Introduction

Dear Readers,

With summer break in full swing for many of us, we hope you enjoy this issue of the Southeastern Geographer. Our cover photo this issue, entitled “The Buddha Abides in Mississippi,” was contributed by Mark Miller of the University of Southern Mississippi. The photo shows the Magnolia Grove lotus pond on the campus of the Magnolia Grove Buddhist monastery in Batesville, Mississippi. The essay that accompanies it is a personal, often humorous, account of the dichotomy between the Buddhist religion and culture in the American South. What follows are five strong research articles that cover a wide range of topics. The first article, written by Keith Debbage, Bradley Bereitschaft, and Edward Beaver explores the Geography of Non-Earned Income in the Piedmont Megapolitan Cluster. The second article, by Pam Knox, Chris Fuhrmann, and Chip Konrad, discusses the challenges and opportunities for agriculture in the U.S. Southeast in a changing climate, from the perspective of state climatologists. This is followed by a manuscript by Madhuri Sharma, which examines the role of race/ethnicity and contemporary housing market elements in Knoxville, Tennessee. Next, Christopher Petruccelli, John Sakulich, Grant Harley, and Henri Grissino-Mayer present a biogeographical/dendrochronological study on the structure and dynamics of an old-growth Pine-Oak community in Georgia. The final article, written by Amy Potter, Dydia DeLyser, and Rebecca Saunders discusses the birth of professional archaeology in Louisiana during the Great Depression, and the development of the Indian Room museum, which is housed in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University. These articles are followed by two book reviews. The first, written by Dawn Drake, looks at Drive: A Road Trip through our Complicated Affair with the Automobile by Tim Falconer. The second, written by Eric Nost, examines Rebecca Lave’s Fields and Streams: Stream Restoration, Neoliberalism, and the Future of Environmental Science. We hope you enjoy this issue of Southeastern Geographer, and that you have a safe and productive summer. As always, we encourage you to submit your research articles, cover art ideas, geographical notes, and book reviews for consideration in future issues of the journal. We also welcome your comments, and any suggestions you might have on how we can improve the journal.

Best regards,

Andy Reese and David Cochran