Happy Monday morning, all, and welcome to the coldest day of this year’s autumn season! I have one new announcement, and then a little bit of déjà vu to follow.

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Clayton Blodgett was selected as an American College and University Educators (ACUE) Fellow! The ACUE Fellows program is part of the National Association of System Heads (NASH) Scaling Instructional Excellence for Student Success, a strategic initiative focused on improving quality instruction, and ultimately student success, through intentional, high-quality professional development for faculty across the UM System. Faculty who are selected to participate as Fellows in this program will be awarded ACUE’s Certificate in Effective College Instruction that is recognized and endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE). Congratulations, Dr. Blodgett!

And now, for a little déjà vu from last week:

Please drop in to meet Scott MacDonald (Geography BA ’15, Honors), Geography’s A&S Professor for a Day, who will be speaking to us virtually this Wednesday, October 21 at 4:15pm on Zoom. The Zoom invitation is available here. Scott is a product engineer at the geospatial software company Esri in Redlands, California, where he helps governments, companies, and organizations around the world provide geospatial resources using ArcGIS Enterprise software. As Professor for a Day, Scott will share his journey from Mizzou, his experiences in environmental geography, and his perspective on geography and GIS as a career.

Now that the weather is colder, perhaps you are a little more in the mood to carve your pumpkin for our MU Geography All-Hallows’ Eve Jack-O’-Lantern Contest. Carve your own Jack-O-’Lantern, preferably with a geography or MU theme, take a picture of your pumpkin and submit it to Deb Cutler (dac7tb@missouri.edu) by Wednesday October 28 at 5pm. There is a cool prize for first place, and the top three winning pumpkins will be featured on our department’s website.

Today, October 19 at 4pm, Associate Dean for Inclusive Culture Dr. Stephanie Shonekan will be helping us think through our special role as geographers in fostering a culture of inclusive belonging in our department and on campus. This is a required meeting for all faculty, is highly encouraged for staff and graduate students, and is open to any undergraduates who would like to attend. The Zoom link is here.

Stay warm out there…

M-I-Z!

G-E-O!

Soren