The Florida Society of Geographers held their annual meeting in St. Augustine, January 23 to 35. Three students from Santa Fe College – Dallas Barnes, Joe Bryant and Nick Soloman, attended the meeting with Dr. Heidi Lannon. Students were able to interact with peers and faculty from other Geography Departments. Dr. Ray Oldokowski from Jacksonville University commented, “It is great to see such an interest in Geography from Santa Fe College.” Participants came from the University of Florida, Florida State University, Florida Atlantic, University of West Florida, Jacksonville University, University of South Florida, Rollins College, Barry University, University of North Florida, The Nature Conservancy, Richards and Associates, and ESRI
Joe Bryant made a presentation titled “Metal Maps and Gender Peculiarities,” highlighting research that he and Dr. Lannon have been doing. His findings support the literature in the prevalence of paths and landmarks on metal maps, and the tendency to draw more familiar places in greater detail. He also found that there were gender differences, such as the use color and tendency to draw three dimensional depictions of landmarks by males. When landmarks were noted, males were more likely to show restaurants and females were more likely to show shopping destinations. He also noted that males were much more likely to put titles, scales and compass directions on their maps. Dr. Storm Richards, a geographer in private practice, congratulated Joe for being the first Community College student to present at the Florida Society of Geographers. Dallas Barnes, who plans to major in Geography, has already been admitted to Florida State University. He was impressed by the wide variety of research presented and is awaiting news on admission to the University of Florida. Nick Soloman was excited to hear about research opportunities in Ecuador, where he plans to visit this year. Five Santa Fe College students Ð Henry Lopez, Akela Gabadon, Andy Westphal, Desiree Chevalier and Tyler Bond were admitted to the University of Florida to study Geography this spring.