UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 17, Page 1
January 20, 1994
Geography chair named to national committee

     Geography is alive and well and receiving recognition as a dynamic and
relevant discipline in the modern world, according to Cort Willmott,
chairperson of the University's Department of Geography.
     Willmott is in the forefront of the movement to emphasize geography
and geography education in the United States and has served on committees
to promote its study and use.
     Most recently, he was invited to serve on the Rediscovering Geography
Committee, an ad-hoc committee of the Board of Earth Sciences and Resources
of the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy
of Sciences.
     National in scope and chaired by Thomas Wilbanks of the Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, the committee was established to perform an assessment
of geography in the United States. It will consider the critical issues and
constraints for the discipline, the priorities for teaching and research,
the developments in geography as they relate to geography education, ways
of increasing the appreciation of geography within the scientific community
and communication with the international scientific community about the
future of geography in the United States.
     "Geography is a growing and changing discipline, and no formal study
has been done in several years. Basically, the committee will study where
geography is at the present and where it's going," Willmott said.
     "Geography basically studies the interaction of nature and society.
Through the use of mapping, modeling and statistical analysis, it is
becoming increasingly scientific in its approach," Willmott said.
     "It is generally acknowledged that students at all levels need to
study geography to learn about other countries, cultures and economic
systems. Geography also is concerned with the environment, land-use
practices, climate and water resources which are major issues today.
Through studying the past and present, geography can help plan for and
predict the future," he said.
     Willmott also serves on the advisory board of the National Council for
Geographic Education, which is developing National Geography Standards:
Geography for Life. Geography has been recognized as one of the core
curricula that students in K-12 should study. The subject has always been
important as a field of study in other countries but has been somewhat
overlooked in the United States. Geography now is assuming more prominence
in the nation's schools, colleges and universities, Willmott said.
     In another area, Willmott is on the board of directors of the National
Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, which develops Geographic
Information Systems (GIS). A large industry, GIS is used for strategic
planning and land use, as well as scientific analyses. Through computerized
mapping, information about such subjects as property, soil, roads, and
water tables is readily available for an area. It is important in the
planning process and used by government agencies and private industries.
     Willmott, who received his undergraduate degree from California State
University at Hayward and his doctorate from the University of California,
Los Angeles, is a physical climatologist. He studies empirical observations
to determine if patterns of climatic change emerge and how well climate
models perform in predicting the future.
                                                  -Sue Swyers Moncure