Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Geography Department undergraduate students completed the final application of the courses Applied Geomorphology, Field Study, Historical Geography, and Turkey Geopolitics, conducted within the scope of the Spring Semester, with a 13 km track from MAKÜ İstiklal Campus to Burdur Lake in the south of Burdur Lake. This technical field exercise, conducted under the coordination of Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Onur Yayla and Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Uğur Tozkoparan, contributed to the students' acquisition as a comprehensive field experience that brings together different components of physical and human geography.
In the field application, the recession that Burdur Lake has experienced in recent years due to global climate changes, the impact of this recession on areas developing in the limnic facies, and the stability level of these areas against erosion were observed on-site. Students made field-based evaluations on the character of the areas exposed by the lake recession, erosion forms, and topographic processes.
The study is not only focused on physical geography; it also contains human geography content. The field exercise was carried out with a multidimensional approach covering the courses of Historical Geography and Turkey Geopolitics. In this context, since the Neolithic Period, the settlement areas around Hacılar Höyük, the historical development of human settlement on the shores of Burdur Lake, and its relationship with water resources were addressed. Field-based observations and discussions were conducted on the water-settlement relationship from the Neolithic period to the present, the ways settlements are affected by the lake recession, and the historical transformation of the regional position in a geopolitical context. At the same time, within the scope of energy geography, renewable energy production facilities, which have become widespread within the framework of global climate changes and the Paris Agreement, were seen in the field and evaluated.
During the field study, many learning skills such as recognizing geomorphological units, reading and interpreting maps, analyzing natural processes on-site, understanding the interaction between historical geography and physical topography, and making academic observations were reminded to the students within the scope of these courses in the field exercise.
With this study, the applied courses conducted throughout the semester were successfully completed. All participating students were congratulated for their interest and scientific sensitivity shown during the field exercise.