Rapid urbanisation, intensifying natural hazards, glacial retreat, exponential tourism growth, and expanding dairy farms are having an unassailable effect on New Zealand’s natural and cultural landscapes, says Massey University geography lecturer Dr Cadey Korson.
Her concern about these serious issues is balanced with optimism at the opportunities for geographers to better understand and to find solutions to them. Since moving to New Zealand from the United States to teach in the School of People, Environment and Planning at Massey’s Auckland campus two years ago, she has been focussed on developing new skills and perspectives for budding geographers in her undergraduate courses. She’s also inspired high school students across Auckland who attend her specialist geospatial technology camps to learn about innovative digital tools and technology. These include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – or drones – and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), computer technology that combines mapping and information integrated with stored data.
Dr Korson has also been putting her knowledge into practice over the summer break, capturing drone footage up and down the country for her Spatial Awareness Project – part of her ongoing work to inspire the next generation of geographers. The project is centred on producing a short film and series of podcasts to raise awareness about human impacts on the natural landscape, emphasising how land use classifications can significantly shape natural resource management. Social sciences and humanities students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree at the Auckland campus, Albany, are getting involved too.
“Students in the geography, philosophy, sociology, resource and environmental planning, social anthropology programmes and Bachelor of Arts core courses are examining these issues in the context of environmental management and conservation, the 100% Pure NZ campaign, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability and climate change,” she says.
Thinking critically about what we do with land
Dr Korson says the purpose of the Spatial Awareness Project is to encourage students' curiosity about the human impact on the environment and create a learning community where students are empowered to critically engage in debates about conservation and land use in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The project involves collecting aerial and underwater drone footage of the 12 different land use types across New Zealand. She is also interested in the impact of Instagram and other social media platforms on tourism, and the environmental hazard that tourism represents in high-traffic locations that lack adequate infrastructure.
Dr Korson grew up in a small town near Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, and says her passion for geography arose from her early love of travel and discovering new places. Since her first trip to the UK and Ireland with an organisation called People to People Student Ambassadors when she was an adolescent, she has been hooked.
“My love of travelling and avid interest in other cultures and places naturally drew me to study geography at university,” she says.
Dr Korson says that when attending large geography conferences in recent years she has been amazed by the breadth of topics and methods used. “Geographers take a holistic approach to society’s big questions and issues. Our analyses and solutions are grounded in the influence of place, space and the physical landscape, but acknowledging the interconnectedness of the human, material and environmental.”
Geography, she emphasises, is a globally-oriented discipline. “You learn about New Zealand and its place in the world as well as internationally significant topics like globalisation, urban change, climate change, and geopolitics.”
Technology and terrain
At the forefront of being a 21st century geographer is learning about the role of geospatial science (sometimes called Geographic Information Science or GISci) in advancing the development and application of geospatial technologies. As well as GIS, these include remote sensing (UAVs), global navigation and location systems such as GPS (Global Positioning Systems). While geospatial science and practice spans many disciplines like public health, engineering, land management and planning, its roots are firmly in geography, she says.
Ultimately, geography connects social, economic, cultural, political, and environmental factors and shows how they interact, she says. “Geographers have a broad understanding of the process and practices which produce the world in which we live.”
For more information on studying geography: MasseyGeo
