Heide Bruckner

Faculty News Spring 2021

Anonymous — Mon, 03 May 2021 23:20:08 +0000

Faculty News Spring 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/03/2021 - 17:20

Waleed Abdalati testified to Congress for the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

Waleed Abdalati

On April 15, 2021, Professor Abdalati testified in a hearing held by the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. The hearing was titled “Making the Case for Climate Action: The Growing Risks and Costs of Inaction.”

While Dr. Abdalati spoke to the underlying physical mechanisms of climate change, their current expressions, and future implications, other witnesses included the city manager for Tybee Island in Coastal Georgia, who talked about the challenges they face in confronting sea level rise; a lawyer from Mississippi, who spoke to the ethnic and racial inequities associated with climate change; and an economist, who spoke to the social costs of climate change.

Dr. Abdalati remarked, "hearing these different perspectives on climate change really drove home the geographic dimensions of climate change in a very powerful way, as well as the critical role that geography serves in meeting these challenges.”

Also see information about the hearing and Dr. Abdalati's testimony

Holly Barnard

Holly Barnard Awarded Boulder Faculty Excellence in Leadership & Service Award for 2020-2021

Chosen from amongst many excellent nominees, Professor Holly Barnard was selected as a recipient of the BFA Faculty Excellence in Leadership and Service Award this year.

She was jointly nominated by the Department of Geography and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) for her leadership in advancing justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in both units, across the ��Ƶ campus, and beyond. In addition, Professor Barnard has also taken on numerous leadership roles in the discipline, through the American Geophysical Union and through her past service as Lead Program Manager for the Hydrological Sciences Program at NSF.

Additionally, Dr. Barnard was also recently honored for her efforts to promote diversity by the Arts & Sciences Council of the College of A&S.

Emily Yeh Winner of the 2020-2021 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award

Emily Yeh

Dr. Yeh was chosen as a winner of the Graduate School's 2020-2021 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award. Her nomination dossier was full of praise for providing help and encouragement to her advisees. She is well known for giving much of her time, energy, and intellect to support graduate students and the mission of graduate education.

Yaffa Truelove

Yaffa Truelove Wins Best Urban Studies Article 2020

The Urban Studies Best Article is awarded by the editors to the authors of the most innovative and agenda-setting article published in a given year. Eleven articles were shortlisted by the editors from those published in print copy in 2020. Urban Studies Journal is an international journal for research in urban and regional studies.

Dr. Truelove's article, Disambiguating the southern urban critique: Propositions, pathways and possibilities for a more global urban studies, has been voted by the editors as the Urban Studies Best Article for 2020. In agreement with the publisher, SAGE, they will be allowing Open Access to the article on the journal’s website.

Katherine Lininger

Professor Katherine Lininger was part of a team given a ��Ƶ Outreach Award for the outreach proposal, “��Ƶ Restoration Ecology Experimental Learning Program”, by the ��Ƶ Boulder Outreach Awards Committee. The effort was led by Tim Seastedt, professor emeritus of INSTAAR and EBIO, and also included Professor Sharon Collinge from the Department of Environmental Studies. The project builds on three years of work, partnering with the non-profit Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV). WRV uses service-learning and education programs to help local youth build relationships with nature. Over 70% of the youth engaged in the program come from low-income, minority, or at risk populations. As a result, underserved youth will have access to the many benefits of a connection to nature and will be able to explore potential careers in environmental sciences and see their own capacity to make a positive impact.

Their team was selected from amongst a very competitive pool of 40 applications.

Morteza Karimzadeh

Morteza Karimzadeh awarded RIO Seed Grant

Morteza Karimzadeh and Terra McKinnish were awarded the ��Ƶ RIO Seed Grant for the project entitled “Recovering from a Pandemic: Unraveling Neighborhood Geographic Disparities in Consumer and Business Behavior in 2021”.

They will use foot-traffic data to identify business patrons’ residence neighborhoods and the level of recovery in consumption by residents living in those neighborhoods as characterized by different sociodemographic, political and economic conditions.

The 2021 Research & Innovation Seed Grant program resulted in 16 new grants with approximately $700,000 being awarded to ��Ƶ Boulder faculty across disciplines, with each grant providing up to $50,000 in funding.

Heide Bruckner

MeatOut Day: Heide Bruckner Interviewed on Colorado Public Radio

In February, word started to get out that Gov. Jared Polis has proclaimed the 20th as MeatOut Day. The day, which was started in 1985 by the Farm Animals Rights Movement, is meant to encourage non-vegetarians to consider moving toward a plant-based diet.

Heide Bruckner's research involves the intersections of food and identity. “Meat has always been politicized and meat-eating tied to a lot of perceptions of American identity and masculinity, especially here in the American West,” she said.

Dr. Bruckner favors the idea of a MeatOut Day, as a way to introduce people to the idea that they can reduce the amount of meat in their diet without becoming a full vegetarian.

“There is a large area in between that all-or-nothing approach that we really should explore,” she said. “Realistically, one day isn’t going to radically shift perception, change behaviors or reduce meat consumption. But I do believe it can provide an opening for some to consider the role that meat plays in their diet.”

The governor’s office notes that Polis issues numerous proclamations each year celebrating the state’s agricultural sector, including Colorado Ag Day, Farm Bureau Day, and Rocky Ford Cantaloupe Day. But that has not stopped the criticism. After word of the proclamation got out, several state Senators spoke out against MeatOut Day on the chamber floor.

John O'Loughlin: Ukrainian Resident’s Divided Views on the Donbas Conflict

John O’Loughlin

Two new articles from The Washington Post and Global Voices both feature research conducted by Professor John O’Loughlin of Geography and IBS's Program on International Development and his colleagues.

On February 12, 2015 the Minsk II accords left the Donbas region territorially divided with the Ukrainian government controlling the western side and two separatist entities controlling the eastern side. O’Loughlin and his research team conducted a survey on both sides and they found drastically different opinions regarding the war in Donbas.

On the eastern side, they found trust in the authorities to be higher among residents; however, on the western side, they found trust in the authorities to be much lower among residents. Their survey also shows that residents disagree on the future status of Donbas as an autonomous region.

The team also made a research presentation on the results at George Washington University’s Institute for European, Eurasian and Russian Studies in February; the video of the talk is available on Youtube.

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MeatOut Day: Heide Bruckner Interviewed on Colorado Public Radio

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 15:56:22 +0000

MeatOut Day: Heide Bruckner Interviewed on Colorado Public Radio Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/12/2021 - 08:56

Megan Verlee , CPR

Steak will be on the menu in conservative strongholds across Colorado on March 20, thanks to a proclamation from the governor’s office urging just the opposite.

Late last month, word started to get out that Gov. Jared Polis has proclaimed the 20th as MeatOut Day. The day, which was started in 1985 by the Farm Animals Rights Movement, is meant to encourage non-vegetarians to consider moving toward a plant-based diet.

When asked about the designation, Conor Cahill, the governor’s spokesman, said the office “gets hundreds of requests for proclamations throughout the year and rarely declines these non-binding ceremonial proclamations that get auto-penned by the Governor.”

Polis himself eats meat, although his fiance, first gentleman Marlon Reis, is a vegan and animal rights advocate.

While the declaration has no binding impact on what Coloradans choose to eat on the 20th, the suggestion that the governor would elevate an effort to get people to say goodbye to beef, if only for a day, quickly rankled Colorado’s ranching sector and its defenders.

The Colorado Cattlemen’s Association responded by urging people to celebrate a “Meat In” on the 20th. “On this day, CCA encourages Colorado to meet in a restaurant and order your favorite meat dish, meet your family and friends for a meal featuring meat!” states the group’s announcement.

Already, numerous conservative groups — and Weld County’s Board of Commissioners — have answered that call, pledging to hold cookouts heavy on the animal protein. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts issued his own proclamation, declaring March 20 “Meat on the Menu” day for his state.

The backlash doesn’t surprise ��Ƶ professor Heide Bruckner, whose research involves the intersections of food and identity.

“Meat has always been politicized and meat-eating tied to a lot of perceptions of American identity and masculinity, especially here in the American West,” she said.

Bruckner favors the idea of a MeatOut Day, as a way to introduce people to the idea that they can reduce the amount of meat in their diet without becoming a full vegetarian.

“There is a large area in between that all-or-nothing approach that we really should explore,” she said. “Realistically, one day isn’t radically going to shift perception, change behaviors or reduce meat consumption. But I do believe it can provide an opening for some to consider the role that meat plays in their diet.”

But that has not stopped the criticism.

After word of the proclamation got out, several state Senators spoke out against MeatOut Day on the chamber floor.

“For our governor to say that we should have a meat-free day is the last straw. It's just one more attack against my county,” said Republican state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer of Weld County. “Standing up for agriculture in this state is extremely important. It is the No. 2 economic driver in this state.”

While most of the opposition has come from conservative critics, Democratic state Sen. Rhonda Fields of Aurora also declared MeatOut Day a tone deaf move, noting that many of her constituents live in food deserts, where nutritious vegetarian options aren’t available.

“When I drive down Colfax coming from Aurora, I see people begging every day for food. And they’re not saying, ‘I want a carrot.’ They’re asking for a dollar or two or some change so they can feed themselves,” said Fields. “There is an issue as it relates to food insecurity in the state of Colorado. We don’t have the luxury in this COVID-19 environment to say, ‘we have a holiday where you can’t eat meat.’ It might be a good idea, but I think it’s the wrong approach.”

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Building classroom-community connections in the time of COVID-19

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 00:29:06 +0000

Building classroom-community connections in the time of COVID-19 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/10/2020 - 17:29

Heide Bruckner

Teaching, and learning remotely during the pandemic is not easy—from dropped zoom calls and spotty internet, to feeling disconnected from classmates and course material. But this fall, one class managed to combat feelings of isolation and social distance through a community-based project on hunger. Funded by a Community Impact Grant from ��Ƶ Boulder’s Office of Outreach and Engagement, undergraduate students in “Food Geographies” partnered with Boulder Food Rescue (BFR), a food redistribution non-profit, to conduct a project evaluation of its No Cost Grocery Program.

After learning about root causes of food insecurity in the United States, and the limitations of charitable food assistance, the class met with speakers from BFR to discuss their work of “redistributing produce and power” through community-led free food sites around town. Then, ��Ƶ students worked in groups to conduct virtual zoom interviews with participants in BFR’s programs-- focusing their conversations on program evaluation and how the pandemic has impacted individuals’ food access. With a few class sessions of qualitative data analysis to lean on, students dived into transcription and collaborative analysis to present key findings back to BFR partners.

“I found this project to be very inspiring at a personal level, as it allowed me to learn about organizations making a positive impact on communities by hearing first-hand from participant experiences,” reflected student Jaqueline De Carrera.

Many of her classmates also reported that they really enjoyed meeting others in the community through interviews, and that the outreach project helped them feel a sense of responsibility and belonging to the broader community (including the many senior citizens they interviewed).

“In a time of social isolation, it is more important than ever to reach out to the more marginalized members of our community,” remarked Elizabeth Gilbert.

What were students most surprised to learn?

“This project challenged my notion of the progressiveness of Boulder, reinforcing that food justice is a crucial element of any community no matter its average levels of wealth,” wrote Solomon Guttmann.

They were also impressed with the mutual support and generosity that characterized how community leaders in BFR’s programs help each other through the pandemic.

“In one interview, the senior participant described how she ended up with extra food and distributed it to her college-age neighbors who were out of grocery money. This anecdote warmed my heart because it shows how interconnected we are,” related Joey Kessler.

Connection was the resounding theme of the project, and what we all could use more of these days. Community-engaged work builds connections to course concepts and to each other.

“Working outside of the classroom is really important because it helps us, university students, connect with the communities that we are a part of, and also because it gives a real-world grounding to everything we learn inside the classroom,” summarized Esmé Fahnestock.

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2019 Fall Newsletter Published

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 23:30:51 +0000

2019 Fall Newsletter Published Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/11/2019 - 16:30

The 2019 Fall Newsletter has been published and is available for viewing. The newsletter is packed with department news, alumni updates, and articles by faculty and students.

Contents:

Message from the Department Chair, pg 2
Editors' Comments, pg 3
Mark Serreze Named Distinguished Professor, pgs 4-5
The Boulder Affordable Housing Research Initiative, pgs 6-7
Introducing Morteza Karimzadeh, Assistant Professor, pgs 8-9
Introducing Heide Bruckner, Instructor, pgs 9-10
Emily Yeh Sabbatical Notes: Post-disaster trajectories in mountainous Chinese village, pgs 11-12
Alumni Updates, pg 13
Department News, pg 14
Donor Support, pgs 15-16

All previous newsletters are on our Newsletters page.

For a more enjoyable reading experience, open the newsletter file and adjust your browser window to the same size as the newsletter page. The Table of Contents and other links are active within the document.

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