Supporting Graduate Students

September 17, 2020

Supporting Graduate Students

While many student organizations focus on one selective topic, such as a particular interest group or cause, GeogGrads, more formally known as the Graduate Association of Research Geographers at UT, addresses the needs of its graduate students in the moment while building a foundation for future geographers to come. Membership for GeogGrads is open to all graduate students interested in geography, including those outside the geography department; all that is required is an interest in geography as a discipline. An executive board of officers works on the behalf of student members, but any member can put forward requests for events or topics for discussion.

In typical years, GeogGrads hosts events such as bowling, hiking, and social opportunities, as well as service opportunities for those wanting to work in the community. Things this year are a little different, but GeogGrads has shifted to providing those social connections in an online space instead. Friday nights serve as an informal social space in which members of the geography community can collaborate, socialize, and even practice their presentation skills in preparation for conferences.

A promotional event GeogGrads hosts every other year is a graduate and undergraduate symposium titled GeoSym. Students and faculty alike are invited to speak on the topic of their research in poster, paper, and lighting-style sessions. Additionally, an invited speaker will deliver a keynote address on the topic of the symposium. Due to concerns regarding COVID-19, GeoSym did not take place this year, but there are ongoing discussions within GeogGrads for hosting a virtual conference in the spring.

*Students pin the places they would like to travel as part of Geography Awareness Week activities on the Burchfiel plaza.*

Perhaps the most important student-recruiting event GeogGrads does as an organization is Geography Awareness Week, in collaboration with the Tennessee Geographic Alliance in mid-November. Traditionally, members set up activities on the Burchfiel plaza and promote the field of geography and study abroad opportunities during class change. In addition, GeogGrads organizes an open house and invites students from all disciplines to learn about the field of geography and hear presentations from many of the department’s professors and staff.

A new development this year, led chiefly by GeogGrads Treasurer Yael Uziel, is the creation of a resource guide for graduate students in need. Information regarding food banks, temporary assistance, and care for one’s physical and mental health in this COVID-19 climate are all provided in one spot, and the document is ever-growing with new contributions from various sources. An average of 30% of students in Southern Appalachian colleges, both undergraduate and graduate, experience food insecurity, and rates of mental health in graduate students have been worsening for decades. The guide allows anyone in GeogGrads to access resources safely and anonymously without fear of stigma.

GeogGrads is a space for geography-interested graduate students to learn, work together, and have fun. The organization continuously grows and develops to help make the field of geography exciting and open for all. During COVID-19, GeogGrads has pivoted to be a safe online space. Members are working to aid new graduate students transitioning into the department during this time. GeogGrads all create a community, address needs, and promote the ever-important field of geography.

Paying it Forward

September 17, 2020

Paying it Forward

At least once a week, Hannah Gunderman (’18) finds herself strategizing about ways she can engage with the UT Department of Geography. She is a proud alumna and makes it a priority to stay involved.

“It would be an understatement to say that I care about the geography department,” Gunderman said. “There was something really special about my experience that makes me want to continue being involved in any way that I can and pay it forward to students currently in the program.”

Working with Professor Derek Alderman as her dissertation advisor, Gunderman earned her PhD in geography and decided to pursue a career in academic librarianship. She started down this path as a postdoc in the UT School of Information Sciences (SIS) in September 2018 and a year later, began working in her current role as a research data management consultant at Carnegie Mellon University. During her postdoc at UT, however, Gunderman could not get geography – or the Burchfiel geography building – off her mind.

“The postdoc in SIS changed my mental map of UT’s campus, which had previously been so rooted in the Burchfiel geography building that I found myself making excuses to pop over to Burchfiel whenever I could,” Gunderman said. “Needed a walk at lunch? I’d head over to Burchfiel! Needed some water? The water fountains in that building are the best! It was clear that, although my professional sphere at UT had shifted, my heart still remained with UT geography.”

Gunderman’s commitment to giving back to the department began during her internship at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as a doctoral student in the former geographic information science and technology group. For several years, she served as a bridge between ORNL and the department. Gunderman connected students with information about opportunities at the lab and mentored several students on career development and professional growth, both as a doctoral student and in her role as a postdoc in SIS.

“I quickly learned how much I loved giving back to the department that provided so much for me as a student,” Gunderman said. “While my postdoc duties over in SIS kept me busy, I always made time for coffee chats at Golden Roast, my favorite Knoxville coffee shop, with UT geography students.”

Shortly before Carnegie Mellon and UT went fully online due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gunderman visited Knoxville for two information sciences conferences and saw an opportunity to conduct a data management workshop for UT geography students while she was in town. During the workshop, students drew from Pokémon to learn more about documentation and workflows, chatted through file naming schemes, and engaged in conversations on tools for storing and sharing geospatial information.

“It was an incredible experience to watch these students go through these activities and also see myself through a completely different lens being back in Burchfiel,” Gunderman said. “Conducting the workshop in the very same room where I used to write my dissertation, have committee meetings, and meet with students, I saw how I could continue to enrich the department as a faculty member at another institution.”

Hannah Gunderman Workshop Group Photo — *Hannah Gunderman and UT students and staff after her workshop in February 2020.*

Gunderman recently participated in a five-week career coaching program, led by GIS Outreach Coordinator, Michael Camponovo, where she learned techniques for growing her career and gained the opportunity to network, mentor, and connect with other UT geography alumni.

With the ongoing pandemic, Gunderman is not sure when she will be able to visit with UT geography students in person again, but she plans to continue her outreach in a virtual environment through guest lectures, data management workshops, and a Zoom-Side Chat with Michael Camponovo.

“I am always available to talk with any students or alumni who are interested in exploring the academic librarianship career route, for which geography is an excellent foundation,” Gunderman said. “I consider my outreach and engagement with UT geography to be one of the most important service activities of my career, and I hope to continue this for many more years to come.”

Mapping Advocacy

September 17, 2020

Mapping Advocacy

The UT Center for Sport, Peace and Society (CSPS) is committed to creating a more stable, equitable, and inclusive world through sport-based social innovation. With a long-standing commitment to empowering groups of people who are often overlooked, CSPS works diligently to advance the rights of persons with disabilities, locally and across the world.

One of the greatest challenges participants of CSPS programs had previously cited is the need for a greater understanding of the international, regional, and national laws and policies designed to protect people with disabilities. Alumni express a pressing need to know what laws exist in their respective countries, as well as within their geographical regions, for the purposes of connecting prudent information directly to their efforts to create more inclusive grassroots and elite sports initiatives. It is out of this need that the idea for creating a one-of-a-kind interactive global map was born.

Veronica Allen (’20) began interning with CSPS in June 2019 under the direction of Carolyn Spellings, chief of evaluation, research, and accountability. She spent the summer researching laws and policies around the world that addressed gender equity, specifically in sport, as part of a project funded by the Stuart Scott Award from ESPN. After collecting a large data set on countries all over the world, there was a need to come up with an appropriate platform upon which to display the information. Allen suggested putting it all into an interactive global Esri Story Map and reached out to Liem Tran, professor of geography, for advice on how this would be possible. Tran suggested she take the GEOG420: GIS in the Community course and make this her penultimate project. With project partner Jordan Romero, Allen spent the semester putting the map together in collaboration with the CSPS and Tran. It was a success!

Allen continued to intern for CSPS during the 2020 spring semester. Due to the positive feedback on how the first map turned out, CSPS asked if she could produce another one, this time on laws and policies that protected persons with disabilities. This project was in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Allen went through a similar process of data collection and discussions around what the map could look like. This time, CSPS wanted to highlight the legal framework, stats on persons with disabilities, Paralympic information, and alumni from their Sport for Community mentor program. Allen determined a Dashboard map would be the best fit for this project. Allen, another intern, and Spellings spent the semester and summer putting it together and making proper edits to ensure that it would become a valuable resource for their alumni and others in the sport community to view stats on protections for persons with disabilities with a sport context. The global map was just one small part of their newly launched website, sportandpeace.com, to advocate for persons with disabilities and celebrate the anniversary of the ADA.

“The thing that stuck out to me most in these two projects is how dynamic GIS knowledge and capabilities can be. I was able to fuse two of my passions, GIS and sports, to create a meaningful resource for the Center. I was also fortunate to have Dr. Spellings as an advisor throughout the process,” said Allen, who now applies the things she learned during the process to her new job with the Tennessee Department of Transportation. “At UT, Dr. Tran and Michael Camponovo consistently provided advice and guidance. I am so thankful for my experience as an undergraduate student in the geography department.”

Burchfiel Geography Building Gift

February 14, 2020

Burchfiel Geography Building Gift

The Burchfiel Geography Building (BGB), which was built with funds donated by the late William Burchfiel Jr., is located in the heart of the campus. Opened in August, 2000, the BGB is, to our knowledge, the newest free-standing geography building in the United States. We also believe it is the only building on campus built solely with private funds. The BGB houses the administrative offices, faculty offices, graduate student offices, GIS Outreach office, several classrooms, GIS and computer labs, and physical geography teaching labs.

The Department of Geography received a $4.5 million gift from the estate of the late Dr. William Burchfiel, Jr. to construct a free-standing geography building to be named after Dr. Burchfiel’s father. Dr. Burchfiel’s will stipulated that the building had to be located on what is known as “The Hill.” As a result, the Department enjoys a first-rate facility located in the heart of the campus.

The Burchfiel Geography Building increases the sense of community for all who work here. The BGB also enhances our competitiveness for grants and contracts. Housing the Tennessee Geographic Alliance within the same structure as the faculty and graduate students enhances our outreach activities. We believe the BGB is an excellent recruiting tool for majors, graduate students, and faculty.

Dr. Burchfiel earned bachelor’s (1940) and master’s (1941) degrees in Geography at UT. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy. After the war, Burchfiel worked in the Pentagon while earning the doctorate (1953) in industrial geography and climatology from the University of Maryland. He returned to Tennessee, where he owned motels in Gatlinburg and Sevierville and co-owned for 18 years the insurance agency founded by his father. While a student at UT, Bill Burchfiel would often discuss the inadequate state of facilities and low status of geography with his advisor, Harold Clyde Amick. A common theme of those discussions was the goal of the department having its own building in the heart of campus. Approximately 60 years later, Dr. Burchfiel’s generosity helped make that goal a reality.

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