Welcome to March, the time of leprechauns and basketball madness! We’ve got a lot going on in the department this month, so dive in and have some fun:

• Today at 5:15pm! HRC/GTU/Geo Club Happy Hour at the Heidelberg. First round of appetizers is on the house!
• Come out to the Geography Club/GTU Meeting next Monday March 12th @5pm. President Madeline Clarke is looking for ideas for a hiking expedition for the club—help her out by mentioning the names of potential places to go before the March meeting.
• Here’s an opportunity to learn a little more about where you live on an all-expenses paid ride in a MoX bus on a field trip of the Boonslick region on Saturday March 14th from 9:30AM-5:30PM. You will discover the fascinating historical geography of this region, which is the earliest settlement in the state not on the Mississippi River. Transportation is free!
  • Please RSVP Dr. Doug Hurt ASAP if you are interested (hurtd@missouri.edu)
• We need help with the Geography Bee during Spring Break on Friday, March 27th from 11:00AM till 5:00PM. As a volunteer, you get to witness the next generation of geography greats in action while helping run the show. But wait, there’s more!
  • Free lunch is provided (who says there is no such thing!)
  • Free t-shirt is provided
  • Please RSVP Dr. Doug Hurt if you are interested (hurtd@missouri.edu)
• Today is the first day of Early Registration! Tell your friends about all the cool geography courses on the books for next fall. I would like to highlight just a few…
  • Dr. Mike Urban will be back in the saddle teaching GEOG 1600 Climate Change: Science and Public Policy with a year’s worth of experience at the U.S. State Department under his belt, working on the U.S. position on the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Want to learn about climate policy from someone working in the international arena? Then take this class!
  • Think you knew GEOG 1100 Regions and Nations? Well, not any more! Dr. Doug Hurt is shaking things up for Fall 2020. Take this deeper dive into the regions and landscapes of the western hemisphere!
  • If you—or someone you know—is interested in learning how earth systems work together to produce the dynamic and changing natural landscapes we see around the world, take Dr. Grant Elliott’s GEOG 2610 Introduction to Physical Geography!
  • One of the coolest innovations in our curriculum is the online lab section for GEOG 3040 Intro to GIS, taught by Dr. Clayton Blodgett. Go to lecture twice a week, and then complete the lab online with face-to-face support available, if you need it, in the SPAM Lab in Stewart 114. What a way to add flexibility to your schedule!
  • Take a course that introduces you to the complex geographies of cities and urban landscapes with Dr. Matt Foulkes’ GEOG 2720 The City. There is normally a field trip to St. Louis or Kansas City to explore the concepts you’ve learn in class first-hand!

And many more courses—too many to mention here! Bottom line, tell your friends. It helps to have our own students spreading the word about all the cool things you can study in geography, the discipline that “brings it all together”…because remember: without geography, you’re nowhere!

Be well,

Soren

Professor & Chair

Department of Geography

University of Missouri

Columbia MO 65211-6170

https://geography.missouri.edu/people/larsen