Example Student Projects from Past Years

Deforestation is a major environmental issue in South America’s Atlantic Forest region. Compared to deforestation in the Amazon Basin, this ecologically-significant region receives significantly less attention. In Misiones Province (containing Argentina’s share of the Atlantic Forest), increasing agricultural exploitation for the production of yerba mate (one of the province’s primary agricultural activities) has altered the landscape. This project has two primary goals. The first is mapping the geographies of yerba mate production in Misiones in recent years. The second is to assess if increasing yerba mate cultivation appears to be related to recent forest loss in the province.   Historical & Environmental Contexts Misiones contains the largest remaining continuous areas of the Atlantic Forest and, in recent decades, has seen its cover of primary forest significantly erode (Izquierdo et al., 2008; Izquierdo & Clark, 2011). The province's native forest vegetation varies su...

Even before the Spanish-American War, the United States held interest in the island of Cuba. As far back as 1820, even then-President Thomas Jefferson believed the United States should add Cuba to the young nation in remarks to John C. Calhoun American interest continued through the Ten years War as Cuba first attempted rebellion against their Spanish colonizers. The Cubans gained significant sympathy and support from the American public and the government (Schlesinger, 2005; Campbell, 1976). US interest in Cuba and interest in removing Spain from the Americas culminated in the Spanish-American War and started direct relations between the countries. Slowly but surely relations deteriorated significantly between the 1890s and the Cold War, and the reasons behind this will be explored in this post. The topic of US-Cuba relations has been covered extensively over literature and research breaking down each set of events discussed in this blog post. After reading the literature in the textb...

  The purpose of this research project is to map the deforestation of the Brazilian State of Rondonia caused by the history of land development in the region. The expansion of deforestation in Rondonia is mapped by using the time slider feature provided in Google Earth. By dividing the expansion of the deforestation into 10 year periods, the map easily shows how much the landscape of Rondonia has changed over the last 40 years. The history of land development and its impacts are explained primarily through the research of Dr. Marcos A. Pedlowski (1997) and Dr. Brent H. Millikan (1992), who have written extensively on this issue. This project will use their research to explain the monumental forest loss shown in the map. Figure 1. 2016 satellite image of Rondonia  Figure 2. 1984 satellite image of Rondonia Rondonia is located in the western portion of the Brazilian Amazon and contains an area of 243,044 square kilometers. In 1970, the Brazilian federal government established th...

Introduction Bernard Nietschmann spent his career documenting how the Mosquitia, or "Miskitu Coast" is a region "between land and water" (1973). Located in the Central American Caribbean lowlands, and long a frontier of colonial geopolitics, the Miskitu Coast is home to numerous indigenous groups, which make up distinct nations including the Miskitu, Kriole, Mayagna, Garifuna, and Rama among others. Over the course of the region's interactions with the outside world, which stretch back to the 1500s, many outsiders have settled along its Caribbean shores, often in solidarity with the indigenous population (Linebaugh and Rediker, 2000). While the Miskitu Coast was never a colony, it was a haven for pirates, smugglers, and anti-capitalists from Europe and later the United States, who used its barely navigable waterways to hide from persecution. A close analysis of the region's place names show some interesting patterns which reflect the distinct geography that ...

Introduction The increase in interest in hydroelectric power within the Amazon River Basin within the past fifty years has had a prominent effect on both the topography and the people of the Northern States of Brazil. . Many of these dams are built on tributaries of the Amazon River. In some areas, the creation of dams has led to mass amounts of deforestation and flooding in the surrounding areas. This affects both the people and the wildlife. Many of the natives were promised compensation for their land and have yet to see any of that money. Changes in the water quality and sediment composition have affected several species of fish (Clawson and Tillman 2012). New roads have been created through the land causing easier access to once remote locations. The creation of roads has led to an increase in mines in the area and easier transportation of goods. This has led to an even greater decrease in deforestation. For some of the dams, water has even been diverted to areas that previously d...