Summary and Discussion of Papers

2 Feb 2004

Hirschboeck on Cross-training

• Review of work by Klemes who believed that hydrologists tended to be biased by the narrow perspectives of their disciplines (engineers vs. geographers)

• Important differences between “problem solving” and “process studies” and between “theory” and “practice”

• Superficial view of hydrology grimarily due to lack of “cross-training” between theoreticians and practicioners of hydrology

Hirschboeck, cont.• Geographers tend to use empirical analytical

techniques that only give part of the full perspective

• Need rigorous theoretical and modeling approaches to understand causality in process level studies

• However, model parameterizations create blind spots too. Need to treat parameterizations, model inputs, model structures as sources of uncertainty

• Re-examining and revisioning theories and assumptions is a key means of scientific advancement

Hirschboeck, cont.

• Should consider scales as they exist in nature and try to understand interrelationships (process-based approach to multi-scale analysis)

• Discordant scales of hydrologic phenomena, atmospheric processes, flood records

• Flood scales are episodic and so do not easily allow seamless integration across spatial scales

Hirschboeck, cont.

Five points of interest to geographers:1. hydrology now includes spatio-temporal

climate variability2. GIS plays an important role3. remote sensing has become an imp. tool4. issues of scale are at the forefront5. environmental-societal dynamics are

gaining attention

Harman: Whither Geography?

• Uses a market-based approach to looking at the value of geography

• The identification of a discipline as “successful” depends on the returns on invested resources

• Examines this at – Individual scale (individual researcher)– Aggregated scale (scientific discipline)

Harman, cont.• The “Market” for Geography• How to justify our research?

– (absolute) human need– (relative) usefulness to others in the field

• Ultimately, it must be justified by how well it addresses human needs

• Caution: geography should not define itself by its methods (e.g. GIS, remote sensing)

• Need to renew the emphasis on human-environment interactions

Cutter et al.,: Big Questions in Geography

Formulated 10 questions: 1. What makes places and landscapes different from

one another and why is this important?2. Is there a deeply held human need to organize

space by creating arbitrary borders, boundaries, and districts?

3. How do we delineate space?4. Why do people, resources and ideas move?5. How has the earth been transformed by human

action?

Cutter et al., cont.

6. What role will virtual systems play in learning about the world?

7. How do we measure the unmeasureable?8. What role has geographic skill played in the

evolution of human civilization,and what role can it play in predicting the future?

9. How and why do sustainability and vulnerability change from place to place over time?

10. What is the nature of spatial thinking, reasoning, and abilities?

Cutter et al., cont.

Need to think about doing research on such problems as:

• What are the spatial contraints on pursuing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

• What are our future resource needs, and where will we find the new resources that have not, at this stage, been adequately explored?

Cutter et al., cont.

• When does geography start and finish? Does it matter?

• What are likely to be the major problems in doing the geography of other planets?

• Will cities of the future remain bound to the land surface, or will they move to what we now consider unlikely or exotic locations (under water or floating in space)?