Summary and Discussion of Papers

1
Summary and Discussion of Papers

• 2 Feb 2004

2
Hirschboeck on Cross-training

• Review of work by Klemes who believed that
  hydrologists tended to be biased by the narrow
  perspectives of their disciplines (engineers vs.
  geographers)
• Important differences between problem solving
  and process studies and between theory and
  practice
• Superficial view of hydrology grimarily due to
  lack of cross-training between theoreticians
  and practicioners of hydrology

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Hirschboeck, cont.

• Geographers tend to use empirical analytical
  techniques that only give part of the full
  perspective
• Need rigorous theoretical and modeling approaches
  to understand causality in process level studies
• However, model parameterizations create blind
  spots too. Need to treat parameterizations, model
  inputs, model structures as sources of
  uncertainty
• Re-examining and revisioning theories and
  assumptions is a key means of scientific
  advancement

4
Hirschboeck, cont.

• Should consider scales as they exist in nature
  and try to understand interrelationships
  (process-based approach to multi-scale analysis)
• Discordant scales of hydrologic phenomena,
  atmospheric processes, flood records
• Flood scales are episodic and so do not easily
  allow seamless integration across spatial scales

5
Hirschboeck, cont.

• Five points of interest to geographers
• hydrology now includes spatio-temporal climate
  variability
• GIS plays an important role
• remote sensing has become an imp. tool
• issues of scale are at the forefront
• environmental-societal dynamics are gaining
  attention

6
Harman Whither Geography?

• Uses a market-based approach to looking at the
  value of geography
• The identification of a discipline as
  successful depends on the returns on invested
  resources
• Examines this at
• Individual scale (individual researcher)
• Aggregated scale (scientific discipline)

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Harman, cont.

• The Market for Geography
• How to justify our research?
• (absolute) human need
• (relative) usefulness to others in the field
• Ultimately, it must be justified by how well it
  addresses human needs
• Caution geography should not define itself by
  its methods (e.g. GIS, remote sensing)
• Need to renew the emphasis on human-environment
  interactions

8
Cutter et al., Big Questions in Geography

• Formulated 10 questions
• What makes places and landscapes different from
  one another and why is this important?
• Is there a deeply held human need to organize
  space by creating arbitrary borders, boundaries,
  and districts?
• How do we delineate space?
• Why do people, resources and ideas move?
• How has the earth been transformed by human
  action?

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Cutter et al., cont.

• 6. What role will virtual systems play in
  learning about the world?
• 7. How do we measure the unmeasureable?
• 8. What role has geographic skill played in the
  evolution of human civilization,and what role can
  it play in predicting the future?
• 9. How and why do sustainability and
  vulnerability change from place to place over
  time?
• 10. What is the nature of spatial thinking,
  reasoning, and abilities?

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Cutter et al., cont.

• Need to think about doing research on such
  problems as
• What are the spatial contraints on pursuing life,
  liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
• What are our future resource needs, and where
  will we find the new resources that have not, at
  this stage, been adequately explored?

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Cutter et al., cont.

• When does geography start and finish? Does it
  matter?
• What are likely to be the major problems in doing
  the geography of other planets?
• Will cities of the future remain bound to the
  land surface, or will they move to what we now
  consider unlikely or exotic locations (under
  water or floating in space)?