Welcome to Geography. Without geography…you’re

lost!

Image of Dumont Dunes in background, Creosote plants in foreground

Vicki Drake, Chair

Geography – Geology – GIS

Earth Science Department - Santa Monica College

WELCOME TO FALL SESSION, BEGINNING AUGUST 25, 2008!

Hello and welcome to my Geography/Geology/GIS Web Page at Santa Monica College. This Web Page is for my students and will be continually updated to reflect current information (including syllabus changes, essay questions, lecture outlines, and study guides) for each new semester. Links have been set up for each class. Additionally, other interesting links are included on this page. You can find ‘hyperlinks’ to GIS data sources, California geography (native vegetation, endangered flora and fauna) and geology and GIS job opportunities!

Interesting Links

http://www.gisjobs.com/survey/countries.jsp (GIS job opportunities, salary ranges, and more!)

http://www.dcrp.ced.berkeley.edu/research/footprint/ (Berkeley/Penn State Data for Urban)

ArcWatch online journal from ESRI ArcWatch [arcwatch@esri.com]

www.esri.com (Data and ArcView support)

www.usgs.gov (Data, DTMs, DEMs, geology links)

http://www.geo-one-stop.gov/ (National Spatial Data Infrastructure (one-stop-shop)

www.geodata.gov (Federal, State and Local gov't geographic data)

www.nwsla.noaa.gov/ (Current weather maps)

http://gis.ca.gov/data.epl (California data sets for download!)

http://www.gjc.org/ (Job opportunities in GIS)

www.spatialnews.com (GIS data on the Web)

www.gis.ca.gov (California GIS data –FREE!)

http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/ (GIS data on Canada – free!)

http://mli.gov.mb.ca/ (Manitoba Land Initiative – GIS data – free!)

www.nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html (GIS data on the Web)

www.geog.mcgill.ca/heeslib/giS.html#data (GIS data warehouse on the Web)

http://assessor.co.la.ca.us/html/gisdata.htm (GIS data for Los Angeles County)

http://www.grida.no/add/add-data.htm (Arctic Environmental Data Directory)

http://www.manifold.net (GIS Data - -not free!)

http://www.mapcruzin.com (Environmental GIS data)

http://www.gis.com/news/bulletin/. (Information about the world of GIS)

http://www.ers.usda.gov/statefacts/ (State Fact Sheets database for US)

http://data.geocomm.com/catalog/WW/group148.html (World Landsat Data)

http://campus.esri.com/campus/library/research/researchgd_undergraduate.cfm. (ESRI virtual library site for GIS research, projects, publications)

http://www.ca.blm.gov/folsom/folssp.html (Special Status Plants, Folsom Office, BLM)

http://www.ca.blm.gov/bishop/specialstatusplantguide.html (Special Status Plants, Bishop Office, BLM)

http://bio.lmu.edu/socal_nat_hist/plants/comms/plcomm.htm (Southern California Plant Communities)

http://www.cnps.org/ (California Native Plant Society)

http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/photos/flora/ (California vegetation photos)

http://www.geocities.com/~jimclatfelter/wildflrs.html (California Wildflowers)

http://www.calacademy.org/research/botany/wildflow/index.html (California Wildflowers)

http://www.cnps.org/links/wildflower_links.htm (links to other California vegetation sites)

http://www.ca.blm.gov/pa/aml/ (BLM Guide to Abandoned Mines in California)

http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html (View of Earth from Space/Satellites/Sun/Moon)

http://www.ca.blm.gov/photo. (BLM California Image Website)

http://www.ca.blm.gov/arcata/arcermee.html (Photos of California endangered plant species)

http://www.ca.blm.gov/caso/wf-map.html (Wildlife Watching Sites, courtesy of BLM)

http://www.huduser.org/datasets/gis.html (HUD datasets)

http://www.mapserver.maptech.com (Maptech has the largest, free, interactive MapServer that displays USGS topo maps (digitally enhanced from original USGS maps), NOAA nautical charts (digitally enhanced from original NOAA mylars), NOAA aeronautical charts and high altitude photos of the US.

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index.h (View the Earth from the Milky Way down to the Quarks on the nucleus of a Carbon atom!)

http://www.nifc.gov/information.html - Wildfire statistics for United States and California

Link to Special Data on Terrorism - New York and USGS data websites

http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/internet/cartography.html (Resources for Cartography, Remote Sensing and GIS)

http://www.geog.nottingham.ac.uk/~mather/useful/gis.html#Datasets (GIS Datasets)

http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos (Earth Information Exchange Gateway - one stop for finding/using geographic data

http://edc2.usgs.gov/terralook/ ( free access to satellite images!)

http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/ (Tax data for Federal, State, and local governments by state)

http://www.sonoma.edu/users/c/clamatth/geog387/labs/lab2.html (Data Model exercise)

Office hours, room and telephone

Office hours: MW 10:00-11:00 am and TuTh 12:30-1:30 pm

Office: Drescher Hall 314L

Phone: (310) 434-8652

E-mail: drake_vicki@smc.edu

Personal Interests

Hiking with my Labrador Retrievers, ‘Davis’ (named after William Morris Davis, the ‘father’ of American geography) and ‘Bass’ (named after Bass Lake, CA)

Exploring new trails and field trip sites in California (with Davis and Bass, of course!)

Going on Virtual Field Trips from the Earth Sciences Department at: Geology Central

http://homepage.smc.edu/robinson_richard/geologycentral.htm

Introducing students to the wonderful world of Geography! Check out some of the Internet Links!

Seen below are pictures of some of California’s protected, endangered or threatened animals

bighorn sheep

California Desert Bighorn: photo taken in Santa Rosa/San Jacinto National Monument

Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard