News
NESTVAL 2009 at Salem State a Success
On November 6 and 7, Salem State hosted the 87th annual New England-St. Lawrence Valley (NESTVAL) Geographer’s conference, and it was one of the largest conferences on record. Over 160 participants from schools and colleges throughout New England and Canada attended the two-day event, which was held at the Bertolan School of Business on the Central Campus of Salem State College. In addition to general paper presentations and a pizza party social hour, the conference got off to an exciting start as students from five schools – Bridgewater State College, Central Connecticut State University, Keene State College, Plymouth State University, and Salem State College – competed in the annual NESTVAL Geography Bowl. Plymouth State emerged victorious after squaring off against second place winner Central Connecticut. After the Bowl, many of the students attended an “alternative banquet” off campus.
For those who stayed on campus, Friday evening was highlighted by a wine and cheese social hour, followed by a banquet, awards recognitions, and a keynote presentation. Salem State Provost Kristin Esterberg gave a warm welcome to NESTVAL participants and reaffirmed the centrality of Geography to a liberal arts education. Doug Richardson, Executive Director of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), gave a presentation on the state of the discipline of Geography and the professional society. He noted impressive growth in AAG membership, an increasingly stable financial outlook, and growing career prospects for students with Geographic education and training. Amongst the many initiatives that the AAG is involved in, Richardson highlighted the AAG Center for Global Geography Education (CGGE), a collection of online modules for undergraduate courses in geography and related social and environmental sciences. Salem State Professor Steve Silvern is actively involved in the development of the Global Climate Change module for that program.
Following Richardson’s presentation, co-editors Steve Silvern and John Hayes of Salem State announced the publication of volume 1 of The Northeastern Geographer, a new peer-reviewed journal, which replaces the NESTVAL Proceedings that ran from 1972 to 2006. The newly launched journal is edited and published out of Salem State. Steve Young, chair of the Department of Geography at Salem State, subsequently awarded the co-editors a “wine” award in recognition of their hard work and the fact that they let everyone know it, repeatedly.
Leon Yacher of Southern Connecticut State University presented NESTVAL’s Friend of Geography award to Mark Okrant from Plymouth State University for his years of service to NESTVAL. Steve Young presented an award to Swampscott Middle School geography teacher Judy McKenzie who was named by NESTVAL as the Outstanding Geography Teacher of the Year for the New England region. Her recent letter-writing project with the Siyabulela Primary School in South Africa was highlighted as an example of how she “goes above and beyond to make learning about our world exciting and meaningful to her students.” McKenzie explained that she absolutely loves teaching 13-year-olds about our world and how critically important it is for them to gain an understanding and appreciation of the global community. She also lamented how geography is being de-emphasized in Massachusetts while in much of the country it is being stressed as the world become more interconnected.
In keeping with this year’s conference theme “Climate Change in the Northeast,” keynote speaker Cameron Wake of the University of New Hampshire, presented on “Climate Change in New England.” Drawing on the latest climate science research, Wake discussed the projected impacts of climate change on the physical and social environment of New England and the policy changes that need to happen in order to mitigate those changes.
Saturday, November 7 saw 12 concurrent paper sessions and panels, as well as a student poster session. In keeping with the student-centered focus of the conference, Rick Brandt of Salem State moderated two panels on “Geography: Jobs, internships and graduate school,” both of which were well attended by students eager for job opportunities and graduate school. In the afternoon, Steve Matchak and Larry Goss led a walking tour of downtown Salem, exploring the historical and present day geography of this historic community. John Hayes moderated a plenary panel on “Climate change and sea-level rise”, which included government officials and leading researchers on the forefront of climate change planning and research, including: Ben Gutierrez of the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Ellen Douglas of the Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences Department at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Kathleen Baskin, Director of Water Policy for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Richard O’Gara, Senior GIS Specialist for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (and Salem State alum!), and Daniella Hirschfeld of the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management.
This year’s conference included competitions for student papers and posters. First place for the student paper competition went to Kim Peterson from Southern Connecticut State University for her paper “Tourism and Development in Antigua, Guatemala.” Honorable Mention went to Hilda Lee, also from Southern Connecticut State University, for her paper, “The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Urban Social Structure of Greenwich, CT.” First place for the student poster competition went to Brenna Schwert, Max Wright and Andrew Caiazzo of Clark University Graduate School of Geography for their poster “1990 Statewide Classification of Massachusetts Predated using Kauth-Thomas Change Indices.” Honorable mention went to Amanda Jolly of Salem State for her poster “The Geography of Commercial Power Production in the United States and Massachusetts.” Papers and posters were judged by Steven Silvern, Keith Ratner, Bryon Middlekauf, and Cynthia Pope. First place winners received a $100 prize.
