News

Around 10 a.m. today, Humboldt State University's Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Analysis (GESA) gave birth to a healthy, brand new magazine. Dubbed Humboldt Geographic, the online journal is the culmination of 20 undergraduate students's efforts in a 2019 fall semester course taught by professors Matthew Derrick and Nick Perdue.

Reached while making final edits in his home, Derrick said it’s been a time of “upheaval” for the students, perhaps referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, the widespread economic uncertainty, the countrywide protests and riots and the university’s transition to online-only classes.

"It’s fun to finally get [the journal] done,” said Derrick, who also serves at the GESA Department Chair. “Our goal is to have a print version in the fall.”

The publication’s contents include department news, feature stories, nifty maps known as “geovisualizations,” alumni highlights and student research on topics ranging from marijuana cultivation to gray wolves to sex work in Humboldt County.

Derrick said he hopes the journal will serve as a bridge between the campus and the wider Humboldt community, giving outsiders a window into a department some might consider mysterious. (We may or may not have Googled “what does a geographer study?” Answer: pretty much everything involving people and places.)

For a more detailed answer, check out the magazine.