Recent Faculty & Graduate Student Research

Recent Faculty & Graduate Student Research

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the latest research projects, publications, and presentations by faculty and graduate students. 

 

Eric Tate (Associate Professor): Recent Publication 

E. Tate (2019).  "Déjà Vu All Over Again: Trends in Flood Drivers Point to Continuing Vulnerability."  Environment, 61(5): 50-56.  DOI: 10.1080/00139157.2019.1637688

Selected figures from publication:

Flooding
The Town of Pacific Junction, Iowa is completely submerged in the flood of March 2019.
iStock/ChrisBoswell

OLI
On March 16, 2019, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured a false-color
image that underscores the extent of the flooding on the Platte, Missouri and Elkhorn rivers.
For comparison, the image on the left shows the same area in March 2018. 
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

map
Observed change in total annual precipitation falling in the heaviest 1% of events (1901-2016).
E. Tate.

 

Matthew Dannenberg (Assistant Professor): Recent Publication

Wise, E. K. and M. P. Dannenberg (2019), Climate factors leading to asymmetric extreme capture in the tree-ring record, Geophysical Research Letters 46, 3408-3416. doi:10.1029/2019GL082295.

Selected figures from publication:

data
Percentage of (a) dry and (b) wet water-year precipitation extremes captured at the 775 tree-ring
sites analyzed in this study (circles); (c) difference between dry and wet water year-year 
precipitation extreme value capture, where positive values indicate dry extreme value capture
exceeds wet. 

data
Dry (brown) and wet (green) precipitation extreme value capture based on effective elevation
in (a) September-October-November, (b) December-January-February, (c) March-April-May,
and (d) June-July-August. Negative r-values indicate that lower effective elevation sites 
captured more extremes than high elevation **p ≤ 0.01.

 

Barbara Kagima (Graduate Student): International Research in Kenya

Geography graduate student, Barbara Kagima, was one of twenty-one graduate students at the University of Iowa to be awarded the Stanley Award for International Research. 

Project Title: Survey of Access to Screening and Treatment for Hypertension in Rural Kenya

Project Proposal: The Stanley Award will allow me to conduct a 6-week survey of health care practices related to the screening and treatment of hypertension in rural Kenya. A 2015 nationally representative survey found a 25% prevalence of hypertension in Kenya, but only 15% of those diagnosed were aware of their hypertensive status. Although the prevalence of hypertension was similar in rural and urban inhabitants, the rate of awareness about their condition was much lower for rural dwellers. Using qualitative methods, I will survey local health care facilities in six rural counties about their ability to screen and treat hypertension.  I will also visit with local Ministry of Health officials to learn about the policies, programs, and interventions in place for hypertension prevention and management.  This project serves as preliminary research for my Ph.D. dissertation about the spatial dynamics of chronic disease screening and access to treatment in developing nations.

Selected images from Barbara's research in Kenya:

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