Ogden News

Faculty and students in WKU’s Department of Geography and Geology have a long tradition of global research engagement, with their international reach embracing all six inhabited continents. From study abroad experiences to conferences and research projects, the department continues to extend WKU’s global ambitions to myriad corners of the world.

In 2012 alone, students and faculty visited countries on all six continents for research, lectures, conferences and other educational opportunities, including Australia, Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, China, England, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, the Maldives, Peru, Rwanda, Scotland, Slovenia, South Africa, Tahiti, Thailand and the United States.

Students developed dune profiles on San Salvador Island, Bahamas, during a trip in January 2012.

Dr. Fred Siewers began the year with his biannual study abroad program to San Salvador Island in the Bahamas, where 16 students explored the geology and natural history of this fascinating location. Regional field trips during the year to the Appalachians, the Ozarks, the Midwest and to many points in between engaged dozens of meteorology, geology and geography students with all manner of physical and cultural landscapes, including tornadoes.

Conferences in diverse locales such as New York, Asheville and Charlotte (N.C.), Edinburgh (Scotland), Murray (Ky.), New Orleans and San Diego were well attended by students and faculty, who presented papers and posters on a wide variety of research topics.

Examining the physical properties of agricultural terracing in Bali, Indonesia

The department likely has the most globally focused research agenda of any WKU program, with ongoing projects in China, the Peruvian Andes, Colombia, England, Nepal, Belize, the Bahamas, Argentina, Brazil, Ethiopia, New Zealand, across the United States and points in between.  It also has a strong reputation for exciting study abroad programs, with destinations in 2013 to include Mexico’s Yucatan, Chile, and the British Isles.

For information about the department’s international reach, contact David Keeling  at (270) 745-4555.