BEMIDJI, Minn. – Dr. Jeff Ueland, assistant professor of geography at Bemidji State University, will present BSU’s first Honors Lecture of the 2008 spring semester, entitled “A Geographic Approach to Examining Commercial and Recreational Fishing Impacts in United States Regulated Ocean Waters,” on Tuesday, January 29. The lecture, which is free to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. in Hagg-Sauer 112 on the BSU campus.

Understanding the impact of commercial and recreational fishing on marine environments is critical when tracking the health of economically important stocks. The collapse of species-specific fishing industries such as cod, and its inability to recover, has shed light on the importance of judiciously monitoring these resources. At the species level, stock assessment data are available to understand trends relative to abundance and mortality.

Assessing the spatial distribution of human impacts to economically important fisheries is vital but hampered by inconsistencies and variability of available data sets. Ueland will present an explicit framework for comparing commercial and recreational catch in the United States at a refined scale. Aggregating disparate data sources from county, state and federal sources, a mapping framework comprised of 23 zones that cover the coastal areas of the contiguous United States was created. This framework is then utilized to illustrate patterns of data at the species level over a 24-year period. The results are then examined through the lens of fishing regulation to better understand the dynamics of human activity on the fish stocks, and specific case studies are offered to assess these patterns at the species level.

Ueland is in his first year as an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Bemidji State after working several years in GIS for both the academic and private sectors. He received a doctorate from Florida State University in 2005, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Dakota in 1994 and 1995, respectively. Before joining the faculty at Bemidji State, Dr. Ueland worked in Minneapolis/St. Paul before going to Florida State in 2000, and later spent three years as an assistant professor in the Geography Department at Ohio University.

For more information, contact the Honors Program office at (218) 755-3984.

2008 Honors Lecture Series
Jan. 29: “A Geographic Approach to Examining Commercial and Recreational Fishing Impacts in United States Regulated Ocean Waters; ” Dr. Jeff Ueland; Hagg-Sauer 112
Feb. 14: “Improved Formability by Control of Strain Distribution in Sheet Stamping Using Electromagnetic Impulse Energy”
Vince Vohnout: Hagg- Sauer 112
Feb. 26: “Rural Women and Obesity: How Built Environments Influence Physical Activity;” Jeanine Gangeness; Hagg-Sauer 112
Mar. 19: “What Knowledge Is of the Most Worth?” Dr. Charles Alberti; Education Arts 115
April 2: “The Jeanette Smith Case: Defending Battered Women at Trial; ” Janet Prater; Hagg-Sauer 112
April 15: “Where Do Poems Come From?” Susan Hauser & Maureen Gibbon; Hagg-Sauer 112
April 24: “The Mental Maps and Mindscapes of the American Midwest;” Mike Garrett; Hagg-Sauer 112
all lectures begin at 7:00 p.m.

FOR YOUR CALENDAR
Jan. 29 – 7:00 p.m. – Bemidji State University Honors Lecture: Dr. Jeff Ueland, “A Geographic Approach to Examining Commercial and Recreational Fishing Impacts in United States Regulated Ocean Waters.” Location: Hagg-Sauer 112, BSU. Admission: free.