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Effective Leadership Theories for Geographers in Education
Get PDFn higher education institutions, the position and merit of geography has been gradually declining. Geography programs have been reviewed regarding the value, nature, purpose, and utility of the discipline. Some geography departments have been terminated, such as the one at the University of Michigan (Kish & Ward, 1981). Skeptics of geography, moreover, point to the great range of problems, such as the identity of geography and the role it plays in education, which have plagued the discipline. Yet effective and efficient leadership have rarely been voiced as one means to enhance the status of geography. It is the intent of the author, therefore, to focus on effective leadership so as to provide helpful cues for improving geography at the university and/ or college levels. Indeed, geographers have seldom considered the role of leadership in formulating strategies that would lead to success (Khan & Vuicich, 1984a). Two major situational or contingency theories of leadership will be presented and their potential in formulating strategies for effective functioning of the geography chairs in education will be discussed
Sostenibilidad ambiental en comunidades mayas: riesgos y desafíos en la era del cambio climático
Get PDFEl presente artículo analiza las dinámicas de sostenibilidad ambiental en comunidades mayas del estado de Yucatán, México, enfocándose en los riesgos ambientales y las respuestas adaptativas desarrolladas frente al cambio climático. El trabajo se desarrolló en tres comunidades: Yaxunah, caracterizada por la producción artesanal y la sobreexplotación del árbol de Chaká (Bursera simaruba); Ixil, que enfrenta disputas territoriales e inundaciones recurrentes; y Sotuta, afectada por la contaminación acuífera derivada de una granja porcina en zonas aledañas. Metodológicamente, se implementó un enfoque de investigación acción participativa que integró diálogo de saberes, matrices de análisis de riesgo y estrategias de intervención comunitaria. Los resultados revelaron una compleja interacción entre prácticas culturales, relaciones de poder y sostenibilidad ambiental. Se identificaron riesgos significativos incluyendo eventos meteorológicos extremos, degradación de suelos, contaminación de acuíferos y presiones sobre ecosistemas sensibles como cenotes. Las comunidades han desarrollado respuestas adaptativas que combinan conocimientos tradicionales, como la técnica de creación de suelo sohol en Ixil, con innovaciones contemporáneas. El estudio concluye que la sostenibilidad ambiental en contextos indígenas no puede desvincularse de consideraciones sobre justicia ambiental, derechos territoriales y autodeterminación por lo que se proponen estrategias en tres ejes fundamentales: educación ambiental contextualizada, gobernanza ambiental participativa y tecnologías sostenibles culturalmente apropiadas. Finalmente, la mitigación efectiva de riesgos ambientales requiere tanto acciones locales como transformaciones en las relaciones de poder que configuran el acceso y control sobre territorios y recursos naturales
Landslides Along the Lewis Overthrust Fault, Glacier National Park, Montana
Get PDFAs development in the mountainous areas of the western United States continues to accelerate, the exposure of humans and structures to natural hazard threats from high-magnitude masswasting events also increases. This encroachment into previously uninhabited, undeveloped mountain areas creates situations whereby mass-wasting events now pose threats to human activity. Glacier National Park, Montana, is one such location where the potential exists for high-magnitude mass-wasting events. The mountains in this area commonly have steep slopes, high relief, and weathered bedrock features. These features, combined with a mid-latitude climate conducive to extensive frostweathering action, have resulted in a landscape possessing many slope movement deposits. Mass-wasting features such as slumps, rockslides, rockfalls, earthflows, and talus slopes are common along the slopes of the mountains. Along one area in the Park in particular, the Lewis Overthrust Fault along the eastern front of the Rockies, extensive mass-wasting deposits are found
The Syrian Tabqa Dam: Its Development and Impact
Get PDFThe Euphrates River has its sources in eastern Turkey\u27s Anatolian Plateau and extends 3,000 kilometers through Syria and Iraq before it discharges into the river\u27s delta at Shat AI-Arab in the Arabian Gulf. It is an exotic river, a center of past civilization and population, and a managed river with an extensive delta. It floods in early summer but its flooded area dries-out very quickly in the semiarid climate. The Euphrates River can maintain an annual flow throughout its course because of relatively high rainfall and snow-melt at higher elevations. Utilization of its drainage basin has been intensified from its source in the uplands of Turkey to the Gulf since ancient times. The purpose of this paper is to describe one of the intensification projects, viz., Syria\u27s activities along its northern portion of the Euphrates River where it constructed the Tabqa Dam and Lake Assad, and to assess the project\u27s impact
Monitoring Population Pressure in the SemiArid Zone of Kenya
Get PDFPopulation pressure is a maladjustment between resources of a community and its population. This maladjustment worsens when the population increases at a faster rate than the development of the economy. The pressure leads to the deterioration of land resources and low, risky income opportunities and widespread poverty. Kenya\u27s population growth rate of 4 percent per year is one of the highest in the world. Its populationresource relations are deteriorating and foreshadow the country\u27s future. In the semi-arid and arid parts of the country, especially those occupied by traditional pastoral people, population pressures are particularly serious. Here, the pressures of people and large animal populations (both domestic and game) lead to overgrazing, overcutting, and trampling. Other destructive activities include cultivation on hillsides and pasturing livestock on steep slopes with little attempt to control their movements or numbers. These activities expose soils to erosion in the period of intense rains and cause severe land damag
Electricity Transmission in Michigan\u27s Central Upper Peninsula: Problems and Prospects
Get PDFHistorically, overall economic development in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan has been slow relative to the remainder of the state. Many factors have contributed to such a lag: most may be grouped under the general geographic concept of accessibility. A variety of barriers to accessibility have had a negative impact on the expansion of the region. For example, distance from major markets in southeastern Michigan and Wisconsin and a harsh winter environment in the Upper Peninsula are two barriers commonly noted. However, another significant barrier exists which affects the development of the Upper Peninsula. It is the relative unavailability of reliable electric power in parts of the region. For future economic growth there, improvements in the electricity transmission system must be made, particularly in the central portion of the region. This paper is focused on five counties in the central Upper Peninsula (Figure 1). Its purposes are: (1) to assess the present situation concerning electricity transmission in the region, (2) to identify power-related problems there, and (3) to present recommended possible alternatives to improve reliability. Resolution of problems would insure delivery of adequate supplies of electric power in the future and enhance the potential for further economic expansion
The Dark Heart of Europe: Culture Conflict in Transylvania
Get PDFThe Dark Heart of Europe: Culture Conflict in Transylvani