Saint Michael's College student Nick Rucci of Livonia presents research at Geographical Society Meeting

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Saint Michael's College student Nick Rucci of Livonia presents reearch at annual Geographical Society Meeting

COLCHESTER, VT (10/22/2012)(readMedia)-- At the geography conference the topic ranged from hydraulic fracturing to the impact a mardi gras or jazz festival on urban spaces. Saint Michael's College Professor of Geography Richard Kujawa of South Burlington and two of his students presented their research at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the New England and Saint Lawrence Valley Geographical Society held at the University of Maine in Farmington, October 19-20.

Hydraulic fracturing

Nick Rucci of Livonia, N.Y., junior, environmental studies major presented a poster on the impact of hydraulic fracturing methods of natural gas production on agriculture landscapes in counties in Pennsylvania and New York on the Marcellus Shale. The poster, co-prepared with SMC Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Laura Stroup, was the result of a faculty-student research collaboration in the summer of 2012, funded by an SMC Vice President for Academic Affairs Fellowship. Nick's trip to the conference was funded by a travel grant from the Vice President's Office.

Nick Rucci, the son of Mary and Napoleone Rucci, graduated from Livonia High School before coming to Saint Michael's College.

New Environmental Studies Course

Professor Richard Kujawa also presented a paper which drew on his collaborative teaching with Professor Laura Stroup. The paper, "Superfund, the Toxic Release Inventory, TOXMAP, and Teaching: Something for everyone?" reported on the development and implementation of a curricular unit which linked environmental health and toxicology, environmental law and explorations of the relational databases and GIS maps of the EPA and National Library of Medicine. Kujawa also met with researchers from the Maine EPSCoR team to complement his work on the Regional Adaptation to Climate Change project funded by Vermont EPSCoR.

Meeting with Nobel Laureate Robert Kates

The professor and his students, Dr. Kujawa, Nick Rucci and Patrick Crannell,met in person and attend a plenary session with Nobel Prize Winner Robert Kates, Presidential Professor of Sustainability Science at the University of Maine, who discussed his professional career path and involvement in four cycles of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Learn What Matters at Saint Michael's College, The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts college, www.smcvt.edu . Saint Michael's provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael's College is located three miles from Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns. Identified by the Princeton Review, 2013 as one of the nation's Best 377 Colleges, and included in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013, Saint Michael's has 1,900 undergraduate students and 500 graduate students. Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other grants. The college is one of the nation's top-100, Best Liberal Arts Colleges as listed in the 2013 U.S. News & World Report rankings.

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