UNH Emeritus Geography Professor, National Geographic Staff members, GIS business partner on hijacked aircraft

The attacks on the US earlier this week have touched virtually every state and every community. The geography and GIS communities were not spared.

Robert LeBlanc, 70, of Lee, N.H., was a professor emeritus of geography at the University of New Hampshire. He was aboard United Airlines Flight 175, Boston to Los Angeles, which crashed into World Trade Center. Photo of Robert LeBlanc from AP is online.  There are comments about him on MSNBC and I've read several notes from his students lauding him as a professor.

Joe Ferguson, 39, Asst. Director of Education Outreach at National Geographic and Ann Judge, Director of the Travel Office at National Geographic were aboard American Airlines Flight 77, Washington to Los Angeles, which crashed into the Pentagon.  A photo of the two from AP is online and notes the pair was accompanying teachers and students on an educational field trip to the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary in California.  Many were made aware of the loss of the National Geographic staffers in a post to the Texas Alliance for Geographic Education listserv titled Tragedies of the Day. 

Charles Falkenberg, senior software engineer from ECOlogic Corp, was also aboard American Airlines Flight 77. Mr. Falkenberg, his wife, and their two children were on their way to Australia. ECOlogic is both an ESRI and MapInfo business partner. The company has offices in Herndon, VA and Lanham, MD, and does work with federal agencies including NASA. According to the report in the Post, Charles worked on developing scientific data delivery systems for oceanographers, ecosystem scientists and space scientists. ECOlogic is a relatively small company, and will no doubt greatly feel the impact of the loss. The Washington Post posted an obituary for the Falkenberg family.  ECOlogic hosts a Tribute to Falkenberg Family on its website.

We share the loss with their families, friends and colleagues.

 
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