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"
I grew up a geographer although I didn' t know it. My family was
very oriented toward learning about the world around us, " says
Jeanette Rice, Vice President for research with AMRESCO, " so,
as a child, I took a lot of trips, read about places, and went
exploring. "
Today, Rice directs the activities of a research department for
a real estate financial services firm, where her department' s
primary focus is on commercial real estate market analysis. "
My work is very geographic, very spatial, and very much economic
geography, " continues Rice, " I look at the real estate landscape
of cities. " She does a lot of reading, writing, and reviewing
what is happening economically around the world. " For example,
I would look at Boeing 747 plants in Seattle, Washington and what
impact their lay-offs will have on the local economy, " says Rice,
" Last week I was in Los Angeles, California discussing the economy
and apartment market conditions with Fannie Mae. " Where the major
industries are and what issues impact the economy are all things
that Rice must examine about cities. |
"My
undergraduate and graduate work is infinitely useful in terms of thinking
about spatial dynamics and relationships and whole social systems in
the world, " says Rice, " My university education also gave me the writing,
reading, and critical thinking skills that I use everyday. "
Rice
sees a lot of potential for geographers in research and thinks that
real estate research is getting a lot more respect than it had ten years
ago. " Research is a more important part of the real estate industry
and geographers are well suited to do this kind of research, " says
Rice, " They don' t know everything but they have a really good foundation.
"
A
I noticed a trend developing in geography, " says Rice, " Geography
programs are getting away from offering regional geography courses and
I think that we need more of them. " When Rice first went to college,
she wanted to study Meteorology. She soon discovered that it was too
much calculus and by then she had fallen in love with history. " My
undergraduate degree was in history, " says Rice, " But I took a lot
of geography courses. " Rice has her Master' s degree and two years
toward her Ph.D. in historical urban geography.
"I
believe that everyone should get a liberal arts education and I believe
that geography is a perfect one, " says Rice, " Everyone should take
some art history, should travel, and I think that every person should
live abroad for a year. " " It doesn' t matter where, " continues Rice,
" So that they can better understand the world and open their eyes to
the fact that not everything we do is the right way and there are other
ways of doing things. " Rice encourages students to take more regional
analysis, writing, and business classes in order to be a well-rounded
citizen and to be more equipped for the business world.
Jeanette
Rice is using her education as a geographer to shape the real estate
market of cities -- one at a time.
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