Welcome to My Site
James Hayes-Bohanan, Ph.D.
Geographer, Bridgewater State College

When I began teaching geography full-time at Bridgewater State College in 1997, one of my first acts was to move the web site to my new academic home. My students continue to be my most important audience, but I also put materials here for the many other visitors to my site, including geography students at all levels (elementary through post-graduate), educators, and other people throughout the world who share interests in geography or the other topics found on the site.

In my classes, students must always achieve a certain minimum amount of learning. One purpose of this site is to make sure there is no maximum to what my students learn. Using this web site as a starting point, the possibilities are boundless - partly because of my original content but mostly because of the links that I provide.

This an "Environmental Geography" site because that is my specialty within the discipline of geography. Geography is both a social and a physical science, and the interactions between the physical and human realms have long interested geographers. An environmental geographer is one who focuses on that human/environment interface. See my What is Environmental Geography? page for more details on what this means.

I hope you will take some time to explore the site. If you read the home page carefully, you will find that it points you to all of the important parts of the site, but it is sometimes easy to overlook some fun and interesting areas. For example, have you noticed the County Map Project, which provides information about almost every state in the U.S.? Or have you visited  Rondonia Web, which describes the little-known part of the Amazon where I have been doing research? Did you know that current news headlines about the environment, gay rights, Latin America, and other topics are now available on the appropriate pages throughout the site? Have you seen the family page, which includes photos and stories about my terrific family? Finally, the "Highlights" section of the main page includes many special and short-term links, most of which change every few weeks. Peruse this section frequently for the latest additions.

The site has grown so much since its earliest incarnation in Texas that I have added a search engine to the main page, so that visitors can return to pages that they may have visited previously. I even use it myself, to find items that I know I've put somewhere on the site.

I reserve the icons on the left side of the screen for sites that are truly special to me.

While visiting the site, if you notice any errors, please let me know by e-mail (jhayesboh@bridgew.edu ) or on my new Corrections and Suggestions form, so that I can correct them. Also, feel free to visit the Guest Book, located at the bottom of the main page, to share your comments with other visitors. Please let me know if you have ideas for material I should add to the site - specific links or entire new projects!

This message would not be complete without acknowledging the help others provide in maintaining this site. The Information Technology staff at BSC provide the hardware and network support, and respond to all of my technical requests with cheerfulness and efficiency. Students in all of my classes continuously check the pages for broken links or other errors and sometimes suggest new resources. I receive e-mail messages from throughout the world with comments and suggestions.

Finally, work-study students undertake many creative and/or time-consuming projects to keep this site in shape. Kim O'Connell, Leah Chuckran, Mia Mercado, Kelli Bennett, and especially Andrea Peters have contributed to the quality of this site.

Thanks again for visiting.