Professional Presentations
67th Annual California Geographical Society Conference
San Luis Obispo, CA - 2013
Abstract:
Most cities of the United States have grown on the basis of the automobile. This has had the effect of making everything farther apart because distance is less of a problem. However, now distance is increasingly becoming a problem to those affected by the current economy. Most cities are sprawled across a large area and often have sections that could be a separate city. Each of these sections often contains similar commercial, recreational, and civic services or centers. However, not all of these sections are equal; some are more ideal or livable than others. What is livability though? For the purposes of our project we are defining livability in terms of choice and distance. We find the answer to questions such as, where are the most choices of commercial, recreational, civic, or other such services and centers; as well as how close they are to residence zones.
Most cities of the United States have grown on the basis of the automobile. This has had the effect of making everything farther apart because distance is less of a problem. However, now distance is increasingly becoming a problem to those affected by the current economy. Most cities are sprawled across a large area and often have sections that could be a separate city. Each of these sections often contains similar commercial, recreational, and civic services or centers. However, not all of these sections are equal; some are more ideal or livable than others. What is livability though? For the purposes of our project we are defining livability in terms of choice and distance. We find the answer to questions such as, where are the most choices of commercial, recreational, civic, or other such services and centers; as well as how close they are to residence zones.
67th Annual California Geographical Society Conference
Davis, CA - 2012
Abstract:
On Tuesday, 12 January 2010, at 16:53 local time, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti (fig A). The nation of Haiti is very poor and thus suffered greatly from the earthquake. It's been over a year since the earthquake and the nation is still seeing very few visible signs of reconstruction. Port-au-Prince was hit extremely hard due to how close the earthquake was and to the large number of people living there in the capital. In this study, we used the Google Earth 'Show Historical Imagery' button to compare the land cover type from before the earthquake to today, focusing on green-space, agriculture, buildings, and roads/dirt. The major changes that we found throughout the landscape were the green space coverage and the building coverage. Green space has given way to buildings. Most of these buildings are shelters that have been built to protect those that have lost their homes in the earthquake. Haiti was already struggling with massive deforestation and a bad economy before the earthquake hit (Malik 2001). Now that the earthquake has destroyed so many of its homes and buildings, the people of Haiti are struggling just to survive.
On Tuesday, 12 January 2010, at 16:53 local time, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti (fig A). The nation of Haiti is very poor and thus suffered greatly from the earthquake. It's been over a year since the earthquake and the nation is still seeing very few visible signs of reconstruction. Port-au-Prince was hit extremely hard due to how close the earthquake was and to the large number of people living there in the capital. In this study, we used the Google Earth 'Show Historical Imagery' button to compare the land cover type from before the earthquake to today, focusing on green-space, agriculture, buildings, and roads/dirt. The major changes that we found throughout the landscape were the green space coverage and the building coverage. Green space has given way to buildings. Most of these buildings are shelters that have been built to protect those that have lost their homes in the earthquake. Haiti was already struggling with massive deforestation and a bad economy before the earthquake hit (Malik 2001). Now that the earthquake has destroyed so many of its homes and buildings, the people of Haiti are struggling just to survive.
65th Annual California Geographical Society Conference
Bishop, CA - 2011
Overview:
World Relief Organization (WRO) is a faith based group, that helps Assyrian refugees, from outside the United States, settle into their new homes. I started working with the WRO during Urban Geography, fall 2010. After fall semester, it transformed into an independent studies project. Once finished with independent studies, the project also became my 2011 California Geographical Society presentation. The poster shows where Assyrian refugees are emigrating from and why they moving to the Central Valley.
For more information on the independent studies project, please visit Portfolios>Additional Project>Independent Studies - /independent-studies.html
World Relief Organization (WRO) is a faith based group, that helps Assyrian refugees, from outside the United States, settle into their new homes. I started working with the WRO during Urban Geography, fall 2010. After fall semester, it transformed into an independent studies project. Once finished with independent studies, the project also became my 2011 California Geographical Society presentation. The poster shows where Assyrian refugees are emigrating from and why they moving to the Central Valley.
For more information on the independent studies project, please visit Portfolios>Additional Project>Independent Studies - /independent-studies.html