Richard E. Groop

U.S. Intercounty Migration in the 1990s: People and Income Move Down the Urban Hierarchy

Internal migration within the United States continues to transform both the magnitude and composition of population at all geographic scales. During 1994 - 1995, the majority of counties gained both people and income, largely as a consequence of net outmigration by higher income migrants from the nations most populous cities. Regionally, net gainers of both people and income included counties in the West and South as well as other areas renowned for environmental amenities. Spatially, net migration flowed down the urban hierarchy from large central cities to adjacent suburbs which, in turn, exported migrants to exurban areas. Large cities tended to exchange migrants with nearby counties as well as other large cities. Migration patterns such as these are contributing to spatial deconcentration and economic disparity.

Productivity Profiles of PhD-Granting Geography Departments in the Unites States: 1980–1994

In our study, 48 U.S. departments that grant geography PhDs are compared along four measures of academic productivity. Using 1980–1994 as the base period, research productivity of faculty was assessed by counting book titles, as well as authorships in 77 journals. Teaching productivity was determined by placement of PhDs in graduate programs of geography in North America, and by a weighted index of teaching outcomes. Data were summed for departments, but are reported primarily as productivity per person (per FTE count). The results point to a wide variety of departmental profiles, from those departments that appear to emphasize teaching outcomes to those that are more productive in book publishing and journal authorship, with several exhibiting a balance between teaching and research.

The geography of nonemployment income

Abstract Income from sources not related to current employment accounted for 31.6% of total personal income in the United States during 1986. Areas where non-employment income makes up a disproportionally large share of personal income include amenity-laden retirement regions such as peninsular Florida and the Texas hill country; regions where farmland leasing is common, such as the Great Plains; and such places as Appalachia where low income occasions various forms of income subsidies. The variables most strongly associated with concentrations of nonemployment income are the percentage of older population, per capita income and percent rural farm population. Results have both theoretical and practical implications for economic base studies and migration.

Developing Online Geography Courses: Experiences from Michigan State University.

Abstract During academic year 1999–2000, the Geography Department at Michigan State University (MSU) launched a program of online geography courses. Since then, four undergraduate online geography courses have been collectively developed and delivered to over 4,500 domestic and international students in association with MSUs Virtual University Design and Technology (vuDAT). The creation of each virtual course has taught valuable lessons concerning course development and administration; interactions with students have shed insight on course structure, content, and instruction. This article addresses development, management, and pedagogic concerns pertinent to the operation of online geography courses and offers suggestions to others who wish to develop online courses. Preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of these courses is also presented.

Beyond population size: Examining intricate interactions among population structure, land use, and environment in wolong nature reserve, China

Land use decisions by farming families provide a key context for examining the dynamic interactions between people and the environment and are at the core of our research project in the Amazon Basin. Throughout our work in this area, we have focused on the decision-making processes of farm households, how these processes affect land use, and then on how the changes in land use (a social concept) are linked to changes in land cover (an environmental concept). When we began our research in this area, studies examining the causes of deforestation often neglected the dynamic interactions between the human population and the environment, and few studies had paid attention to the role of micro-level decision-making processes, particularly regarding reproductive and migration behavior, underlying regional patterns in population and environmental change. Since then, other teams of researchers, some represented in this volume, have also taken up this challenge. This body of work shows that when only looking . at aggregate total population as a cause, the process of deforestation tends to be simplified. To get at the causes of deforestation, we need to examine how households make constrained decisions within their regional context, the land tenure system in place, the opportunities available to households to use their resources, the needs of a given household shaped by age and gender structure, and how members of households understand and make use of their physical environment. This chapter documents the evolution of a project that has made use of a broad array of theories, methodologies, and conceptualizations linking

A Dot Matrix Method of Portraying Continuous Statistical Surfaces

Smooth statistical surfaces are conventionally represented by isoline maps or block diagrams. Perceptual studies have suggested that these illustrations are difficult for map readers to interpret and that overall surface configuration is particularly elusive on isoline maps. This paper presents an alternative method of illustrating continuous surfaces. The technique employs a digital plotter to create finely-spaced point symbols that vary in size according to interpolated z-values. Symbol sizes are scaled such that percent area inked is proportional to surface value. After photographic reduction, the map has the appearance of a continuous change in gray tone corresponditlg to the surface it represents.

Gains and losses of migrants and income through intercounty migration in the U.S., 1992–1993

Abstract Migration alters both the origin and destination of migrants in a variety of ways. This study uses data recently made available by the Internal Revenue Service to document gains and losses of both persons and income accruing to counties in the United States as a result of internal migration between 1992 and 1993. The degree to which migration alters the size of a countys population as well as the amount of income received in that county is assessed by means of effectiveness rates which are ratios of net flows to total flows. The majority of counties, especially those in the South and West gained both migrants and income during the period; losses were confined largely to the Northeast, Great Plains and California. Counties at the edges of large metropolitan areas gained income even more rapidly than people; counties containing large central cities lost income even faster than they lost migrants. Amenity-laden recreational and retirement counties were also among those who gained both people and income via migration. Overall, these results indicate an exacerbation of demographic and economic differences between regions as well as within metropolitan areas.

Human Impacts on land Cover and Panda Habitat in Wolong Nature Reserve

Understanding patterns, processes, and consequences of land-cover change requires close linkages among various ecological, socioeconomic, demographic, and behavioral data. In this chapter, we present an interdisciplinary study of human impacts on land cover and panda habitat in Wolong Nature Reserve (China). Wolong is one of the largest reserves (200,000 ha) designated for giant panda conservation, but it also includes more than 4,000 local residents whose activities have a substantial impact on panda habitat. We have developed a conceptual framework that outlines the rationale for the linkage of various data. Our household and community surveys were linked with remote sensing and geographic information systems at three stages: data collection, data analysis, and systems modeling and simulation. The integration of various sources of data offers useful insight into the underlying mechanisms behind changes in land cover and panda habitat and allows us to project future ecological and demographic changes under different policy scenarios.

Evaluating an Urban Model: A Cartographic Approach

Normative spatial models are difficult to validate and compare with real-world distributions. A methodology requiring a mathematical transformation of data attempts to regularize model patterns, thereby facilitating map analysis and comparisons of models to real distributions. The method is applied to a negative exponential model of population density using Columbus, Ohio, as an example. The regularity of the resulting transformed isoline pattern provides an easy referent for visually examining the validity of the model in different parts of the city.