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Grant-funded App State GIS analysis aids in advocating climate change policy

View larger image
View larger image

The North Carolina map, left, and the Colorado map generated through Dr. Johnathan Sugg’s grant-funded GIS analysis show points of engagement (colleges/universities, outdoor retailers and guides, and climbing gyms) for nonprofit Protect Our Winters, which advocates for climate change policy. The maps also display metropolitan statistical area populations for each state, along with winning margins, votes and parties for the 2012, 2016 and 2018 presidential elections. Images courtesy of Johnathan Sugg

More on the project’s student researchers
  • Appalachian senior Tatiana Magee is a community and regional planning major from Rutherfordton who is working toward her M.A. in geography — with a concentration in general geography — through the university’s Accelerated Admission program. She is also pursuing a geographic information science (GIScience) certificate.
  • Will Hutchinson ’16 ’19, of Carrboro, is a graduate of Appalachian’s M.A. in geography and B.S. in environmental science programs.
View larger image

The North Carolina map generated through Dr. Johnathan Sugg’s grant-funded GIS analysis show points of engagement (colleges/universities, outdoor retailers and guides, and climbing gyms) for nonprofit Protect Our Winters, which advocates for climate change policy. The maps also display metropolitan statistical area populations for each state, along with winning margins, votes and parties for the 2012, 2016 and 2018 presidential elections. Images courtesy of Johnathan Sugg

Edited by Jessica Stump
Posted March 4, 2020 at 10:20 a.m.

BOONE, N.C. — In this election cycle, the issue of climate change may factor into many voters’ choice of presidential candidate.

Protect Our Winters (POW), a Boulder, Colorado-based nonprofit, is using research conducted by Appalachian State University’s Dr. Johnathan Sugg, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Geography and Planning, to inform its climate advocacy efforts targeted at outdoor sports enthusiasts.

Sugg received $10,234 in grant support from POW to conduct a site suitability analysis — a technique used in geography and geographic information science (GIScience) — in order to pinpoint the locations where POW might be most effective in advocating for climate policy in the upcoming 2020 national election.

POW, founded by professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones, comprises a worldwide network of more than 130,000 supporters — including athletes, scientists, creatives and business leaders — who work to advance nonpartisan policies that protect the world today and for future generations.

View larger image

The North Carolina map generated through Dr. Johnathan Sugg’s grant-funded GIS analysis show points of engagement (colleges/universities, outdoor retailers and guides, and climbing gyms) for nonprofit Protect Our Winters, which advocates for climate change policy. The maps also display metropolitan statistical area populations for each state, along with winning margins, votes and parties for the 2012, 2016 and 2018 presidential elections. Images courtesy of Johnathan Sugg

For the project, Sugg and geography students Tatiana Magee and Will Hutchinson ’16 ’19 worked with POW to map the key areas across the country with substantial outdoor communities that historically have close election outcomes.

“The analysis will allow us to filter out various sized cities and regions across the country that also contain ski areas, climbing gyms and universities, as well as closely decided outcomes in the previous two national elections,” Sugg explained.

“By combining these data in a geographic information system (GIS), we can translate all of the spatial locations and their attributes into an effective visual design of geographic information that helps POW make decisions about its organization on this important national issue,” he said.

The project took place over summer 2019.

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More on the project’s student researchers
  • Appalachian senior Tatiana Magee is a community and regional planning major from Rutherfordton who is working toward her M.A. in geography — with a concentration in general geography — through the university’s Accelerated Admission program. She is also pursuing a geographic information science (GIScience) certificate.
  • Will Hutchinson ’16 ’19, of Carrboro, is a graduate of Appalachian’s M.A. in geography and B.S. in environmental science programs.

About the Department of Geography and Planning

The Department of Geography and Planning promotes the understanding of the spatial dimensions of human behavior within the physical and cultural systems of the earth, and the role of planning in achieving improvement in those systems. The department offers degrees in geography and in community and regional planning. Learn more at https://geo.appstate.edu.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and unique location. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,400 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.

About graduate education at Appalachian

Appalachian State University’s Williams School of Graduate Studies helps individuals reach the next level in their career advancement and preparedness. The school offers 80 graduate degree and certificate programs in a range of disciplines, including doctoral programs in education (Ed.D.) and psychology (Psy.D.). Classes are offered at the main campus in Boone as well as online and face-to-face at locations around northwestern North Carolina. The graduate school enrolls more than 2,000 students. Learn more at https://graduate.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.

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Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian

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Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian
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