Recent Geoscience Research
(2015 - present)
For more information, click on faculty names
* collaborations with students are highlighted in blue
Dr. Diane Burns
Little Wabash Project: Diane Burns, Ph.D and David Viertel, Ph.D study channel change along the Little Wabash River utilizing historical aerial photography and current survey work.
Wyoming's Casper Formation: Evolution of the Landscape: Diane Burns, Ph.D. and Josh Dye investigate the evolution of the sandstone units of the Casper Formation in Wyoming.
Soft Tissue Diagenesis Project: Diane Burns, Ph.D. and Dr. J. Mark Erickson (St. Lawrence University) research the diagenetic process that has occurred since burial to present-day of Panopea occidentalis (Meek and Hayden).
Dr. Michael Cornebise
Publication: 2024, "From 'Broomcorn Capital of the World' to Old Order Amish: Murals and the 'Art' of Placemaking in Arcola, Illinois." Material Culture 56 (2): 1-17. (with David Viertel)
Publication: 2023, “’Drink Something, Do Something’: Philanthropy, Place, & A Rural Beer Geography.” In The Geography of Beer: Policies, Perceptions & Place. Patterson, M. and N. Pullen, eds. Springer Publishing. (with A. Prince, A. Neal, C. Wharram, D. Holly, J. Gatrell, J. Hildebrandt, J. Esker, K. Leifheit, Z. Newell).
Presentation: 2019, “From Broomcorn Capital of the World to Old Order Amish and the Hippie Memorial: Murals and the ‘Art’ of Placemaking in Arcola, IL”Landscape, Place and Material Culture Annual Conference, Detroit, MI.
Publication: 2018, "The Pennsylvania Town in the 21st Century: A Socio-Economic Analysis of the Built Environment." Material Culture 50 (1): 47-73. (with Ola Johansson)
Publication: 2016, "The Pennsylvania Town 40 Years Later: Preservation and Planning in a Changing Townscape." Middle States Geographer 49: 43-54. (with Ola Johansson)
Publication: 2016, "Latino Population Dynamics in Central Illinois." Illiniois Geographer 58(1):25-39.
Dr. Barry Kronenfeld
Presentation: 2020, An evaluation of COVID-19 dashboards from cartographic and epidemiological perspectives. AutoCarto 2020 Proceedings. (extended abstract) (slides) (video) (with K Yoo, student)
Publication: 2020, “Simplification of polylines by segment collapse: minimizing areal displacement while preserving area.” International Journal of Cartography, 6(1):22-46. DOI: 10.1080/23729333.2019.1631535 (with LV Stanislawksi, BP Buttenfield and T Brockmeyer)
Publication: 2019, “Between the lines: Measuring areal displacement in line simplification.” Advances in Cartography and GIScience, International Cartography Association, 1(9), 8pp. DOI: 10.5194/ica-adv-1-9-2019 (with J. Deng, student)
Presentation: 2019, “Alternate definitions of linear and areal displacement between polylines: The plot thickens.” ICC 2019 Workshop on Abstraction, Scale and Perception, Tokyo, Japan (3pp). (abstract) (with J Deng, student)
Presentation: 2019, “Scale-specific metrics for adaptive generalization and geomorphic classification of stream features.” ICC 2019 Workshop on Abstraction, Scale and Perception, Tokyo, Japan (9pp).(abstract) (with L Stanislawski, B Buttenfield and E Shavers)
Presentation: 2019, “Towards an Atlas of Gerrymandering.” Web map and poster submission to the Avenza Map Competition, American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., April 5th, 2019. (poster) (with B Oladipupo, AM Nawa and R Manchakkai, students, and D Viertel)
Publication: 2017, “Visualizing statistical significance of disease clusters using cartograms.” International Journal of Health Geographics, 16:19. DOI: 10.1186/s12942-017-0093-9 (with DW Wong)
Publication: 2017, “Manual construction of continuous cartograms through mesh transformation.” Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 45(1):76-94. DOI: 10.1080/15230406.2016.1270775
Publication: 2017, “A Heuristic multi-criteria classification approach incorporating data quality information for choropleth mapping.” Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 44(3):1-13. DOI: 10.1080/15230406.2016.1145072 (with M Sun and DW Wong)
Presentation: 2016, "Southern Appalachian Region Presettlement Land Survey Record Tree Observations." ILGISA Annual Conference, Naperville, IL. (with Miles Dwiggins, student)
Publication: 2015, "Toward Democratization of Geographic Information: GIS, Remote Sensing, and GNSS Applications in Everyday Life." In: P. Thenkabail (ed.), Remote Sensing Handbook (Volume 1): Data Characterization, Classification, and Accuracies. CRC Press, 423-444. (with G. Sinha and JC Brunskill).
Publication: 2015, "Restricted Random Labeling: Testing for Between-Group Interaction After Controlling for Joint Population and Within-Group Spatial Structure." Journal of Geographical Systems 17(1):1-28. (with T.F. Leslie)
Publication: 2015, "A Classification Method for Choropleth Maps Incorporating Data Reliability Information." The Professional Geographer 67(1):72-83. (with M. Sun and D.W. Wong)
Presentation: 2016, "Implicit Visualization of Uncertainty on Health Maps Using Cartograms." American Association of Geographers Annual Conference.
Presentation: 2015, "Map Distortion by Design: Visualizing Human Population Dynamics with Cartograms." Illinois GIS Day, Champaign, IL.
Presentation: 2015, "Tweets and Turns: Python Scripting in an Educational Setting." Illinois GIS Association Annual Meeting, Springfield, IL. (with Greg Weber, student)
Dr. Christopher Laingen
Book: coming in Spring 2027, "A Geography of Illinois," Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. (with John C. Hudson)
Publication: 2025, "Rural Population Change and Farm Consolidation in Southern Minnesota." Middle West Review, 11(2): 223-234.
Presentation: 2025, "The Death of Midwestern Geography." Lost Region Recovery Project Conference, Sioux Falls, SD.
Publication: 2024, "The Geography of a Midwestern Geographer." Middle West Review, 11(1): 1-11.
Presentation: 2021, "The Changing Rural Landscape of Odin Township, Minnesota." 7th Annual Midwestern History Conference. (invited)
Publication: 2020, "A Perspective on Changes Across the U.S. Corn Belt. Environmental Research Letters. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab9333. (with E. Hunt, H. Birge, M. Licht, J. McMechan, W. Baule, and T. Conner)
Presentation: 2019, "Abandoned Farmsteads in Southwestern Minnesota." 50th Annual South Dakota State Geography Convention. (invited)
Presentation: 2019, "The Changing Agricultural Landscapes of the Midwest and Great Plains." University of Nebraska Geography Program. (invited)
Publication: 2019, "A Perspective on Changes Across the U.S. Corn Belt." Environmental Research Letters DOI: 10.1088/1748-
9326/ab9333. (with E. Hunt, H. Birge, M. Licht, J. McMechan, W. Baule, and T. Conner)
Publication: 2019, "Geographies of the Borderlands." In The Interior Borderlands: Regional Identity in the Midwest and Great Plains, edited by J. Lauck. Sioux Falls, SD: Center for Western Studies.
Publication: 2018, "The Agrarian Midwest: A Geographical Analysis." In Finding a New Midwestern History, edited by J. Lauck, J. Hogan, and G. Whitney. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Presentation: 2018, "Agricultural Geography and the Corn Belt." University of Nebraska School of Natural Resources. (invited)
Publication: 2017, "Human Drivers, Biophysical Changes, and the Climatic Variation Affecting Contemporary Cropping Proportions in the Northern Prairie of the U.S." Journal of Land Use Science DOI: 10.1080/1747423X.2017.1413433
Publication: 2017, "Creating a Dynamic Regional Model of the U.S. Corn Belt." International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research 8(4): 19-29.
Publication: 2016, "American Farms, American Food: A Geography of Agriculture and Food Production in the United States." Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. (with John C. Hudson)
Mentored-Presentation: 2016, "Comparing Raster-based and Survey-based Cropland Change in Illinois, 1999 to 2015." EIU Student Research and Creative Discovery Conference. (Alicia Waller, student)
Presentation: 2016, "The Geography of Sorghum in the United States." American Association of Geographers Annual Conference.
Publication: 2015, "Measuring Cropland Change: A Cautionary Tale." Papers in Applied Geography 1(1): 65-72.
Publication: 2015, "Having it Both Ways?: Land Use Change in a U.S. Midwestern Agricultural Ecoregion." The Professional Geographer 67(1): 84-97. (with R.F. Auch)
Presentation: 2015, "The Agrarian Midwest: A Geographical Analysis." The Hauenstein Center Conference on The Midwest: Finding the Lost Region. (invited)
Dr. Katie Lewandowski
Publication: 2018, Pioneers in Antarctic research: Lois Jones and her all-woman science team explore the geochemistry of the Dry Valleys, in Johnson, B.A., ed., Women and Geology: Who Are We, Where Have We Come From, and Where Are We Going? Geological Society of America Memoir 214, p.51-57, https://doi.org/10.1130/2018.1214(05).
Publication: 2018, Taboos, stowaways, and chief scientists: A brief history of women in oceanography, in Johnson, B.A., ed., Women and Geology: Who Are We, Where Have We Come From, and Where Are We Going? Geological Society of America Memoir 214, p.23-35, https://doi.org/10.1130/2018.1214(03).
A synopsis of my research with students at EIU:
Changing Benthic Foraminiferal Population Dynamics Reflect Changing Oceanographic and Paleoclimatic Conditions South of Australia over the last few million years
I strive to understand why communities of benthic foraminifera, which are shelled microfossils that live on the seafloor, change over time. These organisms live in the ocean and respond to changing physical and chemical conditions. Living organisms are influenced by climate, ocean circulation, nutrients, chemistry of the water they live in, and other organisms within their ecosystem. The late Neogene (our focus is mostly the last million or two years- the Pleistocene) has been a time of enormous changes with regards to paleoclimate and paleoceanography. We (my students and I) have evidence that with changing frontal boundaries in the ocean, waxing and waning ice volume (expansion and contraction of ice sheets- glacial and interglacial periods) that the benthic foraminiferal communities change. What is meant by this is that different species are dominant during colder periods in contrast with warmer periods. In addition to looking at population census data (identifying species and counting individuals within each sample), we have run statistical analyses to evaluate correlation coefficients to tease out the details of what physical and chemical conditions lead to which dominant species. We believe a major player in this is the movement of the Subtropical Convergence (Brughmans, 2003 and Nurnberg and Groenveld, 2006).
Since I started at EIU in 2009, I have been working with students to understand benthic foraminiferal communities around Tasmania. I use samples collected from the seafloor as part of an international scientific research cruise in 2000 to investigate how the changing conditions of the late Neogene Southern Ocean affect benthic foraminiferal communities. Samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 189, Site 1168, Hole A and Site 1171, Hole C are being analyzed and compared (see Figures 1 and 2). Site 1168 is closer to Tasmania, only 70 km west of Tasmania along a slope and 2463 m deep (Exon, Kennett, Malone, et al., 2001). Site 1171 is located 550 km south of Tasmania, but in shallower water (2150 m) (Exon, Kennett, Malone, et al., 2001).
Abstracts for presentations:
Asterisk (*) indicates mentored student
*Bruggman, M., and Lewandowski K., 2026, Bugs in the Mud: Examination of Benthic Foraminifera in the Pleistocene Cool-Water Carbonates of the South Tasman Ocean (ODP Leg 189, Sites 1171C and 1168A), Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 58, No. 1, doi: 10.1130/abs/2026SE-13164.
*Bruggman, M., and Lewandowski K., 2026, Bugs in the Mud: Examination of Benthic Foraminifera in the Pleistocene Cool-Water Carbonates of the South Tasman Ocean (ODP Leg 189, Sites 1171C and 1168A),Honors Council of the Illinois Region Spring Symposium, DePaul University.
*Howard, L., *Houser, C., *Marron, J., and Lewandowski, K., 2023, Community Structure and Population Dynamics of Pleistocene Benthic Foraminifera from ODP Site 1171C (South Tasman Rise), Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 55, No. 3
doi: 10.1130/abs/2023NC-386884.
*Evans, M., *Hughes-Phelan, S., *Marron, J. and Lewandowski, K., 2023, Low-Resolution Study of Pleistocene Benthic Foraminifera from Cool-Water Carbonates around Tasmania (ODP Site 1168)., Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 55, No. 3 doi: 10.1130/abs/2023NC-386728.
Lewandowski, K., 2023, An Initial Look at the Composition of Geoscience Departments by Rank and Gender, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 55, No. 3 doi: 10.1130/abs/2023NC-386647.
Lipps, J. and Lewandowski, K., 2022, Helen Tappan: Success in Paleontology Through Dedication, Organizational Skills, and Hard Work, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 54, No. 4, doi: 10.1130/abs/2022NC-374604.
Lewandowski, K., 2022, Maria Klenova: Pioneering Polar Marine Geologist, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 54, No. 4, doi: 10.1130/abs/2022NC-374605.
*Evans, M., *Hughes-Phelan, S., and Lewandowski, K., 2022, Low-Resolution Study of Pleistocene Benthic Foraminifera from Cool-Water Carbonates around Tasmania (ODP Site 1168)., National Council on Undergraduate Research Annual Meeting, Online, April 2022.
Lewandowski, K.J., 2019, Breaking the Ice Ceiling: the Struggles of Maria Klenova. 50 Years of Women in Antarctica Symposium, Byrd Polar Research and Climate Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, October 2019.
Lewandowski, K.J., 2019, Cataloguing Representation: Publication of books about women in science over the last decade (2009-2019), Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 51, No. 5, ISSN 0016-7592 doi: 10.1130/abs/2019AM-335688.
Lewandowski, K.J., 2018, Turning the Tide: Trends in Participation of Women in Oceanography, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 50, No. 6, ISSN 0016-7592, doi: 10.1130/abs/2018AM-320690
Lewandowski, K.J., 2016, “Girl Talk”: Marie Tharp and her famous map, North-Central Section Meeting, GSA Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, no. 5, doi: 10.1130/abs/2016NC-275087.
Lewandowski, K.J., 2016, An Ohio State Legacy: Women Researchers in Antarctica, North-Central Section Meeting, GSA Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, no. 5, doi: 10.1130/abs/2016NC-275088
Dr. James Riley
Presentation: 2025, “Seeing is Be-leaf-ing: Phenological Patterns at Woodyard Conservation Area.” Annual Meeting of the Illinois Geographical Society. (with Lyssa Nave, student)
Presentation: 2018, “Spatiotemporal Dynamics of a Chute Cutoff on the Embarras River, Illinois.” The Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. (with Abigail Knight, student)
Presentation: 2018, “Curves, Confluences, and Cutoffs: Morphodynamic Insights from the Wabash River.” The Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. (click here for PDF of poster)
Publication: 2015, "Influence of Junction Angle on Three-Dimensional Flow Structure and Bed Morphology at Confluent Meander Bends During Different Hydrological Conditions." Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 40:252-271. (with B.L. Rhoads, D.R. Parsons, and K.K. Johnson)
Publication: 2014, "Estimation of Regional Flow-Duration Curves for Illinois and Indiana." United States Geological Survey Investigations Report 2014-5177. (with T.M. Over, J.B. Sharpe, and D. Arvin)
Presentation: 2015, "Tracking Large Woody Debris in a Low-Energy Meandering River." Association of American Geographers Annual Conference. (with Jessica Intravaia, student)
Presentation: 2015, "Patterns of Flow Structure and Bed Morphology at a Chute Cutoff Obstructed by Large Woody Debris." Association of American Geographers Annual Conference. (with Daniel Stadler, student)
Dr. James Riley takes students to Kickapoo Creek in rural Charleston Illinois, to learn skills in measuring and analyzing erosion.
