News and Notes

Award Announcements

Great Plains Research presents two annual awards for the best articles published during a volume year: the Charles E. Bessey Award for natural science and the Leslie Hewes Award for social science. The awards are announced at the annual Fellows Luncheon of the Center for Great Plains Studies and include a cash stipend of $250.

The 2015 Charles E. Bessey Award for best natural science paper in Volume 25 of Great Plains Research was awarded to Kevin Gallo and Eric Wood for their paper “Historical Drought Events of the Great Plains Recorded by Native Americans,” which appeared in the Fall 2015 issue.

The 2015 Leslie Hewes Award for best social science paper in Volume 25 of Great Plain Research was awarded to Christina Dando for her paper “Virtually Constructing a Great Plains: Booster Impacts on Plains Viewing,” which appeared in the Fall 2015 issue.

Conferences

The 2017 Center for Great Plains Symposium will be held March 30–31, 2017, at Innovation Campus at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The symposium will examine the topic “Flat Places, Deep Identities: Mapping Nebraska and the Great Plains.” In part it will commemorate the publication of the Atlas of the Great Plains (2011) and anticipate the publication of the Atlas of Nebraska (2017).

Why are maps so fascinating? What do they tell us, what assumptions were necessary to construct them, how do they shape our knowledge? The symposium calls for a critical reexamination of maps and the mapping of our region, from earliest historical maps to present digital cartography and remote sensing, from Pawnee star charts to cadastral surveys. This topic is also to be understood figuratively, inviting us to consider the myriad ways in which “maps,” “mapping,” and “place” shape all aspects of how we see and understand the Great Plains. Thus included in our topic are questions of how place and mapping are used in or influence identity and culture, economy and society, agricultural practices, natural resources, environmental issues, business strategy, art and creative expression, literature of place, social relationships, politics and social movements, “deep mapping,” and any other ways in which concepts of mapping and place are revealing and useful. Website: http://www.unl.edu/plains/2017-symposium.

The Kansas Arborists Association will hold their 62nd Annual Shadetree Conference January 11–13, 2017, at the Ramada Topeka Downtown Hotel and Convention Center in Topeka, Kansas. Features include Bill Elmendorf and Les Werner leading Wednesday’s Advanced Training Workshop and Thursday and Friday sessions led by Peter Gerstenberger, Dr. John Ball, Dr. Raymond Cloyd, Dr. Jason Griffin, and others. Website: http://www.kansasarborist.com/shadetree-conference.html.

The 77th Annual Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference will be held February 5–8, 2017, at the Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska. This annual event will attract over 800 biologists and students from state, federal, and tribal natural resources agencies from the Midwest, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, and Canadian provinces. Highlights include over 400 technical presentations, poster displays, plenary sessions, networking opportunities, and social events. Website: http://midwestfw.org/index.html.

The 70th Society for Range Management Meeting, Technical Training, and Trade Show will be held January 29–February 2, 2017, in St. George, Utah. The theme of this year’s conference is “Red Rock & Rangelands,” and it highlights the juxtaposition of spectacular geology and diverse rangelands in the region around St. George. Website: http://rangelands.org/events/.

The 1st World Conference on Soil and Water Conservation under Global Change (CONSOWA) will be held June 12–16, 2017, in Lleida, Spain. The conference theme is “Sustainable Life on Earth through Soil and Water Conservation.” This is a joint conference of the International Soil Conservation Organization (19th ISCO Conference), the World Association for Soil and Water Conservation (WASWAC), the European Society for Soil Conservation (Eighth ESSC Congress), the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS Commissions 3.2, 3.6), the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS), the International Erosion Control Association (IECA), and the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research (WASER) in parallel with the VIII Simposio Nacional sobre Control de la Degradación y Restauración de Suelos (SECS). Website: http://www.consowalleida2017.com...