AAG Theme: Uncertainty and Context in Geography and GIScience

Uncertainty and context pose fundamental challenges in geographic research and GIScience. Geospatial data are imbued with error (e.g., measurement and sampling error), and understanding of the effects of contextual influences on human behavior and experience are often obfuscated by various types of uncertainty (e.g., contextual uncertainties, algorithmic uncertainties, and uncertainty arising from different spatial scales and zonal schemes). Identifying the “true causally relevant” spatial and temporal contexts that influence people’s behavior and experience is thus also challenging, since people move around in their daily lives and over their life courses and experience the influences of many different contexts. To generate reliable geographic knowledge, these uncertainties and contextual issues will be addressed within the special theme, Uncertainty and Context in Geography and GIScience: Advances in Theory, Methods, and Practice, during the 2017 AAG Annual Meeting in Boston.

The Opening plenary of the Uncertainty and Context theme features a distinguished group of researchers and scholars experienced in addressing the issue of uncertainty. Speakers in this session include Mei-Po Kwan (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Michael Goodchild (University of California). David Berrigan (National Cancer Institute) will serve as a Discussant and Tim Schwanen (University of Oxford) will chair this session.  This plenary session is on Thursday, April 6, from 10:00 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. in the Independence West room at the Sheraton.

The Closing plenary for this special track will be held on Saturday, April 8, from 11:50 a.m. – 1:10 p.m and features Mei-Po Kwan (University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign); Tim Schwanen (University of Oxford); Wenzhong Shi (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University); Jamie Pearce (University of Edinburgh); Daniel A. Griffith (University of Texas at Dallas). All attendees are welcome to attend.

To find many additional sessions on this featured theme, consult the AAG website for a full list.

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