Geography and Environmental Studies

The Department of Geography's periodic GeoMAIL feature is beginning again after a short lapse.

Those of you who have written that you enjoyed getting past GeoMAIL will welcome it again, and those of you seeing one for the first time, please read what follows. We plan to send GeoMAIL by email every two months or so (March, May, July, etc. throughout the year) Please forward this GeoMAIL to other SUNY New Paltz Geography alumni you know since they may not be on the current email distribution list. Thanks.

GeoMAIL will be sent to all Geography alumni with email addresses who wish to receive them. Please reply to this message so that I can verify your correct email address.  If, by chance, you decide not to be on the distribution list, simply reply  that you do not wish to receive GeoMAIL.

GeoMAIL will:

•      Reintroduce The LOCATOR, the on-line Geography Alumni Newsletter
•      Update what's happening in Geography at SUNY New Paltz
•      Help you keep in touch with fellow Geography alumni
•      Introduce you to excellent websites of interest to Geographers and others
•      Invite you to continue your association with the Department by attending an alumni reunion, networking with current   Geography majors, even visits to campus to meet with current students

http://www.newpaltz.edu/geography/alumni.html Feel free to read through it and please take some time to send some news for
the first time or to update an entry that is already there. Note that there are email addresses of many alumni who asked that they be included. Why not add your email address if it is not there. Over the next couple of months, there will be major revisions made to the appearance and utility of the alumni website. Your suggestions are welcome.

A first-class letter will be sent to all 400 Geography alumni in early April in an attempt to update the Departments alumni mailing list and to gain information about what each alumna/alumnus is doing. However, you do not have to wait for the letter, simply fill out the on-line form, and return it soon.

Great things are happening in the Department of Geography. Through GeoMAIL and the Departments website, we hope to
introduce you to the new and continuing faculty as well as other topics that may interest you.

HOLD THE DATE!!!  Saturday OCTOBER 4 Geography Alumni ReunionSaturday OCTOBER 4

In association with the college's scheduled Alumni Reunion in Fall 2002, the Department of Geography welcomes all
Geography Alumni to return to campus. This will be a great time to meet old and new friends, former and new professors, see
the beauty of the Gunks, and glimpse what is new in Geography at SUNY New Paltz. If you have not been back to campus
for a while, you will be surprised at what is happening! For general information about the plans made by the Alumni Office, visit http://www.newpaltz.edu/alumni/reunions.html We hope to have some special events for Geography Alumni including a Saturday luncheon, visit to the GIS lab, and tours at Mohonk.

Spotlight on New Faculty.

Dr. Mika Roinila, an exciting new member of the Department of Geography, is a human/cultural geographer who is especially interested in the Finnish ethnic group in North America. He is also interested in American popular cultural trends including the popularization of the sauna in North America. Dr. Roinila has lived in Australia, Finland, Sweden, and Canada but currently he resides in Tillson with his wife Grace, his son Ari and his daughters Marita, Sinikka, and Laura.

Dr. Roinila first became interested in geography at the University of Winnipeg while pursuing a Bachelors degree. He was originally interested in biology and enjoyed bird watching but he was also interested in maps. Dr. Roinila always enjoyed traveling and loved to read maps on his adventures, which eventually led him to pursue a geography degree instead of a biology degree. Dr. Roinila was awarded an MA from the University of Turku in Finland, and after a number of years he returned to school for his PhD at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Here, he studied human geography and spatial analysis including quantitative methods and other statistical measures. This led to his interest in ethnic groups and specifically the Finnish culture group in North America. Dr. Roinilas most recent research interests include the Finnish Salvation Army in the United States and Canada, 1900-1950, and Finnish commercial fishermen of the Great Lakes.

Dr. Roinila enjoys teaching geography here at SUNY New Paltz because the classes are small. He enjoys being able to get to know some of the students. He also enjoys field trips, which are only possible in smaller classes. In mid-April, he and Professor Sharp are taking a group of students to Canada in a school van. Overall, Dr. Roinila enjoys it here at SUNY New Paltz and looks forward to meeting new and interesting students in the years to come.

Note from Dr. Greenow, Department Chair: The author of this biographical sketch, Bart Moran, is a geography major at SUNY New Paltz, ready to graduate this coming May. He has worked as a lab assistant in the Geography Lab for two years, helping students with their GIS and cartography projects and troubleshooting software and hardware. Bart is a quick-thinking and hard-working student and we are sorry to see him leave, but he is heading for very green pastures. He is a native of Tillson, New York, and has applied for the Masters program in Geography at SUNY Albany. He is also an aspiring pilot, and a Senior Airman in the Air National Guard. After graduation he will apply to be a military pilot at the 105th Airlift Wing at Stewart Airport. He says that his interests in aviation led him to geography, because pilots need to know so much about navigation. Best wishes for your future, Bart!

In the near future, look for a New Faculty Spotlight on John I. Sharp & Larry McGlinn

As with earlier GeoMAIL, here are some useful websites of interest to Geographers:

SUNY Department of Geography Web site
Department News
Geography Network--Access a World of Information
Earth from Space
Geographic Learning Site (GLS)--US Department of State

Thanks to all of you who sent in your favorite websites in the past. Continue to send them!