Professional and Faculty Papers

What Political Comics Can Tell Us about the Social Geography of COVID-19

Kris Bezdecny, CSU Los Angeles

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and amplified the ongoing socioeconomic and sociopolitical divides within the US, across the world–and between the US and the world. As the pandemic continued, these quickly came to the forefront, such as: arguments about the need to continue business as usual to save the economy; issues in disparities between infections, deaths, and vaccinations in marginalized communities; who had the power to use emergency powers and to set policy to address a real-time event. This presentation uses political comics as a guide to investigating the social geography of the COVID-19 pandemic. Political cartoons represent one symbolic form of satire (Greenberg 2002), forming a coded iconic message (De Gruyter 2016) that quickly provides its message(s) using easily recognizable visuals. Political comics also incorporate many of the social contexts present at the time of their message, mirroring the perceptions of the pandemic, and the response/consequences, in real-time.

Ground Observations for Water Processes in Chaparral Plant Communities

Mario Giraldo, CSU Northridge

In chaparral ecosystem, a continuous monitoring of plant processes offers the opportunity to make available to land managers responsible for biodiversity and ecosystem the decision making tools that provide guidance in the strategies, to restore, conserve and manage natural systems. This presentation introduces the contributions of a multidisciplinary team of students and faculty in field work and data analysis for the study of ecosystem functions in chaparral communities. This presentation discusses the field experiment, and the lessons learned from a hands on, project based pedagogical experience addressing relevant research questions in biogeography and ecosystem forecasting.

Mapping Suitability of Specialty Crops in California under Current and Future Climate

Gabriel Granco et al., Cal Poly Pomona

California’s specialty crops, which include fruits and nuts, are responsible for $21 billion in revenue in 2018/2019. These crops benefit from California’s climate conditions, soils, diversity of relief, and water availability. However, the spatial agricultural suitability for each crop and the influence of anthropogenic factors on the spatial pattern are not well defined. The goal of this research is to estimate the ecological niche for the main specialty crops in California. To accomplish this goal, we developed ecological niche models for each crop using the Maxent algorithm. The data for the presence of crop is from the Cropland Data Layer, USDA NASS. For the 2008 to 2018 period, strawberries, citrus, and lettuces have experienced higher temperatures, while walnuts and almonds have not experienced significant changes. The analysis of the ecological niche for agricultural suitability can contribute to identifying the optimal location for each crop, thus contributing to improved sustainability.

Bringing Geography to the Community: Community-based Learning and the Geography Classroom

Amy Rock, Humboldt State University

Bringing community geography into the classroom manifests typically in one of two ways. The first, as place-based learning communities, in which cohorts of students are engaged with local community issues through a series of courses, using the community as laboratory and lens, developing place attachment in the process (Schweizer, Davis & Thompson 2013). The other is through community-based or service learning courses in which students work directly with community organizations to identify and develop solutions for those issues (Cal Corps Public Service 2015; Strait, Turk & Nordyke 2000). This type of socially situated learning fosters student success and retention, and develops civic engagement skills that benefit learner and community (Strait, Turk & Nordyke 2015). This paper examines community-based learning as practiced through service learning courses in geography at two universities, applying a spatial lens to engagement with local communities.

A Tale of Two Croatias: How Club Football (Soccer) Teams Produce Radical Regional Divides in Croatia’s National Identity

Dustin Tsai, San Joaquin Delta College

Croatia’s monumental second-place finish at the 2018 FIFA World Cup represents the highest football achievement to date for the young nation. This victory, however, masks violent internal divisions between its domestic club football teams. This article examines the most salient rivalry between Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split, two teams that have evolved to represent the interests of Croatia’s north and south. Using interviews with radical football fans, I argue that the two teams act as reservoirs for regional identity-building while violence between their fans is a microcosm for political and economic tensions between Zagreb and Split. More importantly, this rivalry exposes the dividedness of the Croatian state as it continues to grapple with the complexity of its radical regional identities since its independence from Yugoslavia. This article contributes to the existing body of literature on sports identity and regionalisms/nationalism as well as how sporting teams shape the geographies of belonging.

Coastal Watershed Monitoring and Management: Flood Modeling of Los Peñasquitos Creek, CA

Suzanne Walther and Ravleen Khalsa-Basra, University of San Diego

Southern California coastal watersheds are unique in their small spatial-scale and are increasingly vulnerable to flooding from short-duration heavy rainfalls and cyclic drought-storm patterns in the semi-arid climate. Runoff is exacerbated with population growth and land-cover change. This study uses two methods to estimate and model runoff using HEC-RAS. The first method estimates recurrence intervals based on local PeakFQ data. To account for precipitation and soil saturation, the second method uses a five-day Antecedent Precipitation Index and daily precipitation in a multiple regression empirical model to estimate runoff. Future projections for rainfall, based on climate models are applied and interpolated to RCP scenarios. For 50-100 year timescales, methods resulted in flows of 6,870-8,066 cfs and 7,908-8,246 cfs, respectively. We recommend using future projections for rainfall and land-use to better estimate flow and flooding for improved flood preparedness and overall management.