As the spring rains fall and the days grow longer, I look out my window and watch the annual cycle of renewal. Spring is here, and we are reminded that change and renewal are part of life and that all things can, when given adequate light, heat, and water, grow and flourish. Like the world outside, UCSB Geography is similarly experiencing a time of renewal. Without a doubt, the most exciting development involves improvements in space allocations. After decades of insufficient space, with faculty, students, and staff spread out across campus, Geography has finally been given the space it needs. Geographers, more than those in any other discipline, understand the importance of space and how even small distances can become barriers to collaboration and communication. I am extremely pleased to report that many of these barriers are coming down and that many of members of our faculty, previously distributed in Bren, ICESS, off campus (such as FEWSNET), or in circa World War II trailers are joining us in Ellison Hall. New space includes all offices on the fifth floor, most of the fourth floor, and, we hope in the future, much of the first floor. If you have a chance to visit us, please come and see our new space. In particular, kudos are owed to Mo Lovegreen, Bernadette Weinberg, and Dylan Parenti, who, more than any other individuals, have helped this come to pass and have made sure the process has gone smoothly.
Spring has also brought us many new faces. While more than a year has passed since their arrival, special mention should be made of new faculty in Geography, including Bodo Bookhagen, Leila Carvalho, Jennifer King, and Joe McFadden. Each of them brings a new, unique perspective and set of research skills to the department. For example, Bodo is a geomorphologist with a recognized expertise in cosmogenic isotopes and airborne/ground-based lidar. He has been applying his expertise to local problems, such as erosion on Santa Cruz Island and post-fire erosion in the Santa Barbara Front Range. He has also gone global, focusing on globally important problems such as monsoonal activity and glacial retreat in the Himalayas. Leila Carvalho is an expert in tropical climate and mesoscale modeling and has been applying her expertise to problems associated climate change in the monsoon regions and implications to rainfall variability and hazards. She has also expanded her expertise to understand local problems such as extreme precipitation and Santa Ana winds in California. Jennifer King is a biogeochemist who studies, among many things, trace gas emissions from grasslands as well as the impact of ultra-violet radiation on plant decomposition. Joe McFadden has joined us as a land cover/land use expert who is interested in urban ecology and in studying the sources and sinks of carbon within an urban environment. UCSB Geography is extremely pleased to have them here and is significantly stronger thanks to their presence.
Spring can also be a time of reflection. In this regard, UCSB Geography has some problems (mostly due to budgets), but remains a source of strength on campus. This strength is illustrated by the awards earned by faculty and students. For example, UCSB Geography remains one of the most highly awarded Geography Departments in the nation. I am pleased to report that two more of our members, Rick Church and Frank Davis (Affiliated) have been elected as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) this year. Our graduate students also continue to make us proud, with four earning 2010 Luce Fellowships (Micah Brachman, Emily de Moor, Amy McNally, and Keely Roth) and others earning prestigious awards such as a UC Transportation Center Dissertation grant (Gargi Chaudhuri).
Shrinking budgets remind us of the serious financial challenges we face, with students paying higher fees for more crowded classrooms and the department continuing to face the challenge of furloughs and declining support for Teaching Assistants. However, I am ever hopeful that greater awareness of the contributions the UC makes to society and proposed improvements in state support can turn this around. Donor contributions remain an ever growing and critical form of support that is helping us preserve excellence. It has been a challenging year, but UCSB Geography is flourishing.
Sincerely, Professor Dar Roberts, Chair, Department of Geography
Editor’s note: For more about the “spatial” issues of UCSB and the Department of Geography, see the June 10, 2009 article, “In the Beginning: UCSB and the Department of Geography.”
