisiana.

Faculty Highlight
Dr. Dydia DeLyser, an associate professor in the Department of Geography and
Anthropology, is a native of Santa Monica, California. She earned her bachelor's degree
in 1992 from UCLA, and her master's and doctoral degrees from Syracuse University (in
1996 and 1998).
DeLyser arrived at LSU in August 1998 as an Instructor before becoming an assistant
professor one year later. She was promoted to associate professor with tenure in August
2005.
DeLyser is a cultural-historical geographer. Her research has been both ethnographic
and historical, and most of it questions how different built landscapes can help make the
past meaningful in the present.
Much of her published research has focused on two different studies. One was a
many-year ethnographic study of a ghost town in California (Bodie StateHistoric Park)
where she examined how images and ideas about the American mythic West became
meaningful to the tourists who visited the town. The second was an historical study that examined a 19th century
novel (Ramona) and how it changed the way people understood (and still understand) southern California's past.
Her current research concerns early women aviators and how they used their practices of flying to advance
feminism in the post-suffrage era.
DeLyser teaches graduate courses in cultural geography, qualitative research, and academic and professional
writing. She has also taught undergraduate courses in cultural, and urban geography, and an introductory worldregional
geography course.
Faculty Awards and Honors
Boyd Professor Dr. Jesse Walker was awarded the 2009 service outside the normal parameters of TV
Francois Emile Matthes Award from the Cryosphere weathercasting. The National Hurricane Conference is an
Speciality Group of the Association of American annual meeting focused around the emergency-
Geographers. The award was presented to Jesse at the management community for topics including tropical
AAG in Las Vegas in March 2009. The award is given for weather preparedness, mitigation and operational
recognition of his extraordinary dedication and
outstanding scholarly achievement to the advancement of
forecasting and response.
cryospheric science.
On Wednesday, December 17, 2008, Jay Edwards was
inducted into the “Order of the Palmetto” as the winner of
Dr. William Rowe is a recipient of the 2009 Tiger Athletic the 2008 James William Rivers Prize awarded by the
Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award. Each Center for Louisiana Studies at the University of Louisiana
recipient was selected for demonstrating outstanding at Lafayette.
teaching.
The award reads: Jay Edwards and the Fred B. Kniffen
Professors Barry Keim, Patrick Hesp, and Heather
McKillop were named LSU "Rainmakers" at a reception
in October. The LSU Office of Research and Economic
Development, announced that Rainmakers are faculty who
Cultural Resources Laboratory. The award is being given
specifically for the accomplishments of the Monograph
Series of the Fred B. Kniffen Cultural Resources
Laboratory.
are nationally and internationally recognized for The James William Rivers Prize in Louisiana Studies was
innovative research and creative scholarship, who established to honor persons who have contributed or
compete for external funding and awards at the highest rendered, recently or over the course of their careers,
levels, and who attract and mentor exceptional graduate outstanding scholarly study, work, or teaching about the
students. LSU awarded 100 faculty with this prestigious culture, history, art, architecture, crafts, flora, fauna,
title. music, literature, law, performing arts, or geography of
Jay Grymes has been selected as the 2009 winner of the
National Hurricane Conference's “Outstanding
Achievement Award for News Media.” He was nominated
by the EBR Office of Homeland Security for community
Louisiana or about its people. The Rivers Prize, consisting
of a cash award and other acknowledgments, was
established with private funds donated in memory of Mr.
Rivers, a New Orleans architect and graduate of USL (now
UL-Lafayette), who died in 1991.
5

FA C U LT Y H I G H L I G H T S
Department Hosts Six Visiting Scholars in 2009
Ma Angels Alio Torres, Professor of Human Geography, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Marco Helbich, graduate student from Austria conducting research with Michael Leitner.
Yi-hua Liu, Professor of Human Geography, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou Province, China.
Gernot Paulus, Associate Professor of GIS, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Villach, Austria
on an exchange program with Michael Leitner, Spring 2009.
Jiaoe (Wanda) Wang, Assistant Professor of GIS, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China.
Choi Youngeun, Korea, conducting research with Bob Rohli.
Faculty Grants, Publications, and Research
Dr. Heather McKillop was appointed the Doris Z. mechanism for accessing restricted geospatial data
Stone Latin American Studies Distinguished by researchers in academic institutions and
Professorship. governmental agencies. GIS-Store is organized
according to the Louisiana Spatial Data
Dr. Rachel Dowty and Dr. Melanie Gall were Infrastructure (LSDI) framework layers. The GISselected
as Service-Learning Scholars by the LSU Store and Atlas provide the academic community,
Center for Comminity Engagement, Learning, and the federal, state, and local governments as well as
Leadership (CCELL) for their ability to engage the general public with access to over 25 terabytes
students and developing more effective strategies of geospatial data for the state of Louisiana,
for reinforcing the academic and civic mission of a supporting not only national and Louisiana research
land-grant university. efforts but also aiding public officials and the
general public in their decision-making processes.
Dr. Craig Colten received a grant from the Oak
Ridge National Laboratory and has been working In order to provide continued access to a growing
the Community and Regional Resilience Institute user community, Atlas and GIS-Store need
(CARRI). CARRI consists of a distinct group of hardware and software enhancements that are
scientists and researchers which became public in consistent with today's requirements for security,
January 2009. CARRI was established to develop reliability, user friendliness, and processing speed.
and share critical paths that any community or Unstable access will limit the services provided by
region may take to strengthen its ability to prepare these data repositories and will devalue core
for, respond to, and rapidly recover from significant datasets that are widely used by the general public
man-made or natural disasters within minimal as well as GIS savvy users in the academic and
downtime to basic community, government, and governmental arenas.
business services. During the first year, CARRI is
working to create a standard for community Thanks to the efforts of Farrell Jones, the LSU
resilience that is accurate, defensible, welcomed, CADGIS Research Laboratory, the Stephenson
and applicable to communities across the region Disaster Management Institute, and LSU Center for
and the nation. Computation & Technology have been awarded a
Louisiana Board of Regents Grant, “Equipment
Equipment Enhancement for Geospatial Data Enhancement for Geospatial Data Management,” to
Management in CADGIS Funded by a fund the purchase of 3 new servers that will allow
Louisiana Board of Regents Grant the CADGIS Research Laboratory to keep pace
with the explosion of geospatial data that is
LSU has two large stores of geospatial data: Atlas becoming available in the state and to provide
and GIS-Store. Atlas gives public access to a large adequate access to existing data sources. One
amount of geospatial data for the state of Louisiana server, the Panasas server, will replace the existing
through a web interface. It allows a GIS-savvy user Panasas server currently housed and maintained by
to download data for personal use. GIS-Store, LSU CCT. Two additional servers would be
which was created as part of the LSU GIS purchased to operate the database management
Clearinghouse Cooperative (in response to systems and web servers that would provide the
Hurricane Katrina), provides a file-based interface between the Panasas server and the users.
6

A Louisiana Board of Regents Economic Development William Arden and Dr.
Assistantship Grant was awarded to Dr. Andrew Sluyter to Michael Leitner published
fund a Ph. D. Student to study Hispanics in the Post-Katrina The New Medical Geography
Economic Development of New Orleans. of Public Health and Tropical
Medicine: Case Studies from
Dr. Andrew Sluyter also received a Board of Regents Brazil. The book was
ATLAS Program grant for his book project Cattle Herders p u b l i s h e d b y V D M
of the Atlantic World: Interconnections of Peoples and Publishing, Saarbrücken,
Places, 1500-1900. Germany.
Dr. Michael Leitner was named editor of Cartography and
Geographic Information Science (CaGIS), one of the
premier international journals in Cartography and GIS. The Kniffen Lab run by Dr. Jay Edwards, published The
Louisiana Catahoula Leopard: A Geographical
Dr. Jay Edwards and Dr. Barrett Kennedy (LSU School Investigation, by Walter LeBon (No. 6 in the Monograph
of Architecture) received a grant of $52,700 from the Series.)
Division of Historic Preservation to support a study of an
historic New Orleans neighborhood, and particularly their
shotgun houses.In this project, using student labor, they Dr. Dydia DeLyser and cowill
survey a New Orleans neighborhood using digital workers obtained a Women in
video recording equipment. The shotgun houses of the Film grant to help them
neighborhood will be analyzed, dated, and a history of the complete their documentary,
shotgun house in New Orleans will be developed, using “The Legend of Pancho
sample houses from the target neighborhood as well as Barnes and the Happy
other areas of the city. Bottom Riding Club,” set to
debut first in film festivals,
Dr. Kent Mathewson co-edited a and then on PBS later in the
book with Peter H. Herlihy and year. Dydia, who was
Craig, S. Revels. The book, Associate Producer on the
entitled Ethno- and Historical film, utilized her research
Geographic Studies in Latin expertise on gender issues
America: Essays Honoring among early women pilots to
William V. Davidson, is a provide historical input on the research, script, and editing.
collection of papers mostly based She also engaged her connections to the aviation and aviationo
n p r e s e n t a t i o n s a t t h e museums communities in fundraising and hosting screenings.
Association of American
Geographers 2003 annual
meeting in New Orleans. Dr. Melanie Gall, very recently transferred to the
Department and a leading member of the Disaster Science
Management group in G&A has received a $679,896 grant
Sergio Dillenburg (CECO, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal University of Rio (FEMA) and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security
Grande do Sul) and Dr. and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) to develop a
Patrick Hesp (G&A) have hazard mitigation plan for the LSU System. The award is
just published an edited for a 3-year period.
book entitled Geology and
G e o m o r p h o l o g y o f
Holocene Coastal Barriers Dr. Fahui Wang has been awarded the Overseas
of Brazil. The book is Outstanding Young Scientist Award in 2009. The award of
published by Springer and 200,000 RMB is for two years and was from the National
represents the culmination Natural Science Foundation of China.
of 8 years of research and
collaborations by Patrick
Hesp with Dillenburg and Dr. John Pine's new book, Natural Hazard Analysis -
v a r i o u s B r a z i l i a n Reducing the Impact of Disasters was published by CRC
geologists. The book is the Press.
first work of its kind to cover the geology and
geomorphology of the entire 9,200 km of the Brazilian
coast.
7

FA C U LT Y H I G H L I G H T S
Other Faculty Activities
Dr. Dydia DeLyser is LSU's Faculty Anthropologist Discovers the Story Behind the
Athletics Representative. DeLyser was Skeleton
appointed FAR by LSU’s Chancellor Sean
O’Keefe in January 2007 for a renewable 3- Mary Manhein’s forensic work was featured on ABC's
year term. On campus, the Faculty Athletics Nightline. Forensic anthropologist Mary Manhein
Representative serves as a critical analyzes human remains and helps law enforcement
communications link between the faculty discover the person behind the bones, determining how
and the Athletic Department—and vice their lives ended and earning her the nickname “The
versa. It is DeLyser, as FAR who has the Bone Lady.”
responsibility to inform the Athletic
Department of faculty concerns, to inform
faculty of developments in athletics, and to
actively participate in the development of
LSU athletics policy. Further, as FAR,
DeLyser serves as the senior faculty advisor
to the Chancellor in the area of athletics.
D r . K e n t
Mathewson was
recently invited
t o a s p e c i a l
conference on
Alexander von
H u m b o l d t a t
Vanderbilt (Jan.
15-17, 2009)
where he gave an
invited paper
e n t i t l e d
“ H u m b o l d t , Dr. Rob Mann led a group ( a 15 person leisure class)
Guano, and the searching for artifacts from the lost village of
Origins of U.S. Galveztown in Ascension Parish. (Baton Rouge
O v e r s e a s Advocate, 3-15-2009).
Expansion”
The village in question was a Spanish-sponsored
settlement that dates to the period of the American
Dr. Anthony J. Lewis has been appointed Revolution. It didn't last, partly because the reason for its
Emeritus Professor of Geography. existence vanished after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
But that's not all. “They had lots of problems including
Dr. Rachel Dowty and Dr. Melanie Gall flooding, hurricanes and crop failures and epidemic
have recently transferred from the diseases. By 1820 or so, we get a sense from the
Stephenson Disaster Management Institute documents that there's not much left of the village. By
to the Department of Geography and 1830 it’s pretty clear that Galveztown is gone. So really
Anthropology. They will significantly you have a village that was here from about 1779, late
strengthen the DSM program, and expand 1778-1779, to about 1820. So from an archaeological
the Departments expertise in disasters and perspective, it’s a nice little time capsule because there’s
hazards research and management. nothing before really — there was probably some Native
America occupation of the area — but after that we don’t
The Department of Geography and have any historic occupation. So when we find stuff that
Anthropology co-sponsored The Fifth dates to the right time period, we can be fairly certain that
International Conference on Islam in the we’re finding evidence of the Spanish Colonial village
Contemporary World: The Gülen Movement here,” Mann said.
in Thought and Practice March 6-7, 2009, at
Louisiana State University
8
This man had been missing for ten years after his body was found in the
desert. The LSU Faces Lab team lead by Mary Manhein were able to
identify the person using highly sophisticated techniques developed in
the lab.

S T U D E N T H I G H L I G H T S
Graduate Student News
Five Graduate Coastal Students Study Dunes and Mangroves in Mexico
Patrick Hesp and Robert Twilley joined forces and classes and took 5
graduate coastal students to Mexico in early August 2009. The road
trip from Baton Rouge ended after two gruelling days at La Mancha
just north of Veracruz city. The Xalapa based Institute of Ecology's
field station at La Mancha is located on a fine beach, and on the
downwind end of a magnificent headland bypass transgressive
dunefield system (see picture). Students examined first hand
transgressive dunefields, nebkha geomorphology and dynamics,
beach ridge evolution and ecology, mangrove dynamics and
structure, coastal management issues, ancient Tolteca monuments,
mexican fare and culture, the delights and vagaries of border
crossings, and full vehicle searches from the local policia.
Sophia Renke, forensic anthropology graduate student, competed in a Scottish Highland dancing competition
at the Clanjamfry Highland Games in Memphis in September, 2008. Renke, forensic anthropology graduate
student from Edmonton, Canada, isn't from Scotland, but growing up in a Scottish community exposed her to
highland dancing, an art form staked in tradition and formality.
Student Awards and Honors
Spring 2009
Undergraduate Scholarships
Carville Earle Memorial Scholarship
Shaun Williams
Anthropology Undergraduate Scholarship
Natalie Raff
Phil Larimore Memorial Scholarship
Suzette Savoie
Graduate Awards
Research Materials Awards
Katherine Renke
Phillip Schmutz
Myrtho Joseph
Russell Fielding
Haag Presentation Awards
Katherine Renke (Masters)
Russell Fielding (PhD)
Russell Award
Phillip Schmutz
West Awards
Katherine Renke
Stephanie Crider
Myrtho Joseph
Steven Ward
Pruitt Conference Travel Awards
Jess Mathews (Masters)
Bethany Rogers (PhD)
Geography doctoral student Amy E. Potter received the
Hubert G. H. Wilhelm Student Research Award at the 2008
Pioneer American Society Meeting on October 18 in Baton
Rouge. She won the award for her paper “There's No Place Like
Home: Rebuilding Community in the Lower Ninth Ward,”
which reports on research conducted in New Orleans for Prof.
Joyce Jackson’s Spring 2008 Urban Ethnographies course. The
award was established in 2006 in honor of long-time PAS
member, Hubert Wilhelm, a cultural geographer who received
his PhD from LSU under the auspices of Prof. Fred B. Kniffen
and whose enthusiasm for teaching has had a global impact.
Steven Ward was awarded an International Research Grant
from the Department of Geoinformation, Carinthia University
of Applied Sciences in Austria.
Ginni Listi, a research associate in the FACES lab received her
PhD from Tulane in spring 2009.
Katherine Renken, a Geography doctoral student, tied with
Ginette Wessel from UNC-Charlotte for the Best Masters paper
in the Student Honors Competition at the 2008 SEDAAG
meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 24. Her
paper was entitled “Alongshore variation of beach and dune
changes at microtidal inlets along the Outer Banks of North
Carolina,” which discussed her Master’s thesis research
conducted at East Carolina University.
Geography graduate student Anzhelika Antipova was chosen
as the 2009 recipient of the WTS Houston Chapter-Helene M.
Overly Memorial Graduate Scholarship.This scholarship was
established in 1981 to encourage women pursuing career paths
in transportation. It is awarded to women pursuing graduate
studies in transportation or a related field.
9

S T U D E N T H I G H L I G H T S
Student Awards and Honors
On April 24th, 2009, the Center for French and the fact that the quality of his scholarship, and the
Francophone Studies asked Ryan Orgera, PhD evidence of his future potential, impressed the
student in Geography to act as interpreter for the Prix scholars outside his field as much as it did those who
Louisiane ceremony. The Prix Louisiane is a literary nominated him.
prize awarded to outstanding French-language
fiction writers. This year’s recipient was Henri Russell Fielding received the Viking Society for
Lopes, a Congolese short-story writer and novelist. Northern Research Travel Award (May 2007) and he
Lopes is considered one of the finest Francophone used it in August 2008 to travel to the Faroe Islands.
African writers, and also serves as the Republic of
Congo’s (Brazzaville) ambassador to France, Great Both Russell Fielding and Amy Potter had
Britain, Spain, Portugal, and the Vatican. As the fieldwork funded by the AGS Bowman Grants.
former deputy director of UNESCO and
Francophonie, and as Prime Minister of the RC, he Steven M. Ward has been awarded a 2000€
found endless material to use as subjects in his International Research Grant from the Department of
numerous works. The Prix Louisiane ceremony was Geoinformation, Carinthia University of Applied
held in the French House on LSU's campus. Ryan’s Sciences in Austria ( for June/July 2009).
task was to interpret from English to French and
French to English. Masters student in Anthropology, Kara Miller,
traveled to Mbarara, Uganda for ten weeks over the
Geography graduate student Brandon Edwards summer to conduct research on the feasibility of
recently received two research grants. The National cooperation between traditional healers and clinical
Science Foundation awarded him a research grant biomedicine practitioners. Kara received a paid
that provides support for travel and instrument internship through Christian Brothers University in
development for his dissertation research in coastal Memphis, TN in conjunction with MHIRT (Minority
geomorphology, which will be conducted at Padre Health International Research Training) to work on a
Island, TX and St. Joe’s, FL during the next year. The research grant sponsored by the National Institute of
Sigma Xi Committee on Grants-in-Aid of Research Health as part of a long-term project to encourage
also awarded him funding for his grant proposal. The access to and quality of healthcare in the Mbarara
Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research program has a district of Uganda.
highly competitive application process and only
approximately 20% of applicants receive any level of Myrtho Joseph, Geography PhD student, received a
funding. grant for research travel: “Assessment of trafficrelated
pollution in high populated areas of Port-au-
Jorn Seemann has been awarded an LSU Graduate Prince, Haiti”
Dissertation Fellowship for the 2009-2010 academic
year. This is a signal honor which underscores his Kara Miller, Anthropology MA student is
exceptional academic record to date. The conducting research on, “Traditional and Modern
nominations for this award are evaluated by a Health Practitioners: Facilitating a Cooperation to
committee of faculty drawn from a range of Improve Healthcare in Southwest Uganda”
disciplines across campus and his selection reflects
Graduate Student Publications
Jonkman S.N., Maaskant B., Boyd and Management Review. Vol. Alderman, Derek H. and E. Arnold
E., Levitan M.L. (2009) “Loss of 32, No. 3, March 2009, pp. Modlin, Jr. (2008) “(In)Visibility
life caused by the flooding of 435–460. of the Enslaved within Online
New Orleans after hurricane
Katrina: Analysis of the
relationship between flood
characteristics and mortality.”
Risk Analysis Vol. 29, No. 5, pp.
676-698
E. Boyd, B. Wolshon, and I. van
Heerden. “Risk Communication
and Public Response During
Evacuations: The New Orleans
Experience of Hurricane
Katrina.” Public Performance
Potter, A. (2009) “Voodoo,
Zombies, and Mermaids: U.S.
Newspaper Coverage of Haiti in
2004,” Geographical Review, 99
(2): 208-230.
Modlin, Jr., E. Arnold (2008)
“Mythic Representations of
Slavery by Docents at North
Carolina Plantation Museums.”
Southeastern Geographer
48(3):265-287.
Plantation Tourism Marketing: A
Textual Analysis of North
Carolina Websites.” Journal of
Travel & Tourism Marketing.
25(3-4):265-81.
Megargee, Geoffrey, ed. (2009)
United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum Encyclopedia
of Concentration Camps and
Ghettos: 1933-1945, Vol. I.
Created 7 of 23 maps. [E. Arnold
Modlin, Jr, Cartographer]
10

Degrees Awarded
Graduate Degrees 2008-09
Ph. D. in Geography
William Brennan Arden, “Medical Wenxue Ju, “ A Genetic Bayesian Approach Contribution to Monthly and Seasonal
Geography in Public Health and for Texture-Aided Urban Land-Use/Land- Rainfall in the Eastern U.S. 1960-2007”
Tropical Medicine: Case Studies from Cover Classification” (Lam, 2008) (Keim, 2009)
Brazil” (Leitner, 2008)
Wei Liang,”An Integrated Agent-Based Charles Harding Wade, “ Why the Old
Richard William Hunter, “People, Microsimulation Model for Hurricane Traditions Will Not Fail: Landscape,
Sheep, and Landscape Change in Evacuation in New Orleans” (Lam, 2009) Legends, and the Construction of Place at
Colonial Mexico: The Sixteenth- Dartmouth College” (Mathewson, 2009)
Century Transformation of the Valle del Ricardo Chabarria Nogueira, “Atlantic
Mezquital” (Sluyter, 2009) Tropical Cyclone: Climatology and the
Master of Arts in Geography Master of Science in Geography Master of Arts in Anthropology
Kristopher Ian Debnam, “A Sense of Jennifer Hellean Hathorn, “Paleoecology and Wayne Anthony Cranston, “Survey of
Community and Community Change: Paleotempestology of the Pascagoula Marsh, Forensically-Important Calliphoridae in
An Ethnographic Study of a Mississippi” (Liu, 2008) Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica, West
Contemporary Louisiana Juke Joint as Indies” (Manhein, 2008)
it Compares to Historical Literature on Yun Huang, “Sediment Records of Modern
the Subject” (DeLyser, 2009) and Prehistoric Hurricane Strikes in Weeks Jessica Susan Matthews, “Moving Over
Bay, Alabama” (Liu, 2009) Mountains: A Woman Walking on the
Xiaojun Qin, “A Social Vulnerability-Based Appalachian Trail” (Regis, 2009)
Genetic Algorithm to Locate-Allocate Transit Lauren Rebecca Pharr, “A Taphonomic
Bus Stops for Disaster Evacuation in New Model of Concealment: Decomposition
Orleans, Louisiana” (Lam, 2009) and the Postmortem Interval (PMI) in a
55-Gallon Barrel” (Manhein, 2009)
Sean Allen Hribal, “Crop Coefficients for
Cotton in Northeaster Louisiana” (Rohli & Teresa Veronica Wilson, “Estimating Age
Clawson, 2009) at Death by Examining the Crystallite
Size of Hydroxylapatite in Human Teeth”
(Manhein, 2009)
Undergraduate Degrees
Fall 2008
Bachelor of Science in
Geography
Blaise, Edward C III
Ford, Jeremy Shawn
Landry, Danielle Marie
Schaeffer, Ryan Gerard
Bachelor of Arts in
Anthropology
Allen, Cody Louis
Bond, Annie K
Castleberry, Tabitha Ann
Digilormo, Jamie Rene
Fairfield, Jennifer Marie
Favrot, Emily Ann
Feig, Jennifer Ann
Jenneman, Jennifer Leigh
Ledoux, Leah Jansen
Long, Michael J
Lunetta, Abigail Christine
Miller, Erica Danielle
Mire, Robert Hampton
Payne, Sarah O
Politz, Rosanna Landry
Robichaux, Tracey Lynn
Silva-Diederich, Louise Marie
Thomas, Paul Jonathan Jr
Welsh, Heather Sheree
Undergraduate Degrees
Spring 2009
Bachelor of Arts in Bachelor of Science in
Geography Geography
Durel, Timothy Michael Lavigne, Katie Allison
Landry, Matthew C Leggett, James Michael
McAllister, Stephanie Lynn Penick, Amanda Marie
Owen, Austin Sciever Smith, Kathleen Devey
Raborn, Andrew Eugene
Vlahos, Nicholas Alexander
Williams, Shaun Edward
Thomas, Ellison Elizabeth
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology
Adams, Carol Carr Hill, Weldon Travis
Arseneault, Chelsea Anna Holloman, Madeleine M
Banks, SunnyBrooke Jones, Audra Leigh
Barr, Crystal Elena Lancaster, Sarah Alice
Blackwell, Robert Matthew Lasserre, Kayla Marie
Boone, Natalie Maria Levi, Gianni Gabriel
Bourgeois, Nicholas Adam Locantro, Kathryn Marie
Brauner, Zoe Tagen Myles, Maranda D
Brumfield, Daniel Ford Raff, Natalie Jean
Brummerhop, Christopher Rossi, Robert Michael Jr
George Selders, Jesse Lee
Capak, Samantha Ann Strecker, Mary Elaine
Guidry, Michael Paul Talley, Joel Edward
Harrell, Jonathan Byron Trahan, Christopher David
Harrington, Victoria Nicole Triche, Amy Theresa
Hawkins, William Tyler Walters, Sarah Elizabeth
Helmer, Matthew Ryan Whitty, Andrew Vernon
11
Undergraduate Degrees
Summer 2009
Bachelor of Arts
in Geography
Vidos, Nikki Britt
Bachelor of Science
in Geography
Byrd, Daniel Andrew
Bachelor of Arts in
Anthropology
Doyle, Lauren Nicole
Jarrell, Lindsay Elizabeth
Smith, Keiana M
Townsley, Jena Shea
Vidos, Nikki Britt

A L U M N I N E W S
Steve Fullen, manager of the Magnolia Mound a survival swimming instructor during the Korean
Plantation house in Baton Rouge, a BREC facility, War; sailed boats in numerous Pacific Ocean races,
won the Honorable Mention preservation prize and became known internationally for his expertise
from the Pioneer America Society. in beach systems and safety.
After two years of teaching in Montana, McCloy
Walter Williams Beecher (1913 – 2008), creator moved to Texas and, in 1972, became a faculty
of the “Indian Room” Museum in the Howe- member in the College of Marine Sciences and
Russell Geoscience Complex, passed away this Maritime Resources in Galveston where, during a
year. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1913 and tenure of 36 years, he held many administrative
attended Ohio State University before moving to positions in addition to teaching. These included
Baton Rouge in 1934 and transferring to LSU. He service as Superintendent of the Texas Maritime
graduated in 1937 with a major in English and Academy and Associate Vice-President for
minor in history. Upon graduation, he accepted an Research.
anthropology fellowship to be curator of the small
archaeology museum (the Indian Room) in the Jim retired only a few months before cancer took
School of Geology. Part of his job required trips to his life. At a retirement luau (Jim loved Hawaii and
Indian mound sites to collect pottery and other its surf) TAMUG announced the establishment of
artifacts on the ground and bring them back to be the James M. McCloy Coastal Geography
labeled and cataloged and reconstructed, if Program, in his honor.
possible. He had to resign his fellowship and
return home to Ohio for recovery after contracting It is interesting to note that Jim was only the second
malaria. person to become a life member of the United
States Lifesaving Association. The first was
Beecher later returned to Louisiana and was Ronald Reagan our 40th President!
offered a supervisory position for a WPA/LSU
Archaeological project. With his new job, he
moved to New Orleans where he had a temporary
lab and living quarters on the top floor of the WPA's William (Bill) Bernard Knipmeyer died on 26
archaeological project headquarters building. He April 2009 at the age of 84 in Natchitoches. LA.
worked out of New Orleans for approximately Although born in New Orleans, Bill grew up in
eight months, visiting sites of Indian mounds and Natchitoches where his father was the
villages. After completion of the new School of Natchitoches Parish Public Health Director. Before
Geology building, he moved back to Baton Rouge joining the Navy in 1943, Bill attended LSU for a
and lived in the attic temporarily until he found year. After service in the Pacific Theatre he
another residence. He continued work on the returned to LSU for all three degrees—a BS in
project until 1942 when he took a job at the Exxon Chemistry, an MS in Geology and a PhD in
Refinery, where he worked for 32 more years. LSU Cultural Geography which he earned in 1956.
Department of Geography and Anthropology Working under Fred Kniffen, he produced a
established a research fund in honor of his dissertation entitled Settlement Succession in
contributions to Louisiana Archaeology. The Eastern French Louisiana, a dissertation that
“Indian Room” has also been renamed the “Walter Kniffen considered one of the best stemming from
W. Beecher Louisiana Heritage Museum” in his the Department. After graduation he spent time at
honor. Bradley University, McNeese University and the
University of Tampa before taking the Headship of
Social Sciences at Northwestern State University
Dr. James M. McCloy, long-time faculty member in Natchitoches in 1967. During the 37 years Bill
and administrator at Texas A & M University at served Northwestern, he was elected “Professor of
Galveston (TAMUG) TX, died July 19, 2008. Jim, the Year” several times and was honored as
born in Hollywood, CA in 1934, rode into the LSU “Environmental Educator of the Year” by the
campus on a motorcycle in the early 1960s and State's Wildlife and Fisheries Department. He also
received his doctorate in 1968 in physical served as editor of Southern Studies an
geography. Jim's dissertation was based on field interdisciplinary journal of the South. Bill
work conducted in the Blow River delta, in Knipmeyer is probably best remembered as one
northwest Canada. He had a passion for the sea, a who dedicated himself to his students, instilling in
passion that lasted a lifetime. For example; he was them a love for the cultural heritage of Louisiana.
If you have any alumni news, please email it to gachair@lsu.edu
12

The Yukon Kids
by Jesse Walker, Boyd Professor of Geography
In 1975 the Louisiana Land and Achievement Medal among others, 'extracurricular activities' when added
Exploration Co. wanted to get in on received his MS degree from LSU in to their training in the Department
the oil boom that followed the 1969 1978 with a thesis entitled “The played major roles in the successes
discovery at Prudhoe Bay on the North Vegetation of Three Point Bars: Black that have accrued to them since going
Slope of Alaska. After selecting the River, East Central Alaska” and Perry, out into the 'real world.' Steve stayed
Kandik Basin near the Yukon River in with an LSU degree in History and close to home (Baton Rouge and New
east-central Alaska as a possibility, Russian Area Studies (with time at Orleans); Robb, on the other hand,
LL&E needed information about its Moscow State University) received went west--- California (Pasadena),
geology, geomorphology, hydrology, his MA in Anthropology in 1978. Las Vegas (no, not to gamble), Hawaii
and vegetation and approached the Both Eidemiller and Perry led (yes, he is a licensed open- water
LSU Department of Geography and quite active lives at LSU. Steve, e.g., diver) and, most recently, California
Anthropology to take on the task. Two grew up on the campus (his father was again (Paso Robles).
adventuresome students-- Robert on the faculty) and he parlayed that And now the most recent 30
(Robb) Eidemiller (Geography) and head start into service with the Student years! You could probably not ask for
S t e p h e n ( S t e v e ) P e r r y Government Association and the more diverse routes taken to reach
( A n t h r o p o l o g y ) — a g r e e d t o Athletic Council. Once in the similar status, i.e., Presidents and
participate. The experience involved a Department, both served as teaching CEO's in their special fields of
lot of hard work in a remote part of assistants (Perry in Anthropology and endeavor: one in politics and urban
Alaska which was friendlier to bears Eidemiller in Physical Geography). development; the other in ecological
than humans. Surveying, cataloguing Steve also worked as a prehistoric and environmental enhancement.
plant types, determining active layer archaeologist at the Bayou Jasmine After leaving LSU, Steve Perry,
depths, and monitoring stream flow site among others and Robb spent during the 1970s worked as a research
and seismic crew activities all with the evenings and weekends as a analyst for the State Legislature, as a
aid of aerial photos (this before GIS) weatherman with WBRZ. He also Director of Economic Development
and helicopters were the order of the worked with the Institute of for the Louisiana Association of
day. Eidemiller, with a BA from Environmental Studies conducting Business and Industry and as a
UCLA, a stint with the Navy in surface and subsurface surveys for lobbyist. In 1980 Governor Treen
Vietnam where he received the Navy locating Gulf Coast salt domes These selected him to be the Deputy
Secretary of the Department of
Culture, Recreation and Tourism (the
youngest Secretary in State
Government at the time). Then
followed stints with the Louisiana
Museum Foundation as Executive
Director, with the Louisiana
Republican Party as chief fund raiser,
and as owner of an executive search
firm in New England. Perry's
experience and personality made him
the logical choice for service as Chief
of Staff to Governor Mike Foster.
While in that position, Steve designed
a six-year plan of substantive
structural changes in state government
that resulted in more reform than had
been achieved during the previous 30
years. I remember Steve telling me
early in the Foster years that “you will
be pleasantly surprised with the
G o v e r n o r ' s c o m m i t m e n t t o
Education.” Indeed, after the streamlining
of several government
agencies, funds saved were channeled
into education.
The most recent chapter in Perry's
Steve Perry “staking out his claim in the Yukon.”
professional career began in 2002,
13

when, after a national search, he was
chosen to be CEO and President of the
N e w O r l e a n s M e t r o p o l i t a n
Convention and Visitors Bureau
(CVB). He has a staff or 85 in New
Orleans and maintains offices in five
foreign countries. The CVB produces
over $1 billion in direct sales and
oversees a $7 billion industry. It, under
Perry's supervision, is routinely
ranked among the top five CVB's in
the U.S. He was especially busy
following Hurricane Katrina,
appearing frequently on all of the
major news outlets and even made the
cover of some national trade
publications. Steve is on the executive
committee and board of the world
governing body of tourism and
becomes its chair in the Summer of
2010. As this was being written, Steve,
as a member of the U.S. Travel and
Advisory Board, was preparing for a
Rob Eidemiller collecting a snow sample.
meeting in Washington, D. C. with the Region (including Texas). This In 1996, Eidemiller became
U.S. Secretary of Commerce and in position, capitalizing on Robb's President and CEO of Sierra Delta
mid-May 2009 he was in Miami where expertise in 'ground-based activities', Consultants which is a California
he met with the owners of the NFL gave him the opportunity to delve into limited liability company (LLC) that
teams in an attempt to entice them to the socio-economic aspects that are specializes in providing services for
pick N.O. as the locale for the 2013 i n h e r e n t i n a n y s u c c e s s f u l the acquisition, development and
Superbowl (a $300 million deal). He corporation. Robb to this day will m a n a g e m e n t o f r e s i d e n t i a l ,
was successful. We all know that New argues for the importance of his c o m m e r c i a l , i n d u s t r i a l a n d
Orleans is one of the country's major degree in Geography by claiming that agricultural properties. The
convention cities; its present-day it “gave me a generalist's view needed Corporation, headquartered in Paso
success in this regard is the result of for project management.” Robles, CA, has offices in seven other
Steve Perry's abilities, abilities that In 1987, Robb took on a new cities around the U.S. One of its
were evident 35 years ago when he challenge by leaving Montgomery specializations is service to the
was a student in the Department of Engineers and starting a new viticulture industry (incidentally,
Geography and Anthropology at LSU. company, the Sierra Delta Corporation Robb and his family own a 320 acre
Robb Eidemiller, who left Baton in Las Vegas, NV, where he served as ranch that includes a vineyard). Other
Rouge in 1979, has enjoyed a variety Senior Professional, Supervising current activities that should be of
of experiences and residences (see Professional, and Principal/Project interest to LSU departmental students,
above) during the past 30 years. His Manager. In these capacities he was especially those with a current
first venture was as a Wastewater involved in such varied projects as: a emphasis on modern technology,
Te c h n i c i a n f o r J a m e s M . U.S.A.C.E. permit for a Harrah's include the development of alternative
Montgomery, Consulting Engineers, casino, a Boy Scouts scouting facility, a p p l i c a t i o n s f o r s a t e l l i t e
Inc. in Pasadena, CA. It involved the a l a k e d r e d g i n g p r o j e c t , a communication, several of which
development of EIRs and EISs for hydroelectric facility, a 3000 room require the merging of GIS/GPS
water and wastewater treatment hotel/casino in Laughlin, NV, a waste- technologies.
f a c i l i t i e s f o r a h a l f - d o z e n to-fuels co-generation facility, and a In conclusion, I think it can be
municipalities around the West. This wind turbine generation station among safely stated that Steve Perry and
position required expertise in not only others. In 1994, Eidemiller spent two Robb Eidemiller, both of whom were,
hydrology and geology, but also years in Hawaii as the project manager and still are visionaries and
ecology, agronomy, meteorology, and for the only fully operational, non- entrepreneurs, demonstrate what
archaeology; what better further government subsidized, facility in the talent and dedication, with proper
training (in addition to that he received U.S. that specializes in food waste training, can achieve. Hopefully, their
at LSU) could one ask for! He soon disposal. While Robb was plant success stories will serve as a
became a supervising Professional in manager, the company received the challenge to present-day students as
the Wastewater Division and then, in prestigious “Environmental Company we approach the second decade of the
1985, took charge of its Southwest of the Year Award”. 21st century.
14

Department Sponsored Lectures, Conferences, and Symposia
September 26, 2008; Prof. Robert Voeks, California State J a n u a r y 3 0 , 2 0 0 9 ,
University at Fullerton, Dept. of Geography, “African Travelers’ Tales: Prof.
E t h n o b o t a n i e s i n t h e A m e r i c a s ” ( I n William Rowe on Kiribati,
conjunction with Atlantic Studies). Tuvalu, and Fiji (In
conjunction with GAS).
October 10, 2008, Prof. Melanie Gall, LSU, Stephenson
Disaster Management Institute, “Is Vulnerability To Natural
Hazards Measurable?”
October 31, 2008, Prof. Dydia DeLyser, LSU, Dept. of
Geography & Anthropology, “Feminisms and Mobilities:
Crusading for Aviation in the 1920s.”
I n O c t o b e r 2 0 0 8 , t h e
Symposium for Underwater
Archaeology was organized
and hosted by G&A. PhD February 13, 2009, Prof. Sally Horn, University of
candidate Amanda Evans, Dr. Tennessee at Knoxville, Dept. of Geography, “Pre-
G r e g C o o k , N a u t i c a l Columbian Agriculture, Forest Disturbance, and
A r c h a e o l o g i s t w i t h t h e Holocene Climate Variability in the Circum-Caribbean
A r c h a e o l o g y I n s t i t u t e , Region: Evidence from Sediments and Soils” (the 2008/09
University of West Florida, and Pruitt Lecture).
Dave Ball, Senior Marine
Archaeologist with the Minerals March 13, 2009, Prof. William Balée, Tulane University,
Management Service, U.S. Dept. of Anthropology, “A Comparison of Ecological and
Department of the Interior E t h n o b i o l o g i c a l M e a s u r e s o f ‘ Tr e e n e s s . ’ ”
provided talks.
April 17, 2009, Prof. Jay Edwards, LSU, Dept. of
November 14, 2008, Ulrick Jean-Pierre, Visual Artist, Geography & Anthropology, “The Shotgun House of New
“Haiti: The Forgotten Monument of Universal Freedom and Orleans.”
Its Creolized Cultural Treasure.”
Paul Rainwater, Executive Director of the Louisiana
November 21, 2008, Travelers’ Recovery Authority, presented on “The Louisiana
Tales: Ryan Orgera on Recovery” in February 2009.
Languedoc-Roussillon, France;
Katherine Renken on the In March 2009, G&A helped sponsor the Sixth Annual
Outerbanks; and Luke Driskell Conference of the Interdisciplinary Program in
on Kyrgyzstan (In conjunction Louisiana and Caribbean Studies at LSU. The
with GAS for Geography conference was entitled “Louisiana and the Hispanic
Awareness Week). Circum-Caribbean in the era of Globalization,” with
speakers from Yale University, Vanderbilt University, and
the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras.
15
Dr. Shannon Dawdy from the University of Chicago
presented on “Underworlds of the Atlantic” in March 2009.
In March 2009, Dr. Rachel Dowty of LSU G&A presented
Dr. Kristine DeLong of the University of South Florida, St. on “Culture, Food and Clothing: Disaster Relief in
Petersburg, presented in November 2008 “Paleoclimatic Context.”
Reconstructions and Evaluating Sub-centennial Climate
Variability in the late Holocene from Corals, Tree-rings, and In May 2009, The LSU Program in Louisiana and
Speleothems.” Caribbean Studies along with the Geography and
Anthropology Department hosted a conference entitled
January 23, 2008, Prof. Cheryl Ajirotutu, University of “Humboldt's Transatlantic Personae: Plotting the
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dept. of Anthropology, Imaginaries” at which Dr. Kent Mathewson presented a
“Scholarship, Field Research and Civic Engagement: paper entitled “Alexander con Humboldt: Atlanticist
Best Practices in the Walnut Way Community.” Above All.”

Elvis appeared at the AAG party at Dino’s Lounge in Las
Vegas hosted by G&A, TExas A&M, and University of Texas
Snow in Baton Rouge! Steven & Lise Namikas’ children,
Kalina & Benjamin frolic in the snow on Dec. 11, 2008
when 3 inches of snow fell in Bbaton Rouge.
Department of Geography & Anthropology
Louisiana State University
227 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4105
David Chicoine hosts G&A Halloween Party
October 31, 2008
Dept. hosts first-ever G&A children’s Christmas
party at Ellen & Barry Keim’s house
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 733
Baton Rouge, LA