Hello! My name is Neil Karmaker and I am a senior studying Materials Science and Engineering with a specialization in metal and ceramic materials. Currently, I live in an apartment in downtown State College. I was born and raised in West Nyack, New York, located about 30 miles north of New York City. I am studying Materials Science and Engineering to pursue a career in chemical synthesis for thin films in microelectronic and optical applications. I am studying this course to understand the human-human and human-environment interaction and the economic implications that these interactions have. In relation to materials science, materials need to be extracted from the environment. Trade of these materials is heavily reliant on the culture, market, and economies of different countries and people around the world. It is necessary to understand how the people that have access to these materials interact with their environment, and how they subsequently interact with other human beings to trade the materials. Hopefully my understanding of material science and human nature will allow me to give perspective to my peers about geography in the context of materials science.
I believe that in the next 20 years, Earth will attempt to send human beings to Mars to begin colonizing it. Besides the issue of how we will get to Mars, the colonists will need to solve many problems in order to survive on the planet. Geography, specifically cartography, will be used to assess suitable areas for the colonists to land their equipment, and begin building their colony. Scale is important to assess the land that will be inhabited. Assuming that satellite imaging can only produce images of large areas, field research will be necessary to survey the finer details of the land surrounding the colonists, and satellites will be able to provide broad images of the surface, thus providing a complete analysis of the lands the colonists will occupy. Â However, imaging technology might become so sophisticated in the next 20 years, such that field research may not be necessary. This sophistication will provide valuable GPS information, so accidents can be prevented.
Hi Neil! My name is Omar and I am a senior at Penn State, University Park. I read your blog post and it’s really interesting to think about the applications of geography on Mars. I agree with you on the importance of drawing maps of Mars and taking high resolution images of it at a finer scale. In my blog post (http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/18/omar-montasser-getting-to-know-you/), I talk about using geography to detect spatial patterns and I think it would be cool to apply that to Mars. I believe that would help in analyzing the lands that colonists would occupy.
Hi Neil! My name is Maura McGonigal. Here is the link to my blog- http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/19/getting-to-know-you-11/. I went to New York City when I was younger and have been itching to take another trip! I am from Pittsburgh, so it is a little further for me than it is for you! I enjoyed reading your thoughts about the future and Mars. Research and technology are advancing so rapidly! It will be exciting to see where we are in 20 years! I look forward to reading more of your perspectives!