R. Ken Williams, a graduate of Texas A&M University, class of 1945, has been named the 2007 recipient of the Michel T. Halbouty Geosciences Medal. A resident of Midland, Texas, where he has been a member of the oil and gas industry for decades, Williams will be presented the award during the university’s Dec. 14 commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. in Reed Arena.

The Department of Geography in the College of Geosciences has been ranked 9^th, tied with Cornell, in Academic Analytics’ third annual Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index. The rankings were released in the November 16^th issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. According to the Chronicle’s Paula Wasley, this ranking of research university graduate programs “is based on what purports to be the first objective measurement of per-capita scholarly accomplishment.”

Dr. Tom Koch presented the 7^th annual Haynes Lecture Friday afternoon, November 15, at the College of Geosciences. Speaking on the cartographies of disease, Koch discussed maps, mapping and medicine in his lecture "Mapping in a Time of Cholera: John Snow and his Contemporaries."

Place/Name Studies Are Focus of Workshop

Geography assistant professor Reuben Rose-Redwood co-organized a workshop titled “Naming Places/Placing Names” held at East Carolina University October 13-16. Other organizers were Derek Alderman, East Carolina University, and Maoz Azaryahu, Haifa University. The interdisciplinary workshop brought together many of the leading scholars in critical place-name studies from around the world. For more information, visit http://personal.ecu.edu/aldermand/place-name/.  The Department of Geography in the College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University co-sponsored the workshop.

Ralph Rayburn Elected Chairman 

Meeting in mid-October in Point Clear, Ala., the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC) elected Ralph Rayburn, associate director and extension program leader for Texas Sea Grant, as its chairman.

The College of Geosciences is co-hosting a visit by Mr. Caleb Pungowiyi, an Yup'ik Eskimo, with students at Allen Academy and  Cypress Grove Middle School in College Station on Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 13/14). Pungowiyi, a noted spokesperson and advocate for Native Alaskan concerns, will talk to the students about the effects of climate change on coastal communities of northern Alaska. Dr. David Cairns, associate professor of Geography, and Oceanography graduate student Chrissy Wiederwohl will accompany Pungowiyi. He will also be a guest lecturer for a Geosciences 489/689 International Polar Year 2007-2008 course while he is here.