Geography and Planning at UWA

For those of you who can attend, there will be a memorial service held for Kimberly van Niel at Marlee Pavilion at 10 a.m. Monday February 4, 2019 at scenic Kings Park (Perth, Australia), a fitting location as Kimberly loved nature, especially Western Australian plants and animals.

There will be an opportunity to say a few words about Kimberly for those who wish to, and refreshments will be provided afterwards. The details of the service can be found here:

https://bowraodea.com.au/notice/van-niel-kimberly-patraw/

Especially for those who cannot attend, there is an opportunity to sign the guest book here (open from 3 February):

http://www.westannouncements.com.au/obituaries/thewest-au/obituary.aspx?n=kimberly-van-niel&pid=191404326&fhid=14376

Please feel free to express your affection for Kimberly however you wish. Two organisations that had particular relevance to Kimberly’s life are provided below. Donations can be made in her name to either of the following in lieu of flowers.

National Park Foundation:
https://donate.nationalparks.org/page/23790/donate/1?_ga=2.127185677.1696234474.1548906199-361871139.1548906199

Australian Alzheimer’s Research Foundation:
https://alzheimers.com.au/support/donate-now/

Donate Now - Australian Alzheimer's Research Foundation Donate now Your support today will take us one step closer to an Alzheimer’s free world. Your donation will support international standard research to develop better diagnosis and treatments to delay the progress of Alzheimer’s disease. Your gift can save precious memories. Join the fight for me...

I write with the sad news that our dear friend, colleague and teacher Kimberly Van Niel passed away last week after a long illness.

Kimberly joined the Geography Department at UWA in 2003 before taking early retirement at the end of 2014. She was a talented scholar, making significant contributions in areas as diverse as marine and terrestrial biogeography, health geography and spatial science.

Of course, to our students she was best known for teaching in the area of GIS. Kimberly had a deep commitment to student learning, coupled with an empathetic and fun-loving approach to teaching. Field trips with Kimberly to Rottnest, Borneo and other far flung places have become the stuff of departmental folklore. She also guided numerous PhD and Honours students through their studies and on to successful careers.

For those who worked with her, she was one of the finest and most respected colleagues we could have worked with.

Deepest sympathies go out to her husband, Tom, and two children.

I will post funeral details as they become available.

You're invited! Please share the invitation to a special seminar:

The role of the UN-Global Geospatial Information Management Expert Working Group supporting the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
http://ggim.un.org/

Speaker: Timothy Trainor, Chief of Geography Division, US Census Bureau

When: Monday 14th December

Time / Place: 3pm - 4:30pm, Webb Lecture Theatre

Limited seating so please RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-role-of-the-un-global-geospatial-information-management-expert-working-group-supporting-the-un-tickets-19834962908?ref=estw

Timothy Trainor is Chief of the Geography Division of the U.S. Census Bureau. As the Census Bureau’s chief geographer, he is responsible for directing development and implementation of geographic and cartographic activities necessary to support the Census Bureau’s data collection, tabulation, and dissemination programs for the United States and its territories. These activities revolve around the Census Bureau’s MAF/TIGER System. He directs the work of the MAF (Master Address File), which is a complete address list of the country with their associated locations. Mr. Trainor also directs the work associated with TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing), which is the agency’s automated geographic database that includes the boundaries of geographic areas and their codes, roads, hydrography and relationships among components of the database.

GGIM | United Nations Initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management

It was a very happy World Soil Day for UWA! An ERA score of 5 out of 5 for Australian Research Excellence in Soil Science - the perfect way to celebrate World Soil day on 5/12!

Our own Bryan Boruff made the news in Fiji... https://youtu.be/ZcDOtoAUtRM

Fiji One News 071115 Description

Changing the world... Bryan Boruff and Natasha Pauli contributed to the White Paper - Environmental Livelihood Security in Southeast Asia and Oceania http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/publications/briefs/water-policy-briefs/iwmi-water-policy-brief-37/

IWMI Water Policy Brief - 37 :: IWMI This policy brief integrates sustainable livelihoods thinking into discussions on environmental security and the water-food-energy nexus, responding both to a gap in the literature and to emerging policy discourse.

There's a new student society in the planning! Geography and Planning! Please drop in on their page and like them!
https://www.facebook.com/geog.planning

GAP Student Society UWA The official page for the Geography and Planning Student Society of UWA. AKA - GAP

we're in the news! http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/university-of-wa-researchers-strike-gold-in-swan-river/story-fnhocxo3-1227529460143 Congrats to team Andrew - Andrew Rate and Andrew Lucas!

Swan River’s golden waters under microscope LOCAL researchers have found gold in the Swan River — sort of.

We cleaned up in the Research awards! http://blogs.uwa.edu.au/earthandenvironment/2015/09/15/research-awards-all-round/

Research awards all round! : School of Earth and Environment The School of Earth and Environment was well represented at the UWA Vice-Chancellor’s Research Awards which were presented as a part of UWA Research Week.