Benedykt Dziegielewski Scholarships
After 34 years of dedication to our department, Dr. Ben Dziegielewski retired in December 2011. In addition to being an internationally known scholar in Water Resources, he was also a key faculty member in our department. Ben was instrumental in helping to create our well-known focus on water resources.
To honor Dr. Dziegielewski for his efforts, we initiated a campaign to provide one undergraduate and one graduate student with a $1,000 award each year.
Recent recipients of the Dr. Dziegielewski Scholarship are:
- 2024 Undergraduate: Madalynne Chochola, Rajee Tamrakar
- 2023 Undergraudate: Zane Wilcoxen, Graduate: Zachary Carter
- 2022: Undergraduate: Courtney McCowan
- 2022: Graduate: Ryan Lefaivre
- 2021: Undergraduate: Claire Talbert
- 2021: Graduate: Ellen Esling / Luis Prado
- 2020: Undergraduate: Kirsten Gard
- 2020: Graduate: Josie Taylor
- 2019: Undergraduate: Luis Prado
- 2019: Graduate: Dylan Gibson
- 2018: Undergraduate: Connie Kaniewski
- 2018: Graduate: Sourav Bhadra
- 2017: Undergraduate: Luca Palasti
- 2017: Graduate: Mark Healy
- 2016: Undergraduate: Katherine O'Keefe
- 2016: Graduate: Michael Kennedy
- 2015: Undergraduate: Mark Healy
- 2015: Graduate: Shiloh Deitz
- 2014: Undergraduate: Jefferson Wright
- 2014: Graduate: Ashley Suiter
Message from Dr. Leslie Duram
I know I speak for many students and colleagues, when I say that I look up to Ben as a respected member of our department. I have learned a great deal by watching Ben. Not only is he a world-renown scholar, but he is also a very kind person. I learned that no matter what your academic goals are; it is most important to get along with people. Personal relationships with students and colleagues are what make our jobs worthwhile. Ben is a wonderful example of a professor who blended excellence in research and teaching with down-to-Earth kindness. We should all emulate these actions.
Benedykt Dziegielewski came to SIU as a Lecturer/Teaching Assistant in Geography in August of 1979. He then was a Teaching Assistant for the Department of Thermal and Environmental Engineering, then Civil Engineering and Mechanics, then Assistant Scientist in Geography. He received his PhD from SIUC in 1983. Geography was lucky enough to get him back in 1985 as an Assistant Professor. He became Associate Professor in 1991 and Professor in 2001.
The only controversy with Ben is how to pronounce his last name: at the bottom of the first page of his CV he notes the phonetic pronunciation: "Jen-ghe-LEF-ski." Of course, Ben is so good natured and easy-going; he doesn't get upset about how anybody pronounces his name! Still, many students over the years have opted to call him Dr. Ben.
He has taught many, many courses at SIU: GEOG 320, 326, 422, 425, 434, 436, 470, 471, 475, 487, 500, 501, 521, 522, 524, 593; ENG 100, 314, CE 417, 419, and 483. Ben has advised at least 45 master students and 12 PhD students.
In 2000, he was awarded the College of Liberal Arts Scholar of the Year Award by Dean Shirley Clay Scott. Indeed, his contributions to water resources scholarship is significant.
Ben served as Executive Director International Water Resources Association, Editor of the International Water Resources Association newsletter, and as Editor in Chief of Water International. He served on the National Research Council Committee on USGS Water Resources Research.
Ben's work is also applied. He has consulted for firms, and city and state governments in Virginia, California, New York, Colorado, Arizona, Illinois, New Mexico, Mississippi, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Oregon. He has helped the US Navy, the nation of Columbia, and many others with their water resource planning efforts.
He has given expert testimony for several water resources lawsuits, including El Paso vs New Mexico and cases involving the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
His invited lectures and papers presented at professional meetings number in the hundreds. His Workshop presentations have covered the world: US Army Corps of Engineers in Virginia, Utah, and Kentucky; University of Texas at Austin; National Water Well Association in Phoenix; Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in Los Angeles, Irvine, and San Diego; and Jordan University of Science and Technology in Irbid, Jordan.
Ben has received 23 grants. He has written lots of grant reports, 40 technical and consultant reports; manuals and workbooks. He has authored or co-authored 7 books, 11 monographs, 18 peer reviewed journals (in English and Polish), 19 chapters in peer-reviewed books (in English, Polish, and Spanish), 41 conference proceedings, and 12 discussion articles.
Of course, numbers are not what make a successful career.
When I came to SIU in 1994, I was lucky enough to be in the office next to Ben. I looked up to him as a respected member of the department. I can honestly tell you that I learned a great deal by watching Ben. He is a world-renown scholar, but he is also a very kind person. I learned that no matter what your academic goals are; it is most important to get along with people. Personal relationships with students and colleagues are what make our jobs worthwhile. Ben is a wonderful example of a professor who blended excellence in research and teaching with down-to-Earth kindness. We should all emulate these actions.
Alumni and friends who would like to honor Dr. Dziegielewski may send contributions to:
Ben Dziegielewski Endowment Fund
SIU Foundation
Colyer Hall
Mailcode 6805
Carbondale IL 62901
The David and Carol Christensen Award for Student Research in Sustainability
In 1984, Dr. Dave Christensen retired from SIU Carbondale after teaching for decades about the need for a sustainable balance between what the Earth offers and the demands put on the Earth by humans. With this award, Dr. Christensen hoped to encourage Geography students to focus on this critical relationship between the Earth and people.
To be considered for the Christensen Award, students must gather and analyze data or analyze and critique some program or strategy, at a local, medium, or even a global scale, that looks toward achievement of a sustainable balance between the human family and the Earth.
To Apply:
Students must be an undergraduate major in Geography and Environmental Resources.
Individuals or small group should submit a brief one-page proposal to their instructor that describes their project and poster: research focus, link to sustainability and scale (noted above), objectives, and methodology.
Finished projects will be judged prior to the annual spring "Poster Session" by a three-person departmental committee.
Recent recipients of the David and Carol Christensen Award for Student Research in Sustainability are:
- 2024: Morgan Schmitt, Madeline Johnson
- 2023: Donovan Nalley
- 2022: Donovan Jennings, “California Asthma Distribution Related to Air Quality”
- 2021: Nick Keller, “Addressing Obesity by Examining Food Deserts”
- 2019: Katelyn Toigo, “Strip Mine Reclamation – Reestablishing Sustainable Ecosystems in Southern Illinois”
- 2018: Brian Shepard, “Analysis of Potential Rooftop Solar Energy on the SIU Carbondale Campus”
- 2017: Kayla Newsome, "Analysis of Polystyrene Foam Food Containers in Downtown Carbondale, Illinois"
- 2016: Tonya Atherton, "Distribution of Trash on Campus Lake"
- 2015: Tonya Atherton, "Did the Millennium Development Goals Undermine Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa?"
- 2014: Karl Mueller and Meredith Wolfe, "The Effects of Brownfield Development."
- 2013: Erin Sweeny, Josh Kunde, and Chris Davies, "Building a Better Farmer's Market to Build a More Sustainable Community"
- 2012: Alison Crim, "Food Works: Local Sustainable Food Systems Development for Southern Illinois"
- 2010: Megan Baskerville, Brock Harris, Sarah Heck, and Katie Smith, "Carbondale Floodshed Interactive Map."
- 2009: Jonathan Dyer, "Ten Step Guide to Developing a Campus Sustainability Plan”
- 2009: Melissa Brandt, Paul Connolly, Leah May, Rebecca Tally, "SIU Local Organic Garden Initiative of Carbondale"
- 2008: Daniel Flaherty, "Precision Agriculture Data for Developing Sustainable Land Use Policies"
- 2007: Kyle Johnson, Gavin Youngstrum, and Marcus Polancic, "Nitrate Levels in the Big Muddy River"
- 2006: Aaron Goldsby, Jessica Korando, Mark Larsen, "Study of Economic Loss Due to Flooding in a Southern Illinois Township"
David G. Arey Memorial Award
In 2001, we lost one of our distinguished professors, Dr. David G. Arey. In his honor, the David G. Arey Memorial Endowment Fund was established at the SIU Foundation to recognize Master’s students with theses displaying creative thinking in natural resources and environmental problem solving. Each spring, a thesis in Geography and Environmental Resources is selected by the faculty for special recognition.
Recipients of the David G. Arey Award:
- 2024: Tara Lal Giri "Quantifying the Geomorphic Change After the Len Small Levee Breaches, Dogtooth Bend of the Mississippi River"
- 2023: Ellen Esling "Farmer Perspectives of Place Identity, Ecological Integrity, and Community Resilience: Exploring Bioregionalism in a Local Food Movement in Southern Illinois"
- 2022: Andrew Paxton “Extreme Precipitation in Illinois: Trend Estimation and Relation with Large-Scale Circulation and Humidity”
- 2021: Dylan Gibson “The U.S. Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement: Towards a Justice-Based Paradigm of Sustainability at Higher Education Institutions”
- 2020: Sourav Bhadra, “Assessing The Impacts of Anthropogenic Drainage Structures on Hydrologic Connectivity using High-Resolution Digital Elevation Models”
- 2018: Julia Ryherd, “Quantifying the Rates and Spatial Distribution of Recent Sedimentation with the Hydrologically Connected Floodplains of the Middle Mississippi River, USA, Using Digital Elevation Models and Dendrogeomorphology"
- 2017: Aleesandria Gonzalez, "Evaluating the Conginitive Drivers and Deterrents of Adaptation in the Iowa-Cedar Watershed"
- 2016: Shiloh Dietz, "A Spatial Analysis of the Relationship Between Obesity and the Built Environment in southern Illinois"
- 2015: Ashley Suiter, "Remote Sensing Based Detection of Forested Wetlands: An Evaluation of LiDAR, Aerial Imagery, and Their Data Fusion"
- 2014: Zachary Heern, "Investigating Trends in Lower Tropospheric Heat Content and Heat Waves Over the Central USA Using Equivalent Temperature (1951-2011)"
- 2013: Kerry McLeran, "Oxygen Isotope Analysis in Tree-Rings of Pterocarous Angolensis Growing in Zimbabwe"
- 2012: David Mann, "Determining Optimal Locations for New Wind Energy Development in Iowa"
- 2011: Amber Mead, "Assessing the Integration of Domestic Fair Trade into Consumer Food Cooperatives in the United States"
- 2010: Eric Wilke, "The Influence of Geography and Physical Ecology on Economic Development"
- 2009: Aimee Lemrise, "Geographical Assessment of Farmers Market Consumers in Southern Illinois"
- 2008: Mitchell Horrie, "Stakeholder Collaboration in Suburban Prairie Restoration: Three Case Studies from Cook County, Illinois"
- 2007: Kara E. Scott, "Evaluating an Improved Algorithm for Segregating Large Geospatial Data"
- 2006: Poonthip Sirikulchayanon, "Assessing the Impacts of the 2004 Tsunami on Mangroves Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques: A Case Study of Phang Nga, Thailand"
- 2005: Michael Schultz, "Using Cloud to Ground Lightning as an Indicator of Debris Flow and Flash Flood Producing Storms in a Post Wildfire Environment"
- 2004: Emily D. Yates, "Recruitment of Three Non-native Invasive Plants into Fragmented Forests of Southern Illinois"
- 2003: Bradley D. Larson, "A Spatial Decision Support System Capable of Applying Species-Specific Viability Parameters to National Gap Analysis Program Datasets"
- 2002: Reuben Heine, "Two New Automated Methods for Stream Channel Extraction Using Multivariate Channel Source Approximation"
- 2002: Christina Ray, "Land Use Change in the Cypress Quadrangle, Illinois: 1807, 1938, and 1993"
Professor David G. Arey's Endowment Benefits Geography Students
David G. Arey, professor emeritus, former Chair of the Department of Geography and former Assistant Director of the SIU Coal Research Center passed away at the age of 64. Dr. Arey began his career at Southern Illinois University in 1971 when he moved from Pittsburgh to Carbondale for a faculty position in the Department of Geography. He served as Chairman of the Geography Department from 1982 until 1986, then as Assistant Director of the SIU Coal Research Center until his death in June, 2001. He also continued to teach until spring 2000.
Dr. Arey participated in dozens of student and faculty committees at SIU, of particular note was his coordination of the SIUC Advisory Committee on the planning of Cedar Lake for the City of Carbondale. From 1989 to 2000 he served as Adjunct Faculty to the University of Chicago and as Consultant to the Environmental Sciences and Information Services Division at Argonne National Laboratory. Beginning with his dissertation in 1968, he published a large quantity of research on the geography of natural resources in five books and numerous articles, professional journals, and reports.
Dr. Arey textured his role as a mentor to students developing their careers in geography and related fields. Over three decades, he served as a Graduate Student Advisor and Chaired numerous PhD and MA/MS committees. As a teacher and advisor, he influenced the education and futures of thousands of students. Outside his work with the university, David developed a strong commitment to bettering the community he had made his home serving Southern Illinois and the state as a whole in a variety of capacities.
A memorial fund has been established by Dr. Arey's family and friends to benefit the Department of Geography in David's name. The David G. Arey Award recognizes creative problem solving in the natural resources and environmental field demonstrated in a MS thesis.
Alumni and friends who would like to honor Dr. Arey may send contributions to:
David G. Arey Endowment Fund
SIU Foundation
Colyer Hall
Mailcode 6805
Carbondale IL 62901
The Purposes of GTU are:
