GRD 50th Anniversary Celebration

March 27-29, 2008

Please join us in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Department of Geography and Regional Development at the University of Arizona.

This March we have an entire weekend of events planned, including speakers, networking opportunities, excursions, and a gala celebration. This will a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our many milestones, connect with old friends and make new ones, and support our current and future students.

This page includes details and logistical information about the weekend event. Please check back for updated information as the celebration draws nearer.

Schedule

Gala Dinner Event: Tables for Ten available for $1000
$500 is considered a tax deductible donation. Gift will be acknowledged at event and printed in program.

Registration

To register please download and print a copy of the registration form (pdf file) and either mail or fax it to the department with your payment by February 25, 2008.

50th Anniversary Celebration
Geography and Regional Development
The University of Arizona
Harvill Building, Box 2
Tucson, AZ 85721
Fax: (520) 621-2889

Questions may be directed to Elizabeth Cordova at: (520) 621-1652 or elizabec@email.arizona.edu.

Connect with GRD

We've created a Facebook site for alumni to visit, find friends and former faculty, and add their own news. You can connect to it directly via the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7017088153

or directly through Facebook Groups by entering “Geography and Regional Development”.

We would also like to share photos of our alumni at the Friday evening Gala Dinner. Please submit scanned photos (including captions) of your days in GRD via email to:

Elizabeth Cordova, elizabec@email.arizona.edu

or mail with your registration form.

Lodging, Dining, and More

We know you know Tucson and probably have your favorite hotels, restaurants and bars. But a lot may have changed since you were last here so we are providing the contact information of hotels that are fairly close to the university as well as a list of restaurants and bars recently rated by the Tucson Weekly as “the Best of Tucson.”

Download the list of local hotels, restaurants, and bars (pdf file).

Networking Sessions (Friday, March 28)

The networking sessions are designed to gather alumni, faculty and current undergraduate and graduate students to reflect upon the issues that are foremost in development, communities, environments and geotechnologies. Panelists will discuss their own work and project significant changes and possible futures for each of these areas of knowledge and practice with respect to Arizona, the nation and the world as well as discuss opportunities for student employment and involvement.

AM Sessions: (10:00-12:00)

Greening Development (McClelland Hall 127)
David Plane (chair) Department of Geography and Regional Development
Laura Cole, RCL Company
Pricilla Storm, Diamond Ventures
David Roderique, Downtown Phoenix Partnership/Copper Square

The Department began its existence on the University of Arizona campus with a home in the Business College offering courses in the commercial applications of geography for economic growth and development. Sensitive to the changes emerging around economic development locally and around the nation and the world, in this session panelists will reflect on the move toward green development and sustainable growth in practice as well as in the training of our graduates.

Supporting Communities (McClelland Hall 130)
Keiron Bailey (chair), Department of Geography and Regional Development
Philippe Waterinckx, Tucson Community Supported Agriculture
Dereka Rushbrook, Department of Geography and Regional Development and No More Deaths
Kimi Eisele, Independent Writer, Artist, and Dancer
Terry Babcock-Lumish, Islay Consulting

Ever since the social relevance turn within geography in the 1960s, issues of justice and community well-being have been at the forefront of geographic education. In this session panelists will discuss areas in which they’ve made a difference in their own communities around food, culture, human rights, public participation, and social investment—as well as opportunities for others to do the same.

PM Sessions: (1:30-3:30)

Sustaining Environments (McClelland Hall 127)
Andrew Comrie (chair), UA Graduate College and Department of Geography and Regional Development
Jennifer Shepherd, Center for Biological Diversity
Julio Betancourt, United States Geological Survey
Rod Mondt, Trout Unlimited
Gary Nabhan, Center for Sustainable Environments, Northern Arizona University

The stability of climate, water, land and vegetation systems is under increasing pressure in the face of global and environmental change. This session confronts some of the major environmental threats facing Arizona, the West, and the planet as these systems come under increasing pressure. Panelists will also focus on how geographers and geographic knowledge can contribute to global environmental sustainability.

Harnessing Geotechnologies (McClelland Hall 130)
Steve Yool (chair), Department of Geography and Regional Development
Doug Richardson, Association of American Geographers
Doug Kliman, Tactical Geographics
Cynthia Wallace, United States Geological Survey
Gary Christopherson, Center for Applied Spatial Analysis

Geographic Information Science is now three decades old and its practitioners are increasingly focusing, not on the technology, but on the ways the technology might be applied to change our world. In this session, panelists will consider the multiple ways in which GIS technologies are being harnessed in their own work and how they might be harnessed to create a better future.

Donations

Would you like to make a donation to GRD in honor of our 50th anniversary? Visit the UA Foundation's Online Giving Website (be sure to select "Geography & Regional Development" as the designation).

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to: The Arizona Inn • Digipost • The Shanty • Wild West Productions