The California Geographer Vol. 56 (2017)
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/215419
Journal of California Geographical Society2024-03-29T11:02:00Z2016 Award Winners
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/193766
2016 Award Winners
Derrick, Matthew; Sherriff, Rosemary
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZTeaching California Climate and Vegetation Change Over Long Timescales: An NGSS-Aligned Unit Using CalFlora and the Neotoma Paleoecological Database
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/193765
Teaching California Climate and Vegetation Change Over Long Timescales: An NGSS-Aligned Unit Using CalFlora and the Neotoma Paleoecological Database
Glover, Katherine C.
Derrick, Matthew; Sherriff, Rosemary
This paper introduces an inquiry-based classroom unit titled 'California Climate and Vegetation Change,' a set of place-based exercises that utilize real data from California. NOAA climate data at four locations throughout the state are provided to create climatographs. Students then use Neotoma Explorer to find and evaluate past vegetation change from fossil pollen sites, and use CalFlora to research the environmental tolerances and distribution of plant taxa that seem most sensitive to climate change. Synthesis at the end of the classroom task includes writing a summary of what we can discern about California climate change over the past 10,000 years from vegetation records, and proposing and defending a new collection site for a palynological study. The unit is appropriate for high school and college coursework that cover topics such as climate, vegetation, range shifts, and the fossil record in physical geography and biogeography. Both databases employ graphical user interfaces that reinforce the spatial thinking central to geography. The unit is aligned with the Earth Sciences and Life Sciences content criteria of the Next Generation Science Standards, the latest set of scientific standards that stress active learning, use of technology, interpretation of real datasets, and connections across disciplines. While this approach to learning may put students into the uncomfortable territory of complex data sets and no simple "right answer," there is potential for student practice and skill-building. These skills include data visualization, interpretation, synthesis, evaluation, and evidence-based proposal writing, all essential for real-life problem solving and finding solutions to environmental challenges in California.
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZCentral Valley Culinary Landscapes: Ethnic Foodways of Sikh Transnationals
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/193764
Central Valley Culinary Landscapes: Ethnic Foodways of Sikh Transnationals
Helzer, Jennifer; Benson, Heather
Derrick, Matthew; Sherriff, Rosemary
This study explores the Americanization process of Sikhs in California's Central Valley based on the degree to which cuisine has evolved and consumptive patterns have changed since their arrival in the area. Drawing on insights from cultural geography and anthropology, this research examines the ethnic foodways of Sikh transnationals. The foods consumed by Central Valley Sikhs constitute fundamental components of ethno-cultural and geographical identity. This study contends that migrants experience foodway assimilation differently based on geographic location, age at arrival, and current age. The study employs multiple methods, including intensive field research, open-ended questionnaires, participant observation, and in-depth personal interviews. Because contact with American cultures has resulted in exposure to new types of foods, understanding which traditional foodways have resisted change will help clarify the process of acculturation. This study also reveals the role that spatial relationships play in maintaining a traditional diet.
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZMapping Marijuana Cultivation Sites and Water Storage in the Redwood Creek Watershed, Southern Humboldt County
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/193763
Mapping Marijuana Cultivation Sites and Water Storage in the Redwood Creek Watershed, Southern Humboldt County
Bauss, Cristina I.
Derrick, Matthew; Sherriff, Rosemary
Impending regulation of California's marijuana industry demands a quantifiable understanding of the extent of cultivation and adequacy of water storage on private lands long devoted to a dispersed, but commercial-scale, unregulated marijuana industry. Water storage is a critical factor, given both California's droughts and its climate: indoor plants are grown under lights year-round, and outdoor plants are grown during the dry months. This research aimed to quantify marijuana cultivation and water storage in the Redwood Creek watershed of southern Humboldt County, where major land use changes have taken place since the late 1960s. Using Google Earth imagery and geospatial analysis, an inspection of 369 assessor's parcels located within or partly within the watershed yielded 303 greenhouses, 100 outdoor cultivation scenes, 164 water tanks, and 51 installed ponds. Estimating the number of water-storage tanks was much more challenging than estimating the number of cultivation sites; it is virtually certain that numerous tanks are under the forest canopy and not visible. The only way to verify their number and holding capacity would be through either ground truthing or GIS analysis using point-cloud data. The latter is costly to collect and process; therefore, given that many landowners who have engaged in unregulated marijuana cultivation are loath to grant access to outside parties, at this juncture it may be difficult for academic researchers, state and county regulators, environmental inspectors, and other interested parties to measure some of the industry's existing environmental impacts.
2017-01-01T00:00:00Z