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Featured Session Tracks
Geographic Research in Africa
Throughout Africa, researchers are harnessing the power of geographic methods to address environmental sustainability and other pressing issues. This special track of sessions spotlights the work of scientists and practitioners who apply geographic tools and methods to expand our understanding of complex, trans-boundary sustainable development issues such as food security, biodiversity, carbon emissions and water quality, among others. The track will build on the U.S. Department of State’s Global Dialogues on Emerging Science and Technology initiative, which has promoted the use of geospatial science for sustainable development in Africa through organizational capacity building and the strengthening of spatial data infrastructure.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25
Environment and Health: Lessons Learned from Disease Prevention and Intervention Programs in Africa I (Sponsored by the Africa Specialty Group)
Wednesday, March 25, 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM
Capri 101, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Isaac N. Luginaah, University of Western Ontario; Florence Margai, Binghamton University-SUNY
Chair(s): Florence Margai, Binghamton University-SUNY
8:00 Paul Mkandawire, University of Western Ontario; *Joshua K Tobias, University of Western Ontario; Isaac Luginahh, University of Western Ontario; Rachel Bezner-Kerr, University of Western Ontario, Incivility or Masculinity? Illicit Alcohol Consumption and Vulnerability of Youths to HIV Infection in Northern Malawi
8:20 *Paul Mkandawire, University of Western Ontario; Jenna Dixon, University of Western Ontario;
Isaac Luginaah, University of Western Ontario, Dialogue of the Deaf: HIV/AIDS Policy Debate in the Malawi National Assembly
8:40 *Robert Huish, L’Univeristé De Montréal, Cuban Medical Internationalism in Africa: treating structural violence in vulnerable communities.
9:00 Godwin Arku, University of Western Ontario; *Isaac N. Luginaah, University of Western Ontario; Philip Baiden, The University of Western Ontario; Alex B Asiedu, University of Ghana, Housing and Health in three Contrasting Neighbourhoods in Accra, Ghana
9:20 *Florence M. Margai, Ph.D, Binghamton University-SUNY, Reducing the Burden of Malaria in Distressed Communities: Lessons from Kroo Bay, Sierra Leone
Session Description: Confronting the problems of the changing environment, emergent diseases, environmental hazards, and negative health outcomes in the African continent requires the development and implementation of bold new ideas and policy initiatives that will dramatically improve the daily lives of people in vulnerable communities. The purpose of this session is to bring together geographers who are at the forefront of these initiatives, developing health policies, conducting research, and working to enhance the health and well-being of the African people. Perspectives and lessons learned from these experiences would be shared based on projects that have been implemented recently in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Malawi. The overall goal of the session is to showcase the important contributions of geographers in developing and advancing practical and sustainable approaches in disease prevention and intervention in the continent. Papers are invited from individuals who are working on such initiatives particularly those that center on environmental health, HIV/AIDs, malaria, tuberculosis and other emergent/re-emergent diseases.
Environment and Health: Lessons Learned from Disease Prevention and Intervention Programs in Africa II (Sponsored by the Africa Specialty Group)
Wednesday, March, 10:10 AM - 11:50 AM
Capri 101, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Isaac N. Luginaah, University of Western Ontario; Florence Margai, Binghamton University-SUNY
Chair(s): Joseph R. Oppong, University of North Texas
10:10 Rachel Bezner-Kerr, PhD, The University of Western Ontario; Lizzie Shumba, SFHC Project, Ekwendeni Hospital; *Christine Lynn Bonatsos, MA Candidate, University of Western Ontario; Peter Berti, PhD, Nutrition Advisor/Deputy Director, Healthbridge, Farming for health: participatory nutrition and agricultural interventions to improve child nutrition in northern Malawi
10:30 *Raymond Asare Tutu, Pennsylvania State University; Edmund Ameyaw, Ghana Health Services, Spatial and Demographic Differentials in Caesarean Rates in Ghana: Evidence from the Demographic and Health Survey
10:50 *Joseph Mensah, York University; Joseph R Oppong, Professor, University of North Texas, Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme and the Health MDGs: An Empirical Evaluation with Propensity Score Matching
11:10 *Joseph R. Oppong, University of North Texas; Joseph Mensah, York University, Toronto, Maternity Protection and Health Insurance in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania
Session Description: Confronting the problems of the changing environment, emergent diseases, environmental hazards, and negative health outcomes in the African continent requires the development and implementation of bold new ideas and policy initiatives that will dramatically improve the daily lives of people in vulnerable communities. The purpose of this session is to bring together geographers who are at the forefront of these initiatives, developing health policies, conducting research, and working to enhance the health and well-being of the African people. Perspectives and lessons learned from these experiences would be shared based on projects that have been implemented recently in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Malawi. The overall goal of the session is to showcase the important contributions of geographers in developing and advancing practical and sustainable approaches in disease prevention and intervention in the continent. Papers are invited from individuals who are working on such initiatives particularly those that center on environmental health, HIV/AIDs, malaria, tuberculosis and other emergent/re-emergent diseases.
Keynote Presentation: Geography, GIS, and Africa
Wednesday, March 25, 12:20 PM - 1:00 PM
Capri 101, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor
Jack Dangermond, President, ESRI
Continuing Global Dialogues in Geospatial Science and Sustainable Development
Wednesday, March 25, 1:00 PM
Capri 101, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor
Chair: Douglas Richardson, Association of American Geographers
Douglas Richardson, Association of American Geographers; Introductory Comments
Panelists:
Lee Schwartz, U.S. Department of State; Global Dialogues on Emerging Science and Technology (GDEST): an overview
Sives Govender, EIS-AFRICA; AAG, EIS-Africa and Africa-GIS
Paul Bartel, Actionet (U.S. Department of State support contract); African networks
Richard Williams, Director of the NGA Support Team to the U.S. Department of State; Geospatial Support to Sustainable Development
John Townsend and Chris Justice, University of Maryland; University-based research and remote sensing
Peter Ndunda, Greenbelt Movement; Geography and environmental sustainability: the Greenbelt
Movement in Kenya
Discussants:
Jack Dangermond, ESRI
Douglas Richardson, Association of American Geographers
Francis Koti, University of North Alabama
Benjamin Ofori-Amoah, Western Michigan University
Environmental and Humanitarian Applications of Geospatial Technologies in Africa I
Wednesday, March 25, 3:10 PM - 4:50 PM
Capri 101, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Program Committee
Chair(s): Lowry Taylor, U.S. Department of State; and Narcisa Pricope
3:10 *Ashbindu Singh, UNEP; Charles Sebukeera, UNEP, Africa: Atlas of our Changing Environment
3:30 *Issa Ouedraogo, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Patrice Savadogo, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Mulualem Tigabu, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Per Chister Odén, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Jean-Marie Ouadba, INERA/DPF, Burkina Faso, Land-cover Change Trajectories in Southern Burkina Faso, West Africa
3:50 *Anders Wastfelt; Tsegaye Tegenu; Michael Nielsen; Bo Malmberg, To see the invisible: Mapping land use, migration and subsistence dependency in the SODO district in Ethiopia by using spatial relational post classification of a satellite image.
4:10 *Jake D. Gentry, Appalachian State University; Christopher A. Badurek, Appalachian State University, A Spatial Analysis of Socioeconomic Indicators and Refugee Camp Environmental Impacts in Western Tanzania
4:30 *Narcisa Gabriela Pricope, University of Florida, The impact of flood decreases on ecosystem resilience in a semi-arid savanna watershed in Southern Africa
Environmental and Humanitarian Applications of Geospatial Technologies in Africa II
Wednesday, March 25, 5:20 PM - 7:00 PM
Capri 101, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Program Committee
Chair(s): Nathaniel Royal, University of California Santa Barbara
5:20 *Cyrus Samimi, University of Vienna
Hendrik Wagenseil, GFK, Woody vegetation cover in Namibian savannahs: A modelling approach based on remote sensing
5:40 *Alex B Owusu, AAG, IFPRI, Do we believe satellite data or local people? A case of desertification in the Upper East Region, Ghana.
6:00 *John D All, PhD, JD, Human Environment Linkages Program; Narcisa G Pricope, University of Florida Center For Environmental Policy, Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change Adaptation in Southern Africa
6:20 *Danielson R. Kisanga, Miami University, Middletown, OH, Potential for rehabilitation of degraded semiarid lands of Arusha, Tanzania
6:40 *Nathaniel Guy Paul Royal, University of California Santa Barbara, Fearing the Little Dragon of Medina: Techniques for Creating Vulnerability Indexes in Developing Countries with a GIS
THURSDAY, MARCH 26
Land Stewardship and the Human-Environment Relationship in Africa
Thursday, March 26, 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM
Capri 106, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Program Committee
Chair(s): Andrea Gaughan
8:00 *Frederick L Bein, PhD, Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis; Gilbert M Nduru, PhD, Moi Univeristy, Traditional Agriculture: Indigenous Crops, Production and Utilization in Western Kenya
8:20 *Sarah Ives, Stanford University, Rooibos Farming in Post-Apartheid South Africa
8:40 *Jennifer E Goldstein, University of California, Los Angeles, The Rapid Rise of the Rwandan Specialty Coffee Industry: Localizing taste through global commodity markets
9:00 *Shirley Joy Brooks, Dr, University Of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Creating Third Nature in the South African countryside: New Geographies of Wildlife Production
9:20 *Andrea E Gaughan, University of Florida; Peter Waylen, PhD, University of Florida, Spatial and temporal variability of precipitation within the Okavango-Kwandu-Zambezi catchment area of southern Africa
Communities and Protected Areas: Lessons from East and Southern Africa
Thursday, March 26, 10:10 AM - 11:50 AM
Capri 106, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Program Committee
Chair(s): Luke Rostant, University of Florida
10:10 *Sadie J Ryan, PhD, Stanford University; Joel Hartter, Asst Professor, University of New Hampshire, The social impacts of landscape change around a fortress park in Uganda
10:30 *Michael W. Binford, University of Florida; Brian Child, University of Florida; Abe Goldman, University of Florida; Paul Leslie, University of North Carolina; Terry McCabe, University of Colorado, Biophysical and national policy factors influencing protected area success in East and southern Africa
10:50 *Peter Scull, Colgate University, Analyzing range behavior of Ugandan mountain gorilla, a critically endangered species
11:10 *Jeremia N Njeru, West Virginia University, The Anatomy of a 'Movement' To Stop Deforestation: The Case of a Struggle To Save Karura Forest in Nairobi, Kenya
11:30 *Luke Victor Rostant, BSc, MPhil, The University of Florida; Brian Child, BSc., DPhil., The University of Florida, The efficacy of community based monitoring in Namibia: The Event Book system
Combining Modern Methods and Local Knowledge for Drought Management (Sponsored by the Africa Specialty Group)
Thursday, March 26, 1:00 PM - 2:40 PM
Capri 106, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Abigail Amissah-Arthur, Slippery Rock University
Chair(s): Abigail Amissah-Arthur, Slippery Rock University
1:00 *Abigail Amissah-Arthur, Cardinal Stritch University, Workable Strategies for Drought Management: Using the US Roadmap as a Way forward for Africa
1:20 *Tadesse Kidane-Mariam, Ph.D, A/Professor, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Ethiopia: The Political Ecology of Food Insecurity/Famine
1:40 *Audra Elisabeth El Vilaly, University of Arizona, The impacts of climate change on agricultural and livestock production in West Africa
2:00 *Shrikant Jagtap, Dr., Global Climate Technology for Development, A Pro-Active Drought Management System
2:20 *Henry N. N. Bulley, Clark University; *Katherine Nashleanas, University of Nebraska, Mitigating the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Related Conflicts through Collaboration: The Human Dimension of Long-Term Sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa
Session Description: Famine is real and visible. Many parts of sub-Saharan Africa have been affected by successive years of below normal rainfall causing devastating droughts in 1971-73, 1982-85, 1987-88, 1990-92, 1997-98 and also in recent years. Net effect of this has been famine. It has been estimated that these droughts have converted about 351,000 square kilometers of land into desert affecting survival of about 30 million people. There are some indications that the most severe of these droughts are 40-75% more likely in an El Niño year than at other times. El-Niño events tend to result into enhanced north-easterlies, reduced monsoon flow, coupled to weakened upper easterlies and hence produce dry conditions close to the surface position of the ITCZ. This suggests farmers in the region could benefit from a drought early warning system to adjust their cropping practices particularly during El Niño events. This session's papers will examine novel approaches to drought management involving the use of indigenous knowledge and modern forecasting skills that will lead to the development of integrated models of drought management. Potential of using climate forecasts combined with local knowledge for successful drought early warning systems and mitigation measures to promote development of an early warning system will be shared.
Developing Capacity and Community Resilience in Africa
Thursday, March 26, 3:10 PM - 4:50 PM
Capri 106, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Program Committee
Chair(s): Maureen Biermann, Penn State University
3:10 *Benjamin Ofori-Amoah, Western Michigan University, Geography and Institutional Policy: The "Protocol" Admission Policy of Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology
3:30 *Foster Frempong, M.Phil., University of Cape Coast, Ghana; Kofi Awusabo-Asare, Ph.D., University of Cape Coast, Ghana; K. Kumi-Kyereme, Ph.D., University of Cape Coast, Ghana; A. Tanle, Ph.D., University of Cape Coast, Ghana; A. Darteh, Ph.D., University of Cape Coast, Ghana; A. Antwi, Ph.D., University of Cape Coast, Ghana, Urban Community responses to Sanitation, Health and Environmental Quality in Coastal Ghana
3:50 *Justin Stoler, MS MPH CPH, San Diego State University, Demographic, environmental and spatial analysis of urban malaria in Accra, Ghana
4:10 *Amy E. Noreuil, MA 1st Yr, The George Washington University, An Analysis of the Geographical Origins and Distribution of Red Cross Messages between Africa and the United States
4:30 *Maureen Biermann, Penn State University, Building Community Resilience: Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into an NGO Agenda
FRIDAY, MARCH 27
African Development Dialogues
Friday, March 27, 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM
Capri 106, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Program Committee
Chair(s): Christine Mathenge, Austin Peay State University
8:00 *Adrian J Bailey, University of Leeds; Farai Magunha, University of Leeds; Lionel Cliffe, University of Leeds, Transnational Zimbabwe and the Circulation of Inequality
8:20 *Arja Vainio-Mattila, Huron University College, Performativity of "civil society" in development: A case of Tanzania
8:40 *Kevin Gould, Dartmouth College, Land market performances: contemporary land policy in northern Guatemala
9:00 *Luca Muscarà, University of Molise, Somalia: When Will It Change?
9:20 *Christine Mathenge, Austin Peay State University, From Exclusion to Center Stage: Rethinking the Role of Migrants
Globalization, Conflict and African Natural Resources
Friday, March 27, 10:10 AM - 11:50 AM
Capri 106, Riviera Hotel, 1st Floor (Paper Session)
Organizer(s): Program Committee
Chair(s): Bradley Kinder, University of Michigan
10:10 *J H. Leaman, Villanova University, Chad and Oil: The Resource Curse
10:30 *Deborah Kittner, MPA, University of Cincinnati, Diamonds in the Rough: Beautiful Diamonds in the Dirt of Congolese Corruption
10:50 *Sigismond Ayodele Wilson, Michigan State University, Diamond Conflicts in Kono District Sierra Leone: An Actor-Oriented Political Ecology
11:10 *John R Palmer, Colby College, Fast fortunes and tiny taxes for tropical timber exported as logs to China and India
11:30 *Bradley L Kinder, University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources and Environment, Timber extraction and rural development in Cameroon: An examination of benefits, development outcomes, and actor interests
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