William C. Phillips III

The new director of the SIUC geography department says he plans to attract more students by making courses within the department correspond with each other.

Christopher Lant, chair of the geography department, said one of his goals is to improve both undergraduate and graduate geography programs.

Advertisement

Having students take courses from both programs will make the program work together, he said.

Lant said he believes the geography department has a capable faculty and their focus is relevant to environmental planning.

Ben Dziegielewski, associate geography professor, said the faculty went through a long process to select a new director, and he believes Lant is capable of making a lot of good contributions to the department.

He was willing to do it. He’s young and dynamic, Dziegielewski said. I hope he will contribute most to the department while serving as chair.

Lant said he plans to use the three new geography courses geography of world environment, biophysical environment and social perspectives on environment issues in the core curriculum program to attract undergraduate students to major in geography.

We want to make these courses top-notch to attract students, Lant said.

Lant said water resources management and environmental problems are the geography areas he is most interested in.

Advertisement*

The nation and the world has a number of environmental problems, many of which involve water which require resolution, and I hope to contribute some solutions toward these issues, he said. Many of the disciplines taught in colleges such as hydrology, environmental science and economics need to be made relevant to situations and problems on going in the world.

The geography department is involved with several research projects to solve environmental problems such as research water utility planning, inter-disciplinary restoration of Cache River water shaft in Southern Illinois and conducting studies on the transition to organic farming.

We are heavily involved in the new environmental program, and we serve as the environmental major on campus, Lant said.

Lant received his doctorate in geography from the University of Iowa in 1988. He served as an assistant professor in SIUC geography from 1988-94 and became an associate professor in 1994.

Since working at SIUC, he has published more than a dozen papers in scientific journals and has taught courses in economic geography, world geography, natural resource planning, environmental impact assessment and graduate seminars.

Lant has also been the editor of the American Water Resources Association publication The Water Resources Bulletin for the past two years.