The UNT geography program was well represented at the 2013 SWAAG (Southwestern Division of the Association of American Geographers) conference in Nacogdoches, Texas, with over 25 geography students and faculty members attending the three-day meeting (more on presentations below). Rather than taking the shortest and quickest path to Nacogdoches--located in east Texas ~220 miles southeast of Denton--the 2013 graduate student cohort constructed a SWAAG field trip guide to supplement the expedition. The guide included information on the history and physical and cultural geography of the region, and included CDs of east Texas musicians that played throughout the drive. The stops on the way to Nacogdoches included:

· Grand Saline, TX

Located on the fringe of east Texas, Grand Saline is a town of ~3,000 known for its large Morton Salt mine and the vast amount of salt mined from the outskirts of the city today and historically.

Photo 1: Undergraduate geography student, Glenn Gomez, samples local salt up and close in Grand Saline, Texas.

· Kilgore, TX

Kilgore is rich in both history and natural resources. During the stop, two students presented information on the geography of the city and its surrounding area, including a stop at "The World's Richest Acre", an acre of land known for its booming oil production throughout the 1930s and 40s.

Photo 2: Students and faculty navigate the "World's Richest Acre".

· Laneville, TX

This was an impromptu stop that included a discussion about the ecology and management of the Piney Woods in East Texas.

Photo 3: A spontaneous stop and discussion in the Piney Woods, East Texas.

· Rusk, TX

Rusk, TX, the final stop en route to Nacogdoches, included a discussion about the history of discrimination, racial tension, and mental health institutions in East Texas. The trip ended with a brief sightseeing tour on what is believed to be the longest footbridge in the United States.

Photo 4: Crossing the longest footbridge one step at a time.

On a beautiful Saturday morning before the group headed home, Dr. Jeff Roth, a historical and cultural geographer at Stephen F. Austin University, led a small group of students and faculty on a unique field trip around The Zion Hill Historic District in Nacogdoches. Not only did he provide historical documents and context on current local tensions regarding zoning of historical sites, he also gave the group a rare peek at the colorful personality of (both past and present) residents of Nacogdoches. Dr. Roth's passion for Nacogdoches history was infectious. This tour was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

Photo 5: Dr. Jeff Roth gives geographers a rare view of Nacogdoches internal workings.

Before heading home to Denton, the students stopped at the final field guide destination: Caddo Mounds State Historical Site. Located 26 miles west of Nacogdoches, the Caddo Mounds were the southwestern-most ceremonial center for the great mound builder culture at least 1,200 years ago. These mounds are believed to have been the most important mound site for the Hasinai Caddo Indians and still retain three of the original mounds. The UNT students were graciously greeted by the "Caddo Mounds Canine" (a stray black lab puppy) who led them on a remarkable tour. This special canine almost became the newest member of Denton geography, however instead was left to befriend the construction crew who were building the new Caddo Mounds museum.

Photo 6: Caddo Mounds, Texas.

All in all, it was a hell of a trip.

-Written by Carl Whittaker and Amy Eddins

Wanna take a trip? Be prepared for anything. Join UNT Geography.

Student Presentations

• Martin Aucoin won the undergraduate student paper award for his paper presentation "Farmers' Markets and Foodsheds: Mapping perceptions of place in the Dallas local food movement".
• Kate Lester won second place in the graduate student paper competition for her paper presentation "Defining and Evaluating Accessibility of Mental Healthcare in Houston's Proposed Homelessness Initiatives".

In addition there were many students and faculty who gave excellent presentations at this year's SWAAG conference.

Student Papers

• Jennifer Barnett: Natural Gas Wells as a Potential Cause for an Increase in Stream Turbidity in North Texas.
• Evan Carpenter: Does Poverty Rate Influence the Spatial Patterns of Natural Gas Drilling? A Case Study of Fort Worth ISD, Texas.
• Matthew Fry: Urban Gas Drilling and Distance Ordinances in the Texas Barnett Shale.
• Alicia Gray and A.G. Ponette-Gónzalez: Importance of Two Understory Hosts of Phytophthora ramorum in Forest Edge vs. Interior Habitat in a Coast Redwood Forest in Soquel, California.
• Kereen Griffith, A.G. Ponette-Gónzalez and L.M. Curran: Effects of Vegetation Exposure and Canopy Structure on Small-Scale Variation in Atmospheric Deposition Inputs to a Mixed Conifer Forest in California.
• Murray Rice: Research Strengths and Opportunities: Locational Intelligence Papers at the Applied Geography Conferences 1978-2012.

Posters:

• Jonathan Dombrosky and S. Wolverton: The Political Ecology of Free-ranging Cats: Pet Ownership and Wildlife Conservation.
• Levi McCollum: Rhetoric or Reality? Bolivia's Post-Neoliberal, Natural Gas-Based Development Paradigm.
• Kent McGregor: Climate Change in the Dirty Thirties.
• Julie Parker: Household Water Management Strategies among Pastoralists on Argentina's Western Frontier: A Preliminary Investigation.
• Ingrid Patel and A.G. Ponette-Gónzalez: Composition and Distribution of North Texas Cross Timbers.
• Peter Testa: A true home brew? Assessing the Feasibility of Sustainable Hops (Humulus lupus) Production in the State of Connecticut using GIS.