CSUF geography students and faculty received awards and recognition at the annual conference of the California Geographical Society. CSUF geographers presented research in the form of posters, papers and maps, both analog and digital.
Six CSUF students received competitive awards — the largest number of award recipients from any single institution in California:
- Richard Melgoza, graduate poster, 1st-place award – “Comparing Player Hometowns for Dodgers and Yankees Players”
- Steven Pedroza, undergraduate poster, 2nd-place award – “Food for Thought: A GIS Analysis of Food Insecurity in San Bernardino, CA”
- Aaron Chu, undergraduate poster, honorable mention – “Downtown Long Beach in Transition: Assessing Post-COVID 19 Office Vacancy Rates and Downtown Life”
- Andrew Wallace, paper/analog cartography, 2nd-place award – “An Open Atlas of Our Natural World”
- Heather Roberts, digital cartography, 2nd-place award – “Orange County Water District’s Groundwater Replenishment System: Analyzing a Hydrosocial Cycle Within Orange County, CA”
- Ryan Tuong An Koyanagi, graduate paper, 3rd-place award – “Transit-Oriented Gentrification? Comparing Perceptions of Transit Oriented Development in Los Angeles’ Koreatown”
Other CSUF geography students and faculty who shared their research at the conference included:
- Santia Rodriguez, undergraduate poster – “Growing Solar Power in California”
- Kaitlyn Matyuch, graduate paper – “Representations of Place: A Case Study of Haleakalā National Park, Hawai’i”
- Andrew Wallace, graduate paper – “Assessing Urban Drainage System Asset Management Implementations in Orange County, CA”
- Zia Salim and Virginia Isava, faculty paper – “COVID-19’s Meso-Scale Impacts: Perspectives From Geoscience Department Chairs in California”
In addition to recognizing outstanding student research, the California Geographical Society presented Vienne Vu, CSUF lecturer in geography and the environment, with its Outstanding Educator Award for her significant contributions in teaching and mentorship.