From the Meridian

What is the role of a professional society like AAG?

May 30, 2025

Photo credit: Alter&Go/AbsolutVision, Unsplash

Recent attacks on higher education threaten our foundational rights, such as academic freedom and advances in diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia. In a multi-part series, I relate these things to AAG’s history, core values, and work in the future.

Part I: Academic Freedom

Founding AAG and Higher Education

When the AAG was founded in 1904 as a new professional society, higher education, as we now know it, was still relatively new. Only after the Civil War did modern colleges and universities take shape in the United States, aiming to give broad education to the general public. Before this shift, universities served more as training grounds for the clergy and the elite.^1,2

As America sought to rebuild itself after the war, the value of an educated workforce and one with new skills was deemed essential: skilled labor replaced manual labor as the country increasingly moved from agrarian to industrial. Public institutions of higher learning joined private ones across the country. Education became available to more and more people, and crossed economic, social, racial, and gender boundaries, while leaving significant barriers for many.^1,3

During this time, the discipline of geography emerged as a distinct branch of study and research. More institutions required more trained experts. Geography shifted from surveys, cataloging, and mapping to deeper analysis and understanding of people and places. The career of the first AAG President, William Morris Davis, showcases all these changes. Trained at Harvard’s Lawrence Scientific School in 1869, he got a master’s in mining engineering in 1870. He then joined a geographic expedition in Colorado before working as a meteorologist in Argentina. This broad background helped Morris when he then moved on to geomorphology. By 1890, Morris was a full Harvard professor, merging meteorology, geology, and geography. His teaching and publishing helped establish numerous theories and subfields.^1,3

An Association to Strengthen and Support Geography

At the time of AAG’s founding, societies that focused on geography tended towards exploration and wealthy elites. When the National Geographic Society (NGS) was founded in 1888, it provided a much-needed home for academics like Morris, but it also faced financial challenges. When its second president, Alexander Graham Bell (yes, that Bell), proposed that the NGS start a non-technical publication to bring content to the masses and thus increase membership and revenue, Morris was concerned. There really wasn’t a place for serious academics to publish technical research and discuss the still-evolving field of geography. Thus, in 1904, he and colleagues founded the AAG: a professional society with the primary goal of hosting intellectual exchange and defining the best practices within the profession.¹

AAG’s Core Mission

The AAG’s core mission is to support the profession and foster intellectual exchange. Protecting academic freedom—the right of professional academics to pursue research and teaching free from political interference—is a core value of the AAG. Academic freedom in higher education benefits society through the production and dissemination of knowledge. This benefit is as true in research as it is in the classroom. Modern higher education cannot succeed without academic freedom; without it, all the benefits society gains from free inquiry are threatened, diminished, or lost.

While we may know this is true, it is easy to take it for granted. Today, we see renewed efforts to curtail academic freedom at a scale and fervor not seen since the “Red Scares” after WWI and WWII. Culminating in the late1960s, political attacks on ideas in higher education were rampant, threatening the independence that great research and teaching depend upon.² Importantly, these political tensions resulted in two Supreme Court rulings, Sweezy v. New Hampshire in 1957 and Keyishian v. Board of Regents in 1967, clearly established academic freedom as a special case of the First Amendment, covering professors, institutions and, to a lesser extent, students.⁴

Our Nation is deeply committed to safeguarding academic freedom, which is of transcendent value to all of us and not merely to the teachers concerned. That freedom is therefore a special concern of the First Amendment, which does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom.”

—Justice Earl Warren, Keyishian v. Board of Regents, 385 U.S. 589 (1967)⁴

Although the boundaries and extent of academic freedom have continued to be tested, the breadth of these rulings help explain why it has felt so settled in my lifetime. But is it really settled? As of December 2023, even before current federal actions, more than 30 states had enacted some version of Florida’s “Stop Woke Act”.⁵ Now, the current administration seems determined to bring these actions to the federal level by curtailing DEI efforts and hiring practices, policing speech and teaching, and wielding funding cuts and accreditation threats.⁶

AAG is committed to protect academic freedom in higher education. Although AAG’s commitment to academic freedom is infused throughout our working principles, it is most clearly expressed through policy and advocacy.⁷ We support these in two ways. First, AAG seeks to connect professional geographers to policymakers and decision-makers. Geographers’ insights and methods can help society make better decisions, laws, and governance. Second, it seeks to protect the essential requirements of professional geographers: funding and academic freedom. Laws that do not support these essential ingredients diminish the discipline and its practitioners to the detriment of geography and society.

The Power of Science Relies on Academic Freedom

Science is powerful because it questions itself and both encourages and rewards practitioners who challenge established principles. Academic freedom is critical to empowering science and similar approaches to the world. Ideas must be free to flourish, to be critiqued, discussed, and sometimes discarded. As with every human endeavor, the process of science can suffer from any human foible, but in the long term, even seemingly insuperable challenges become solutions in the next edition of textbooks. How those texts and lessons are taught to the next generation of researchers is critical, too. The ability for politically unpopular ideas to be discussed and debated is a cornerstone of academic freedom.³

In the literature, academic freedom is achieved through peer review. The key controls are other highly trained specialists who judge the scholarly value of submissions. In principle, only well-researched and carefully documented ideas are published as quality control. But mistakes can be retracted, ideas overthrown, and new ideas dominate.

Science is therefore not final any more than it is infallible.”

—William Morris Davis

Davis’s work showcases how science is ultimately self-correcting, but not always in the short term. Infamous for his now-discredited ideas about environmental determinism, his misapplication of Darwinian thinking to explain patterns of human civilization, was an unfortunate contribution to the literature.⁸ Future publications show how his thinking was incorrect, but the damage done to geography as a discipline is not self-correcting.³

The value of a professional society is to aid the production of knowledge and hasten the self-correcting cycle. It creates spaces where ideas can be shared, discussed, and debated at conferences. It also creates spaces where peer review leads to publications in journals. Its neutrality allows peer review to function, all while championing academic freedom in its venues and the institutions of its members. Additionally, it creates spaces where practitioners can get career advice and assistance from peers or mentors. All these spaces are aided by a set of professional codes of conduct and ethics that the professional society helps establish and enforce.

Conclusion

The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a professional academic society representing the professional interests of its members. What should you expect from your professional society, especially during fractious political times? I would argue that it’s the same as any other time: To help you succeed in your profession, grow the profession, support robust intellectual exchange in journals and conferences, set professional standards and ethics, and help connect professionals and their expertise to society for the benefit of all. To support the needs and interests of professional and aspiring geographers. To support and aid the career paths of geographers. To make geography available to all.

When AAG’s founders created it, they did so because the emerging discipline of geography needed these things to thrive. The world has changed a lot since 1904, but that need remains, and the AAG’s core values and mission also remain constant.

Footnotes

¹Preston E. James and Geoffrey J. Martin, The Association of American Geographers, the First Seventy-Five Years, 1904-1979 (Association of American Geographers, 1978).

²Keith E. Whittington, You Can’t Teach That! The Battle over University Classrooms (Polity Press, 2024).

³In telling our history, we must acknowledge that, even as higher education was available to more people, many were still left out. Part 2 of this article will address this truth and its consequences still impacting us today.

⁴David M. Rabban, Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right (Harvard University Press, 2024).

⁵Report of a Special Committee: Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida’s Public Higher Education System (AAUP 2023). https://www.aaup.org/file/AAUP_Florida_final.pdf

⁶John R. Vile, First Amendment Rights of Colleges and Universities (Free Speech Center 2025).

⁷Read more about AAG’s Advocacy and Policy work: https://www.aag.org/advocacy/.

⁸David N. Livingstone, The Geographical Tradition: Episodes in the History of a Contested Enterprise (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992).

Please note: The ideas expressed by Executive Director Gary Langham are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. Please feel free to email him at glangham [at] aag [dot] org.

From the Meridian

Spaces of Possibility: From Detroit to San Francisco and Beyond

April 29, 2025

Hundreds of excited attendees gather in the Atrium of Huntington Center during AAG 2025 Detroit welcome reception

Just a month ago, I was watching geographers from 80 countries connect and move from session to session at the Annual Meeting in Detroit. The natural light that flooded into the Huntington Place convention center made the space feel inviting while allowing a good view of the Detroit River. You may have seen people fishing outside as the walleye run was peaking. The river also marks the border with Canada, counterintuitively south of the center, reminding us of the moment’s politics. Yet, despite the politics of the moment, geographers from more than 80 countries chatted and greeted each other, reminding us of the restorative power of being together as a community.

It had been 40 years since AAG was last in Detroit, a city synonymous with grassroots activism and geographic innovation. This year’s theme, Making Spaces of Possibility, underscored our commitment to equity, climate justice, and amplifying marginalized voices. These themes were on display everywhere you looked and in every meeting room. More than 5,600 of us gathered in over 1,000 sessions during the week. Concerns over border crossing led to the rapid conversion of nearly 160 sessions to hybrid. Our ability to quickly switch formats builds on our investments in climate-friendly meeting options. And, while we didn’t imagine the current strains on international travel, I am proud of our fantastic staff and the systems that helped us meet the moment.

The meeting also honored Detroit’s legacy as the birthplace of the Detroit Geographical Expedition and Institute (DGEI), a pioneering initiative in community-driven mapping and racial justice. Sessions with Gwendolyn Warren, Katherine McKittrick, and Joe Darden were highlights for me. I hope you watched the video series preparing us for Detroit, too. Thinking of Detroit’s history through activism, migration, and food enriches the overall experience.

On My Mind: Challenges and Opportunities

International Members

As geopolitical tensions rise, we reaffirm our commitment to fostering a global geographic community. International voices are vital to our discipline’s growth. The recent attacks on scholars with student visas, often for trivial legal infractions, illustrate the intent to undermine these community members who are vital to geography and academia in the United States (see our recent joint statement). I’ll talk more in future columns about balancing the need to advocate for geographers while ensuring we don’t increase their risks and challenges. These are imperfect trade-offs, but we always try to err on the side of not harming members.

Federal Funding for Science

Recent federal actions have frozen grants and dismantled diversity programs, jeopardizing research and careers. Since legal avenues will likely be our most successful approach in the near term, AAG looks to coalitions to help us resist and overcome these challenges. We recently partnered with AFGE, the federal employee union, to help them fight layoffs at NSF. Many of you shared stories about how cuts impacted you, your research, and your departments. We can use these testimonies to make the impacts of reductions real to policymakers and judges.

Our students take many jobs over the summer through federal agencies and working on research funded by agencies like NSF and NOAA. These students are our future land stewards. When we ask employers (in the private and public sectors) about what makes a great land manager from our university, they invariably emphasize the importance of real-world field jobs. The disappearance of these jobs is not just a loss to federal agencies and the many rural communities where the jobs are situated. It is a loss to our future workforce and our natural resources.

—AAG member response to federal cuts

We also join in statements issued by coalitions (for example, ACLS, Union of Concerned Scientists, AAUP, etc.). Scientists are being encouraged to share the stories of what NSF funding makes possible, and what is at stake, with the hashtag #WithoutNSF. Share your stories on social media and tag AAG so we can follow and amplify.

While collective advocacy will be critical, we also need individual action. Calling or visiting your elected representatives effectively ensures they know how their constituents feel. For some members, this is a familiar approach; for others, it’s new. We will bring opportunities and training to members in the future. We also have a new tool that alerts us to challenges to academic freedom in states. We can then alert members in those states to take local action. During the meeting, for example, we sent out an alert about SB1 in Ohio, which did pass as expected, but was under more scrutiny due to alerts such as ours.

Academic Freedom

The ability of academics to teach and conduct research free of political interference is critical to a functioning society. These principles are fundamental to AAG and yet are under threat in ways we never imagined. Not since the “red scare” of the 1960s have we seen direct threats to these freedoms. The emergence of modern academia since the Civil War and the core statements of academic freedom in 1915 and 1940 remind us of how recent and fragile these bedrock principles are.

Academic freedom can serve the public good only if universities as institutions are free from outside pressures in the realm of their academic mission and individual faculty members are free to pursue their research and teaching subject only to the academic judgment of their peers.

—AAUP, Statement of Principles of Academic Freedom and Tenure, 1940

Academic societies like AAG embody these principles primarily by publishing peer-reviewed articles and hosting conferences. Within the scope of each journal, submissions get peer-reviewed and edited by subject-matter experts but are otherwise wide ranging in content and breadth. Within professional standards and ethics, anyone can present on any topic at our meetings. This neutrality is central to academic freedom: AAG does not judge which ideas are right or wrong but provides a safe space to debate and explore ideas. This open-ended format is intended to maximize access to ideas, and it embraces openness toward who can present them. Encountering ideas or conclusions one disagrees with is a feature and not a bug. It’s this format which makes sessions exciting and enriching. However, it’s also why professional codes of conduct and boundaries are essential. For example, no one has the right to interrupt a speaker, regardless of one’s thoughts on the content. With no rules, these discussions can move from invigorating to oppressive. Recent threats to academic freedom remind us why these spaces to discuss ideas are vital, and why AAG must stand up to those who seek to silence our voices and rights to open discussion.

Looking Ahead to San Francisco 2026

Last week, I visited San Francisco to begin planning for our next annual meeting from March 17-21, 2026. We always listen closely to feedback about meetings and seek to improve each time. Indeed, Detroit had higher satisfaction scores than recent meetings. We know that affordability is a big concern, especially for students. I am pleased to report that we are working with additional hotels to offer great rooms, near the venue, at great rates. The hostel I toured this week was vibrant, fun and affordable. Just another example of our commitment to bringing the best experiences to our members, available to all.

Registration will open this summer, and I hope you are thinking of session ideas. Let’s continue building spaces of possibility together.

Please note: The ideas expressed by Executive Director Gary Langham are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. Please feel free to email him at glangham [at] aag [dot] org.

From the Meridian

A Fine Balance: Using Our Collective Power for Good in Hawai‘i

September 7, 2023

The Ko’oloa’ula is an endangered plant in the mallow family that grows on Maui and many other islands in Hawai'i. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

As AAG prepares for our 2024 annual meeting, I have talked with and worked beside AAG thought leaders and Kānaka representatives, seeking the greatest possible benefit to Hawaiians and Hawai‘i. AAG President Rebecca Lave has described the recommendations and actions from these discussions in her July and August articles, as well as this month’s. Let me add my thoughts and perspectives.

A recent article from The Guardian on the devastating fires on Maui brought home the urgency and complexity of what we are trying to accomplish. Climate change has already plagued the islands for decades. Now, in the wake of the fire, so much more has been lost, from the lives lost and missing to the immense cultural treasures and shared community memories of places that are now gone. Businesses and livelihoods are lost and will take months and years to rebuild if they can return. To add insult to injury, in Lahaina, a former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom that burnt to the ground, predatory land speculators are already harassing local property owners, aiming to capitalize on the destruction. Maui is recovering from COVID-19 and depends on tourism for its economy, with about 75% of its workforce reliant upon it. The question of whether, when, and how to accept visitors is uppermost in many Mauians’ minds: “For so many people to face economic uncertainty or challenges, on top of those who have lost everything in the fire – it compounds the issues and prolongs the recovery,” said T Ilihia Gionson, a public affairs officer for the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. “That is the risk of discouraging travel to Hawaii generally. It’s a fine balance.”

“Going forward, I don’t know if it’s less tourism, but I think more mindful tourism,” Trisha Kehaulani Watson of ʻĀina Momona told The Guardian. “We have to think about enhancing and evolving the visitor experience to be one that invites people who can contribute to Hawaii, as opposed to just taking from us.” [To aid Maui, see our resources here.]

What is happening now in Maui reinforces what is at stake in our effort to live up to our best when visiting Honolulu. We must find ways to leverage our members’ collective talents and AAG’s resources to support the lives of the people living where we will convene. We also must provide attendance choices supporting individual decisions to join us in person, virtually, or at one of the regional nodes. We must educate our members about Hawaiian history, culture, and current issues in a discursive, mutual way, not extractive. Even as we look to lighten our carbon footprint, we must be mindful of our whole footprint and tread with care.

Our Work to Be Good Guests in Honolulu

AAG met in January for in-depth discussions with Kānaka people, geographers, and community members. Their feedback made us realize the issue was not whether we would come to Honolulu but how. They emphasized the need for reciprocity and mindfulness of where we were and what we could bring to replenish it. The AAG immediately agreed to implement all the recommendations suggested by the Kānaka community. For example, I am working with our engagement leader, Neil Hannahs, to develop webinars to help attendees learn more about these themes in the run-up to the annual meeting. Attend one of AAG’s educational webinars on Hawai‘i

We are now working to implement the other recommendations from these conversations. Kānaka geographers and local people with a range of knowledge are being engaged in developing themes for the annual meeting that center on their issues and concerns, such as US militarism, food sovereignty, and colonial legacies. Field trips and events will be paired with these themes to create meaningful experiences on the Island. AAG will also work with interested specialty groups to select Hawaiian keynote speakers and foreground Kānaka themes. Kānaka Maoli and other Pacific Basin Indigenous groups receive free registration, and AAG will provide free vendor space and publicity for local Kānaka-owned businesses.

It is important to note that one of our most important potential contributions to the meeting is also the most contested and potentially challenging to manage: the presence of thousands of geographers whose work is to understand space and place and respond to the most critical issues of the day. Bringing them into learning and collaborating with Hawaiian community leaders, academics, and others could be one of the great legacies of the 2024 meeting – if we act with care and visit with mindfulness.

Reducing Our Overall Climate Change Impact

In late 2021, AAG asked members what actions they wished AAG to take to reduce climate change impacts. Here is what you said:

Bar chart taken from an AAG survey on climate showing actions members would like to see AAG take, the top of which is taking a role in policy and advocacy for climate action. — This bar chart depicts results from a survey of AAG members. Among the 93% who urged AAG to take leadership on climate change, the top suggestion was that AAG take a role in policy and advocacy for climate action.

Taking Responsibility: AAG Acts on Climate Change

Since then, AAG has made significant strides across all of these categories. AAG continues to engage in policy and advocacy, from supporting member attendance at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) to promoting our members’ authorship of key elements of global climate change assessment; from the focus on Climate and Society as our inaugural theme for the new Elevate the Discipline media and advocacy training program for geographers, to actions at key flexion points in the public discourse, including sign-on letters and statements calling on the United States to address climate change).

AAG has also now completely divested from fossil fuels. We continue to work on reducing carbon emissions associated with travel to meetings (virtual options, nodes). We reduced the emissions at our headquarters and day-to-day by moving to a LEED Gold building and adopting a hybrid-plus-remote workweek. In short, we’ve made excellent progress.

The AAG Annual Meeting in Denver had a 36% reduction in carbon emissions, compared to the 2010 baseline from our report.

Reducing our emissions from travel to meetings is related to the AAG pledge to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030, relative to our 2010 meeting. To measure this, we adopted a method to estimate carbon from travel. Our first meeting since developing the approach was in Denver. Denver had a 36% reduction compared to the 2010 baseline (6663 vs. 10,414 tCO₂) and a 58% reduction compared to our 2015-2019 average (16,244 tCO₂). Some of this reduction was due to changes in in-person attendance, but also from new options like virtual participation and nodes. Our analysis showed that attendees further from Denver were more likely to attend a node or attend virtually. All this suggests that we are on track to meet our 2030 goals. Meeting our net-zero goals by 2050 will require new approaches.

Leveraging Institutional Power

In August, we met with the AAG Environment and Energy Specialty Group (EESG) to consider options for addressing the 2024 meeting’s carbon footprint. We are working with them and the Climate Task Force on this issue.

Those meetings reinforced the importance of the hybrid meeting and regional attendance nodes, not only to reduce the carbon burden but also for preserving our members’ ability to choose the kind of meeting they wish to attend. Meeting with EESG also reminded me of our ability and responsibility to act on our collective buying power with our hotels and other vendors. For example, hotels are slowly starting to adopt net-zero standards. These efforts should be evaluated carefully but also supported and championed. Imagine this: if AAG and similar academic societies used its collective economic influence to accelerate the adoption of net-zero buildings at all our meeting venues, how much more carbon would be saved compared to anything we could do as individuals.

As we work toward an AAG Annual Meeting that can be truly responsive and respectful of the place and people hosting us, I also think about power, its uses, and its proportions. I think about what I can accomplish on behalf of our membership that I cannot accomplish as an individual. I felt helpless when I saw the devastating wildfires on Maui in mid-August in a summer of extreme heat, fires, and floods worldwide. Nevertheless, I reflect on my ability to bring some change at scale on behalf of AAG to transform how we convene and channel our collective power for the greater good.

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0138

Please note: The ideas expressed by Executive Director Gary Langham are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. Please feel free to email him at glangham [at] aag [dot] org.

From the Meridian

Taking Responsibility: AAG Acts on Climate Change

November 2, 2022

Image of the word ACT spray-painted on cement by Mick Haupt for Unsplash

Image by Mick Haupt for Unsplash

In late 2021, AAG and the Climate Action Task Force asked members to weigh in on our role in responding to climate change. An overwhelming majority — 93 percent! — of responding members called upon us to be a leader on climate change, not only in our public actions but also in every aspect of our operations. Your responses provided us with a mandate for transforming our organization’s policies and practice, as well as helping us ground-truth our efforts so far. We have made tremendous progress in just one year. Let me share the good news.

AAG’s Commitment to Climate Action: Policy and Advocacy

AAG’s increased engagement with policy issues has centered our attention to climate change. Most recently we acted on our unequivocal stance on the climate crisis by mobilizing our membership in support of the Inflation Reduction Act’s passage. In the past three years, we have also taken action to protect access to science, participated in COP26 and the upcoming COP27, and frequently participated in the community of scientists calling for action on the climate crisis, such as the joint statement by International Geographical Societies on the Climate and Biodiversity Emergencies.

AAG’s recent investments in new software and staffing will also help us scale our climate action policy work for maximum effectiveness and help geographers’ voices be heard on the issue of climate change during 2023 and beyond.

Climate-Forward Investments: Divestment from Fossil Fuel

Next to policy and advocacy leadership, divestment was the single most important issue to 3 out of 4 members who responded to AAG’s questionnaire. Over the past three years, this issue was a common topic of discussion, but it seemed impossible to maintain a broad set of indexed funds while meeting the goal. New options became available this year as global interest in ESG investing grows. I am pleased to announce that AAG has now fully divested from fossil fuel holdings and retargeted them to socially just and environmentally friendly options. AAG is now 100% free of fossil-fuel investments.

Smaller Carbon Footprint for Meetings

Despite—or at times because of—the paradigm shift caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, AAG has made many changes over the last three years to address our role in creating less carbon-intensive meetings. From 2020 until now, AAG has renewed its approaches not only to the annual meeting, but to all of our convening activities.

Back in 2019, when AAG responded to member calls for renewed commitment to this issue by forming a Climate Task Force, we first addressed the need to rethink the annual meeting for significantly reduced CO2 emissions. That early work toward this goal in 2019 prepared us for the unexpected challenges of COVID-19. AAG now has adopted a method to estimate carbon emissions from meeting participation, which I summarized in this column last year, and which is described further in our report. We adopted a peer-reviewed method, based on a study of travel patterns to the American Geophysical Union Fall 2019 Meeting, coauthored by AAG member Debbie Hopkins. This method enables AAG to not only estimate past and future emissions to increase transparency, but also to determine whether we are meeting the stated goals of the member petition in 2019. The goal is to reduce emissions from the annual meeting by 45% by 2030 and by 100% by 2050.

Introducing virtual and hybrid options will allow each member to determine how best to participate in future AAG meetings. We are working to make these options available while keeping costs as low as possible. AAG is also experimenting with watch parties and so-called nodes to create additional options for participation. This approach reflects our commitment to ensure that however the meeting is experienced, it is a rich and rewarding one.

Changing how AAG convenes to address the carbon emissions burden of conventional meetings has not always been easy, but it has provided new benefits we did not anticipate, in terms of broader access to events, new modalities for presenting and networking, and less pressure on hosting communities. We continue to learn, innovate, and enhance our offerings in keeping with our commitment to address climate change.

Lower-Carbon Operations and Office Space

Nearly 60 percent of respondents to our questionnaire signaled the importance of increasing the energy efficiency of AAG’s headquarters and operations. In November, AAG will move to a new, LEED-Gold building that provides significant efficiencies over our former headquarters. We are also now a fully hybrid office, promoting remote work and telecommuting for all our staff.

Conclusion

AAG’s work on climate action will never be fully done, nor should it be. There will always be room for improvement and new opportunities to show up for our planet. Yet we have already made remarkable progress. We continue to be responsive and adaptable — not only to the demands of climate change, but also to our members’ ideas, insights, and priorities for the Association. We look forward with excitement to our first hybrid annual meeting, in Denver March 23-27 — another first in our work to provide high-quality programming that also reduces our carbon emissions and energy use. I thank the Climate Action Task Force members for their partnership on this critical issue.

Please continue to send your suggestions for AAG’s approach to addressing climate change to [email protected].

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0120

Please note: The ideas expressed by Executive Director Gary Langham are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. Please feel free to email him at glangham [at] aag [dot] org.

From the Meridian

Climate Change and Carbon Emissions at the AAG

November 2, 2021

The AAG has a long history of engaging in and supporting climate change policy and research. Since climate change is the existential threat and crisis of our age, the need to continue this engagement and reduce our contribution to carbon emissions is clear. We will continue to seek policy action on behalf of our members–actions designed to influence the societal and governmental change required for durable solutions. For example, the AAG recently updated its climate statement, and just last week, our name appeared on a list of 80 societies calling for global action ahead of COP26.

Since climate change is the existential threat and crisis of our age, the need to continue this engagement and reduce our contribution to carbon emissions is clear.

A joint declaration from nearly all the world’s geography societies is a powerful thing. It calls
upon our community to apply its considerable skills to the urgent consequences of climate
change. One passage especially resonated with me in the week leading up to COP26:

Geographers have unique opportunities and responsibilities in the face of the global biodiversity and climate crises. […] Geographers can do much more than present an analysis of these challenges. They also have a vantage point from which they can point to the kinds of thought and action that can deliver a better tomorrow for every person on Earth.

Worldwide travel distances to the 2019 AAG meeting. By Justin Schuetz

The AAG has 16 members as part of a delegation to observe the proceedings in Glasgow, and we are proud to participate in this crucial meeting of world leaders.

However, what actions can we take to reduce carbon emissions arising from AAG activities? The Climate Action Task Force members have worked tirelessly to explore new approaches to AAG meetings with a goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 (and net zero by 2050).

To assist in this process and to help us set baselines and explore future options, I am pleased to release an internal AAG report estimating the carbon emissions and the annual meeting. Using the same methods as Klöwer, Hopkins et al., we applied estimates of emissions from travel from the last five in-person meetings (2015-2019). This method, which assumes direct travel from each participant’s home institution to the meeting site, allows us to calculate a baseline of emissions to compare future scenarios. Here is a good summary table of the results.

This table offers summary statistics for five AAG meetings and one AGU meeting. On average, AAG meetings from 2015-2019 had carbon footprints that were approximately 23% the size of the AGU footprint for 2019. This difference was due to AAG having, on average, 34% the number of attendees as AGU. In addition, the average AAG attendee traveled only 71% as far as the average AGU attendee. The AAG meeting in San Francisco was closest to the AGU conference in terms of travel and emissions. Source: AAG (2021) Carbon Emissions Associated with Travel to AAG Annual Meetings. Unpublished analyses prepared for the American Association of Geographers by JGS Projects, October 2021, 28 pp.

We also looked at future meetings. As with all academic societies and organizations with large meetings, the AAG signs hotel contracts five or more years in advance. Our contracted meetings are Denver (2023), Honolulu (2024), and Detroit (2025). Based on our projections, AAG 2024 in Honolulu will have much higher emissions than typical meetings (35k vs. 16.5k tCO2). Our contracts make cancellation prohibitive and encourage us to look for alternative solutions. For these reasons, we seek to partner with another geography society to offer additional locations or ‘hubs,’ perhaps in Europe or Canada. Surprisingly, adding additional hubs can reduce emissions impacts dramatically, even well below our five-year average (9k vs. 35k tCO2).

To cut carbon emissions, we will need to experiment with new ways of conducting our meetings to meet our emission goals. And, by all indications, AAG members are eager to embrace new ways to meet and create knowledge together. This eagerness is evident on so many fronts, ranging from the strong registration rates for AAG 2022 to the enthusiastic participation in AAG Regions Connect in October and virtual webinars throughout the year. Being willing to try new solutions is not a recipe for getting everything right the first time, yet it is the best and only way to get things right in the end.

Please note: The ideas expressed by Executive Director Gary Langham are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. Please feel free to email him at glangham [at] aag [dot] org.

From the Meridian

Perspectives: A New Column in the AAG Newsletter

June 1, 2021

In May, we introduced a new column to the AAG Newsletter called Perspectives, replacing AAG’s former Op-Ed feature. Perspectives will share the opinions and ideas of members on issues of relevance to geography. We encourage submissions that stimulate dialogue, get members thinking, and challenge our discipline to take new approaches to the social, political, and environmental issues confronting geographers and the public.

We are grateful to Guo Chen of Michigan State University, whose article “Working Together for Racial and Social Justice: From Anti-Asian Racism and Violence to Anti-Racist Praxis in Geography” was the first Perspective to appear, last month. We look forward to sharing more of our members’ thought-provoking commentary in the coming months.

One of the great strengths and challenges of the discipline of geography is that it embraces the world. We envision Perspectives as having wide-ranging potential, showcasing our members’ voices, experiences, and opinions regarding virtually any topic. We want to make space for members to engage and challenge one another, taking on questions that help illuminate and strengthen the relevance of geography to people’s lives.

In all cases, the articles will focus on the best ideas: showcasing novel ways of considering social, political, and geography concepts, adhering to the AAG Code of Conduct and supporting AAG’s goal of fostering robust discussion and respectful disagreement. Optimal length is 1,000-1,500 words.

So, do you have a probing question or fresh inspiration for the discipline? Do you have a unique and engaging response to a column or feature article you’ve seen in our newsletter? We want to hear from you. Consider submitting a column for consideration as an upcoming Perspectives. Read more about our submission guidelines here.

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0092

Please note: The ideas expressed by Executive Director Gary Langham are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. Please feel free to email him at glangham [at] aag [dot] org.

From the Meridian

A Good Day for Geography, Every Day

May 3, 2021

The late Will Graf would end his AAG President’s columns with this optimistic affirmation: It’s a good day for Geography. Given the last year, you might be surprised to hear that it is just as true today as it was during his tenure in 1998-99. Let me explain.

As I write this, it is the one-year anniversary of our official announcement canceling the AAG Annual Meeting in Denver. I will never forget that week or that gut-wrenching decision. The AAG meeting was one of the first big academic meetings of the year, and the crisis was escalating quickly. I am sure that I was not the only one waking up in the middle of the night and checking the latest statistics and news. Increasingly, it seemed that we would have to cancel, yet more than 6500 members had registered, and the AAG had not canceled a meeting since WWII.

As the Executive Committee sat in the conference room in San Diego and voted to cancel the in-person meeting, it was just 30 days before the event. Since the AAG had been investing in a virtual platform for months, we knew we could offer a virtual meeting, though 30 days was not much time to prepare. We decided to give full refunds and make the virtual meeting free for anyone already registered. Of course, this was the only fair decision, but it was also consequential for the organization, both culturally and financially. We also knew that membership was likely to dip significantly, but we had no idea how much or how long it might take to rebound. So, we budgeted for up to 50% losses in membership and took a pessimistic view of the current fiscal year. This time last year, the AAG was looking into a fiscal abyss, but I am pleased to report that the AAG has weathered this financial storm very well.

With the losses from the meeting, we expected to take a loss in FYE20, and we did: Official losses were $2M. This figure does not include additional spending that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 Rapid Response program. In total, $900k was approved from reserves to fund nine programs. For example, our support for students included Bridging the Digital Divide, providing direct funds to purchase hardware and software for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges and Universities. These programs are meant to help members cope with the economic challenges of the pandemic.

After the initial FYE21 budget was approved in April 2020, the AAG Council re-convened in June 2020 to adopt a new budget. The first draft of the revised budget projected a loss of $1.5M due to loss of membership and projections for the Annual Meeting with reduced attendance. To offset these projected losses, we reduced expenses by $846k, with the other half being approved from reserves. This approach cut nearly all expenses except for staff. Remarkably, we expect to end the year without the need for any reserves, ending in positive territory, even without considering revenue from investments.

While AAG has experienced a 19% loss in membership year over year during the pandemic, this is far lower than the feared 50% loss. Three out of four of our lost members are either graduate students or members making under $75k per year. Therefore, Council has expanded eligibility for membership renewal fee coverage to all those making less than $75k and expanded the membership window for qualifying to two years. The job market appears to be recovering: Between March 1, 2019 and 2020, job postings at AAG dropped 38%. Postings have rebounded in 2021, and are now up 31%, suggesting at least some postings were merely delayed in the early pandemic.

The whole world turned upside down in the last year, and none of us are untouched. And still, it’s a good day for Geography.

The AAG has managed to get through a pandemic with surprising ease. To be sure, there are serious challenges ahead and much work to do. However, there is also reason to expect tomorrow will be a better day. Our work to replace our membership database and website is moving forward. On April 7th, we offered members the first preview of the site, and the full site is expected to launch in early summer. (We are welcoming feedback from members about a new tagline; share your ideas for a new tagline here). Together these new systems will open up greater possibilities for membership retention and a range of new and improved services. Multi-year membership, automatic renewals, tagged content, and much more will be possible. We continue to invest in creative, more inclusive approaches to meeting, including a climate-forward dispersed-meeting model for a new fall meeting, and a hybrid meeting that blends the best possible options for international virtual access and in-person convening in New York City.

Nearly two-thirds of graduate students in the AAG Methods workshops found the interactions highly valuable.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the last year is how popular our online seminars have been. In February, we kicked off a GeoEthics series, bringing together experts to talk about locational ethics. We also offered methods training workshops that have connected more than a thousand graduate students to a whole range of experts to discuss research challenges and solutions—and to one another at a time when peer support was also important. In all these cases, we showcase our membership’s expertise, connecting our members to it and each other. Traditionally, we might offer all these things only at the Annual Meeting. However, online platforms allow us to share year-round, to feature topics and presenters that reflect the AAG we want for the future. With minimal new expenses, we can showcase the expertise of our members while connecting and building community.

All respondents to the survey on AAG Methods workshops found resources helpful; nearly two-thirds found them very or extremely helpful.

If you attended any of these sessions, you know that it really matters to attendees. Three hundred people were on one three-hour session, engaged and eager for more. Students shed tears as they connected to methods experts and one another, gaining access and answers they needed during the pandemic. More to come on this experiment, but it gives me hope. During the troubling days and nights this past year, one thing kept coming back to me. Even as the pandemic loomed over all aspects of our personal and professional lives, we still found the energy, funding, and resolve to launch the COVID Rapid Response programs and to support one another. We put the members and our community first.

The whole world turned upside down in the last year, and none of us are untouched. And still, it’s a good day for Geography.

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0090

Please note: The ideas expressed by Executive Director Gary Langham are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. Please feel free to email him at glangham [at] aag [dot] org.

From the Meridian

In Kansas, an Early Warning for Higher Education and Geography

February 4, 2021

Late last month, a bellwether event took place in Kansas, threatening higher education’s ability to support post-COVID recovery. Citing the extreme budget constraints caused by the pandemic, the nine-member Kansas Board of Regents unanimously approved a new policy giving public institutions the power to remove faculty, including those with tenure, through 2022. The new policy sidesteps one already in place that addresses financial emergencies while preserving transparency and faculty participation in termination decisions.

Four of Kansas’s six public universities were quick to say they will not use the new policy, at least for now. In contrast, the University of Kansas’s Chancellor Douglas A. Girod stated that the University is considering the policy as it reckons with a budget shortfall of more than $74 million. Girod goes on to suggest this shortfall will require the university to “eliminate programs and departments, reduce services, and implement furloughs and layoffs.” We only have to review the recent trends of geography departments to recognize this as a dire situation — all at a time when the value of geospatial awareness and research is more critical than ever.

The AAG submitted a letter to Chancellor Girod, asking him to join with other leaders of the state’s universities in rejecting this new policy and instead continue to involve academia’s most precious resource: its people. In our letter, we described why we–along with more than 50 national organizations and more than 6,000 individuals–are signing on to the KU Faculty’s Solidarity Letter:

“We see the Kansas Board of Regents policy decision as a troubling signal, and a potential threat for universities across the country as ongoing budget austerity measures and the crisis of COVID-19 converge. These circumstances leave vulnerable academic tenure as a whole, but especially the tenure of geography departments and professors. We will closely monitor this trend, and we call on our members to alert us to similar issues emerging on their campuses.”

Chancellor Girod responded quickly to our letter, expressing appreciation for our feedback and promising to include our concerns in their decision-making process while still citing the need to address the university’s budget challenges. Soon after, as reported by KU faculty member Ani Kokobobo in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Provost Barbara A. Bichelmeyer indicated that “the university hoped not to use the policy but needed to keep it on the table just in case,” and noted that further faculty input would be sought. But, asks Kokobobo, “can anyone feel safe speaking up on campus anymore, when we’re expected to outline the parameters of our own firings and those of our colleagues?”

Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding this issue are neither unique to Kansas nor are they only about COVID-19. For most states, public funding for higher education never recovered after the 2008 recession. Without the recurring financial challenges borne from stagnating state support, perhaps more institutions would have reserves sufficient to handle the additional strains of COVID-19. If anything, the trying times call for robust and consistent investment in high-quality teaching and research, as well as a shift back towards support for the academic freedom that tenure provides. The Kansas action runs dangerously counter to those ideals and poses a particular threat to the future of geography departments’ wide-ranging instruction and research on the impacts of COVID-19.

While COVID-19 may be the crisis of our time, the problems faced by geography departments are not new. At AAG, we have seen troubling trends in austerity for geography departments and faculty for over a decade. Our $900,000 COVID-19 Rapid Response programs help support the discipline through the pandemic and strengthen departments ahead of budget stresses. An ongoing series of workshops and resources give department chairs more tools to showcase geography at their institutions. Furthermore, we continue to support the discipline by pushing for significant funding increases for the National Science Foundation and related agencies, opening up more grant opportunities to ease the funding burden on graduate students and researchers.

But we can do more to strengthen our understanding of the challenges faced by geography departments and geographers. Working with our Healthy Departments Committee, our Data-Driven Strategic Insights group on the AAG staff is preparing to support a significant data collection this spring. If successful, this data collection can help us gain a bird’s-eye view of the network of geography programs in the U.S. and inform a strategy to strengthen it. With the prospect of deep cuts throughout higher education, it will be important for programs not to spread themselves too thin and instead focus on a specialty that reflects the needs of local job markets or builds inter-university geography programs. Retaining tenure-track positions will be critical to the sustainability of programs and long-term academic excellence. We urge geography programs in our network to facilitate the AAG’s work by providing timely, accurate information about each program’s strengths and weaknesses.

Although universities and colleges must face budget realities and make difficult decisions, we can leverage our collective experiences to ensure departments will not only survive but thrive amidst the profound changes that COVID-19 and other forces bring to post-secondary education and research. Now, more than ever, AAG will commit to supporting the stability and continuity of geographers and geography departments, acknowledging that every penny invested in their work repays itself with tangible benefits for public health, education, communities, and so much more.

What You Can Do Now

Encourage your institution to sign the KU Faculty and Staff Solidarity Statement
Connect with your Regional Division to stay abreast of developments in your location
Email us to send your news if you hear of a crisis like this or need support

—Gary Langham
AAG Executive Director

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0085

Please note: The ideas expressed by Executive Director Gary Langham are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. Please feel free to email him at glangham [at] aag [dot] org.

From the Meridian

Getting Our Bearings in Washington, D.C. and Charting Our Future

January 14, 2021

The insurrection at the United States Capitol on January 6th was equal parts terrifying and disorienting. As always, during a crisis, it takes time for the full story to emerge, but a few things are clear now: words and principles matter, and unity can only occur after accountability. These events heighten our appreciation of the delicate nature of democracy and the critical role of a well-informed populace.

Washington, D.C. is a city full of meaning, down to the symbolic layout of its streets. When Thomas Jefferson recruited Pierre L’Enfant in 1791 to design the new forward capital, the resulting plan embodied symbolism in every detail. The L’Enfant Plan placed key roads, buildings, and monuments along four meridians that meet in the city center. One of these meridians, now 16th Street NW, formed the western edge of a triangle that L’Enfant envisioned would contain many of the city’s key buildings and monuments. Until international standardization in 1884, it represented 0 degrees latitude in the U.S., creating a line that connects many potent symbols: the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial.

Inauguration of President Lincoln at the U.S. Capitol, still under construction, March 4, 1861. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b22993/)

This April, the AAG will mark its 50th anniversary in our headquarters housed along 16th Street NW, aptly named Meridian Place, a fundamental part of the cartographic and symbolic centering of Washington, D.C.

The capital is also a centering of the American people themselves: from the workers, many of them enslaved persons—who created the avenues and monuments of Washington, D.C.—to the voters, protestors, elected officials, and civil servants whose collective work built and continues to maintain the Capitol Building and the city many people call home. These symbolic markers, carefully constructed to visualize the principles to which the country aspires, contrast with the symbols on display during the violent demonstrations of last week. Confederate flags, images of Nazism, and the paramilitary trappings of vigilante militias remind us how entwined anti-democratic forces are with racial, religious, and ethnic intolerance. We must neither let the insurrectionists define our values nor allow racism and violence represent us.

Many AAG staff who live in the District have been caught up in the curfews, still carrying out their duties, Zoom meetings, and sleeping under the sound of helicopters — working even as they fear for themselves and their nation. I am pleased to report that neither staff nor the headquarters suffered any direct impacts from January 6th. However, the toll on the many staff who live nearby, and the uncertainty and fear of recent and upcoming events, is tangible. Still, we look ahead.

Expecting and engaging in a better tomorrow is one way of creating stability and hope. When I started my role as AAG Executive Director in August 2019, change was already a big part of the plan. We knew that we needed a new website, more and improved member services, and a value proposition with each member –- one that moved beyond journals and meeting discounts. COVID-19 was not in our plans, and it upended our hopes for 2020. We began this January full of optimism as vaccines suggested an end to the pandemic. Long planned, this month, we kicked off the total rebuild of our website and membership database. These upgrades will launch later this year and form a foundation that will help us re-double our commitment to member services and support the growth of a more diverse and vibrant geography community. Members will get a chance to preview the website and provide feedback during our virtual Annual Meeting this April. It has given us enormous hope and purpose to bring about positive changes that will benefit you, our members.

We also look forward to undertaking the substantial and consequential policy work here in Washington, D.C. The incoming presidential administration and the start of the 117th Congress bring ample opportunities for the AAG to help shape federal policy. With a renewed sense of optimism, we are committed to ensuring that federal policies reflect the priorities of all geographers. Next week, we will present these priorities to the Biden administration, including continued support of the Geospatial Data Act’s implementation and development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, robust funding for the National Science Foundation and other agencies, support for K-12 geography education, the revision and long-overdue reckoning with racist federal geographic place names, and the prioritization of geographic sciences to support climate change mitigation efforts. We will also urge the new administration and Congress to take deliberate steps to re-establish the federal government’s relationship with the scientific community and restore the public’s trust in scientific integrity, which has suffered significant erosion over the last four years.

When D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had Black Lives Matter painted on the street to honor the protest movement for Black lives last June, she chose two blocks of 16th Street NW, near the White House. Acknowledging the profound significance of naming places, she also issued an official decree to permanently rename the location “Black Lives Matter Plaza.” It was a moment of positive, even joyful resistance at another wrenching moment in the city and the nation. The connections between the struggle for social justice over the summer and the insurrection last week remind us of our history and both the promise and challenge of realizing a fully inclusive democracy. More than ever, I believe in geographers’ work as a crucial pathway to understanding ourselves, our communities, and our world.

Read the AAG statement in support of democracy and accountability here.

—Gary Langham
AAG Executive Director

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0084

Please note: The ideas expressed by Executive Director Gary Langham are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. Please feel free to email him at glangham [at] aag [dot] org.