Awardees

Graduate Students Honored During AAG Regional Division Annual Fall Meetings for Outstanding Work

The American Association of Geographers (AAG) announces the recipients of the 2016 Council Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper at a Regional Meeting. Graduate student AAG members from around the U.S. participated by submitting to their region’s paper competition and attending their regional division fall meeting. A student paper from seven out of nine AAG regions was chosen by a jury of AAG regional division leaders and the honors for this inaugural award were given at each of the division meetings.

The award is designed to encourage graduate student participation at AAG regional division meetings and support their attendance at major AAG annual meetings. Each awardee will receive $1,000 in funding for use towards the awardee’s registration and travel costs to the AAG annual meeting.

Jacob Watkins, recipient of the East Lakes (ELDAAG) division’s award, is a master’s student at Western Michigan University. The award was presented by AAG President Glen MacDonald and ELDAAG Regional Councillor Patrick Lawrence
Kathleen Epstein, recipient of the Great Plains/Rocky Mountains (GPRM) division’s award, is a master’s student at Montana State University. Her paper is titled, “The multiple meanings of ecosystem management: A historical analysis of modern environmental conflict in the Greater Yellowstone.” Pictured from left to right are AAG Executive Director Doug Richardson, Vice President of GPRM Brandon J. Vogt, awardee Kathleen Epstein and AAG Past President Sarah Bednarz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephanie Mundis, recipient of the Southwest (SWAAG) divisions’ award, is a master’s student at New Mexico State University. Her paper is titled “Spatial distribution of mosquitoes that vector Zika, dengue, and West Nile Virus in New Mexico” and included co-authors: Michaela Buenemann, Kathryn A. Hanley and Nathan Lopez-Brody.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason LaBrosse, recipient of the West Lakes division’s award, is a master’s student at the University of Northeastern Illinois. His paper is titled, “The Relationship Between Concentrated Commodified Pets Populations and the Urban Environment of Chicago.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Paul Miller, recipient of the Southeast division’s award, is a Ph.D. student at the University of Georgia.

Melody Lynch, recipient of the  New England\St. Lawrence Valley division’s award, is a master’s student at McGill University.

Ashley Marie Fent, recipient of the Pacific Coast division’s award, is a Ph.D. student at the University of California – Los Angeles.

The Middle States and Mid-Atlantic regional divisions did not issue an award in this category this year.

To find out more about submitting a paper for next year, visit aag council award for outstanding graduate student paper at a regional meeting

Ashley Marie Fent, Council Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper at a Regional Meeting, Jacob Watkins, Jason LaBrosse, Kathleen Epstein, Melody Lynch, Paul Miller, Stephanie Mundis
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2017 AAG Honors Recipients Announced

The AAG is pleased to announce the selection of seven Honorees who will receive the 2017 AAG Honors in one of four categories. Recipients to be honored at an annual awards luncheon during the AAG Annual Meeting are:

  • Patrick Bartlein, University of Oregon, AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors
  • Ruth Fincher, University of Melbourne, AAG Lifetime Achievement Honors
  • Kent Mathewson, Louisiana State University, AAG Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors
  • Michael Pretes, University of North Alabama, AAG Distinguished Teaching Honors
  • David Robinson, Rutgers University, AAG Lifetime Achievement Honors
  • Michael Storper, University of California Los Angeles, AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors
  • Julie Winkler, Michigan State University, AAG Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors

AAG Honors are the highest awards offered by the Association of American Geographers.  They are offered annually to recognize outstanding accomplishments by members in research & scholarship, teaching, education, service to the discipline, public service outside academe and for lifetime achievement.  Although the AAG and its specialty groups make other important awards (see Grants and Awards), AAG Honors remains among the most prestigious awards in American geography and have been awarded since 1951 (complete list).

Nominations are invited from individual AAG members, specialty groups, affinity groups, departments, and other interested parties.  Currently, honors are awarded in several categories, including Distinguished Teaching Honors, Gilbert F. White Distinguished Public Service Honors, Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors, Gilbert Grosvenor Honors for Geographic Education, Distinguished Scholarship Honors, and Lifetime Achievement Honors.

All AAG awards will be presented at the upcoming AAG Annual Meeting in Boston, during a special awards luncheon on Sunday, April 9, 2017.

About the Honorees

Patrick Bartlein – The Distinguished Scholarship Honors is presented to Patrick Bartlein for his fundamental contributions to fields across and beyond physical geography, including paleo-climate, biogeography, geomorphology, meteorology, water resources, hydrology, statistics, spatial analysis, geology, ecology and archaeology. He has been integral to major international and interdisciplinary collaborations, such as the Cooperative Holocene Mapping Project (COHMAP), the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Projects (PMJP) and national and international climate change assessments. Bart (as he prefers to be called) has 200-plus publications that have been cited some I8,000 times, touching on topics ranging from water balance modeling to Holocene vegetation and wildfire interactions to the potential effects of future climate change on species distributions. A visionary scholar with a rare ability to think across multiple temporal and spatial scales, Bart bas illuminated climatological phenomena from decades to billions of years in time and from meters to continents in space. The AAG is proud to honor him with its Distinguished Scholarship Honors.

Ruth Fincher – The Lifetime Achievement Honors is presented to Ruth Fincher for her contributions to geographical research, teaching, and service. Her dual focus on the lived experiences of disadvantaged populations and the political-economic structures within which those populations struggle has been a core part of her work throughout her career. So too has a focus on local issues, from neighborhood redevelopment to immigration and identity to rising sea levels. Beyond Fincher’s policy-relevant research, she has served on multiple advisory boards and committees at the national and international levels; has been elected Vice-President of the International Geographical Union; and has been honored as a Member of the Order of Australia. Her advocacy for geography within her university and on an international level has strengthened the health of the discipline beyond her outstanding research and teaching.

Kent Mathewson – The Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors is presented to Kent Mathewson for his tireless and frequently ‘ behind-the-scenes ‘ advocacy for geographic scholarship and historiography. He is particularly appreciated for his tireless work “recognizing and celebrating the work of book authors” through his long-time work as Book Review editor and most recently as Editor-in-Chief for The AAG Review of Books. His unwavering support for book authors is described as a contribution that is “essential to the intellectual vigor of our discipline.”

Michael Pretes – The 2017 Distinguished Teaching Honors is presented to Michael Pretes for his contributions to geographic education both within and outside the classroom. He has been a faculty member at the University of North Alabama since 2006 where he is an exemplary teacher-scholar. His students and colleagues extoll his passion for geography and his ability to instill a love and respect for geography in his students. In 2013 he was awarded with the university’s most distinguished award, the Phi Kappa Phi Eleanor Gaunder Award for excellence in undergraduate education. In addition, in 2015 he received the Southeast Geographers Excellence in Teaching Award. He held teaching and research positions at several institutions in the United States, and abroad. In addition to his work with undergraduate and graduate students he has reached out to students in secondary classrooms and members of communities where he lived and worked. Pretes is highly active in geographic education through various organizations such as the American Association of Geographers, the Southeast Division of the AAG, the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, the Royal Geographical Society, the Arctic Institute of North America and the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education.

David Robinson – The AAG Life Achievement Honors is presented to David Robinson because he is a multi-dimensional geographer who has achieved extraordinary success and impact in many domains simultaneously. As a researcher, he is a leading figure in the fields of climate science and climatology and one the world’s foremost experts on global snow cover. As New Jersey State Climatologist for the past 25 years, he is among the most publicly prominent geographers in the New York-New Jersey region, granting hundreds of media interviews each year while also overseeing a publicly accessible statewide climate and weather data network. As a long-serving department chair at Rutgers, Robinson fostered a culture of success that combined scholarly achievement with mentorship, collegiality and mutual respect among all members of the department.

Michael Storper – The Distinguished Scholarship Honors is presented to Michael Storper for his outstanding record of scholarly achievement and innovative contributions to the fields of global economic development and the geography of urban and regional systems. He has held academic positions at highly reputable institutions in both the United States and Europe. His exceptional research has led to widely cited and highly influential scholarly publications and foundational contributions to economic and urban geography and related disciplines. The depth and quality of his work has put him in a category of scholarship that is truly deserving of this prestigious AAG award.

Julie Winkler – The Ron Abler Distinguished Service Honors is presented to Julie Winkler in recognition of her sustained and committed work to the AAG, the discipline of geography, her department, and her state and community. She has served as an officer in several national and international professional organizations; on the editorial boards of numerous high ranking journals (17 on the board of the Annals of the AAG); and has brought her insights to bear in guiding several departments through programmatic reviews. Her career has been marked by those things held as noteworthy by Ron Abler – a desire to sustain the breadth and vitality of geography, support of faculty in their careers, and a commitment to move the field in a direction that is marked by integrative approaches. She has done this exceptional service without sacrificing her contribution to research and teaching.

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Nina Feldman: A Career in GIS and Geography

Nina Feldman, a former intern with AAG and the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress, shares why she chose a career in GIS and Geography in a very poignant guest blog post for Worlds Revealed: Geography & Maps at The Library Of Congress. She discusses the family members, professors and supervisors who inspired her and helped her to discover her love for GIS and Geography. Nina is currently a senior at George Washington University, majoring in Environmental Science and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Read the full blog post: https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2016/12/gis-day/

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Jennifer Cassidento Appointed as AAG Publications Director

The American Association of Geographers is pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer Cassidento as its new Publications Director.

Cassidento brings a wealth of editorial expertise and experience to the AAG publications. She has worked previously with major scholarly publishing houses, and for several years with the AAG on its journals, serving as managing editor of three of its flagship journals, including the Annals of the American Association of Geographers, the AAG Review of Books, and GeoHumanities. Jennifer also provided outstanding support and played a central role in the production of the forthcoming 15-volume AAG International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment, and Technology, which will be published in March of 2017.

In her role as AAG Publications Director, Jennifer will oversee all AAG publications, assisted by AAG staff as required, and will report directly to the AAG Executive Director, Douglas Richardson. In announcing her appointment, Richardson noted that “Jennifer Cassidento is one of the most talented, productive, and effective editors that I have ever encountered. We are pleased and honored to have her with us in this important leadership role at the AAG.”

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AAG Unveils New Disciplinary Data Dashboard

The AAG receives numerous requests for data related to geography and geographers. Often such requests come from members who are doing research on the discipline, or who are interested in knowing, for example, the proportion of women who hold the rank of associate professor or the average value of a graduate student assistantship.

Academic departments also frequently contact the AAG seeking data that will inform a program review, support an application to establish a new degree program, or help them make a case to prospective majors interested in career opportunities in geography. It is also common for the AAG to receive inquiries from journalists and the general public about the status of geographic literacy in K-12 schools or enrollment trends in higher education.

The AAG has been able to respond to these many requests for data thanks to its multiple ongoing data collection efforts involving members, departments, and special research surveys. Over the past decade this work has generated a considerable amount of data and content across the entire AAG website.

In an effort to consolidate and facilitate access to all of the disciplinary data collected by the AAG, a new AAG Disciplinary Data Dashboard was created on the AAG website at www.aag.org/disciplinarydata.

The Dashboard provides access to a diverse array of AAG-collected disciplinary data on gender and diversity, academic departments, geography careers, and AAG Annual Meetings, as well as archival information and materials available in the AAG Archives held at the Library of Congress. All of the data is searchable by source or by theme (e.g., geography in schools, gender, race and ethnicity, etc.).

In addition to raw data collected from AAG membership forms, academic department surveys, and other AAG research projects, the Dashboard includes original analytical reports featuring narrative summaries and data visualizations that provide quick overviews of major trends and patterns. Additional reports are currently being prepared by AAG staff and will be posted to the Dashboard in the coming months.

Visitors to the Dashboard will also find links to many third-party sources of disciplinary data produced by external organizations, as well as updated lists of journal articles and other research publications about geography as a discipline.

The AAG invites all members to explore the AAG Disciplinary Data Dashboard. We welcome your comments and suggestions at data [at] aag [dot] org.

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Act Now to Support the AAG’s AP GIS&T Proposal

The AAG’s proposal for a new Advanced Placement course in Geographic Information Science and Technology (AP GIS&T) continues to receive strong interest from high schools, colleges, and universities across the U.S.

To complete the proposal package for the College Board, the AAG needs to collect attestations of interest from at least 100 postsecondary institutions and 250 high schools. AAG members can lend their support to this effort in two important ways.

First, department chairs can add their program to the list of AP GIS&T supporters by completing an attestation at www.apgist.org.

As of November 1, AAG has received signed attestations from 93 departments, a number that includes dozens of major research universities and members of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science. The attestation process provides evidence that the academic community views the proposed AP course to be equivalent to college-level instruction and that departments will consider offering credit to students who demonstrate proficiency on the AP exam.

The AAG especially needs additional attestations from undergraduate geography and GIS programs affiliated with institutions that rank among the College Board’s list of Top 200 AP-score receiving colleges and universities. Department chairs from these institutions are encouraged to express their interest in AP GIS&T by submitting an attestation for their program.

Second, the AAG invites all members to share the AP GIS&T proposal with high schools in their local community. So far 86 high schools have registered their interest in the AP GIS&T course.

With Geography Awareness Week and GIS Day celebrations just two weeks away, now is a great time to reach out to high schools and encourage them to register their interest in AP GIS&T. Schools that currently teach AP Human Geography, participate in the ConnectED program, or offer other GIS coursework are especially likely to benefit from the synergies created by the AP GIS&T course. AAG members are welcome to email or print this flyer summarizing the content and benefits of AP GIS&T for high schools.

Questions about the AP GIS&T proposal and attestation process may be sent to Dr. Michael Solem, AAG Deputy Director for Research and Education, at msolem [at] aag [dot] org.

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GeoCapabilities StoryMap Illustrates the ‘Power’ of Geographical Knowledge

Since 2012 the AAG has been participating in an international effort, known as GeoCapabilities, to support new approaches in geography teacher education.

As previously reported earlier this year, the GeoCapabilities project launched a new website (www.geocapabilities.org) that includes four training modules. Collectively, the modules are designed to promote a “curriculum of engagement” based on an appreciation of the significance of geographical knowledge in the education of young people.

Although there are many ways to express this significance, the project emphasizes the concept of capability and how powerful disciplinary knowledge (PDK) develops capability by enabling people to think in specialized ways. This leads to better knowledge, stronger arguments, and more sound judgments about information and facts.

To illustrate principles of PDK in action, a StoryMap has been created that features a collection of vignettes written by members of the GeoCapabilities project team. A “vignette” is a teacher-training resource that consists of two parts: 1) a short description of a geography lesson, and 2) a brief discussion of the PDK taught in the lesson.

One vignette, written by geography teacher Duncan Hawley, presents a geography lesson in which students are asked to think about responsibility for climate change in the context of a graph ranking countries based on their internal CO2 emissions from energy consumption. The vignette goes on to explain that while at first glance it appears counties with high CO2 emissions (such as China) are most responsible for the pollution driving climate change, the “bald facts” don’t always tell the full story. This interpretation, based strictly on the data depicted on the graph, belies an underlying geography of global interconnectedness, trade relationships, and globalization. This PDK gets us much closer to a fuller understanding of the reasons for international patterns of greenhouse gas emissions. The significance of this knowledge is further evident in how it influences the choices we make as consumers, who we vote for as citizens (and how we decide), what form of economy and society we might envision as an alternative to the present; in other words, our capabilities as humans.

This climate vignette is just one of many available examples of how PDK, as taught by geography educators, develops capability. In the coming months the GeoCapabilities StoryMap will continue to grow with new PDK vignettes, including contributions stemming from recent workshops held in Japan and China. Over time the goal of the StoryMap is to provide an internationally-diverse library of resources that demonstrate the “power” of geographical knowledge. Readers interested in learning more, or potentially contributing vignettes of their own, are invited to contact the GeoCapabilities project using this form.

Professor Takashi Shimura (Joetsu University of Education) and the AAG’s Michael Solem prepare to teach a GeoCapabilities workshop with Japanese teacher educators and teachers.
 
Pre-service teachers at Beijing Normal University working on new PDK vignettes for the GeoCapabilities StoryMap.

Please visit www.geocapabilities.org to learn more about the project and to try out the training modules.

 

 

 

 

curriculum, GeoCapabilities, Michael Solem, powerful disciplinary knowledge, StoryMap, Takashi Shimura, teacher education
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AAG to Collaborate on an International Geography Assessment

The AAG is participating in an international effort to design and develop a geography assessment based on the successful model used by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) for the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Major collaborating organizations include the International Geographical Union Commission on Geographical Education (IGU-CGE) and the IEA/TIMSS. The initial funding for this project is being provided by the Geography Education National Implementation Project and the U.S. National Center for Research in Geography Education.

The IEA is an independent, nonprofit, international cooperative of national research institutions and governmental research agencies. The IEA conducts research studies of cross-national achievement, including the TIMSS. Since 1995, TIMSS has monitored trends in mathematics and science achievement every four years, at the fourth and eighth grades, in over 60 countries. There is potential for a geography assessment to become a part of the international survey because the subject is taught in nearly all countries. The discipline has a core of knowledge, skills, and principles that represent what students should know and be able to do with geography.

The process of creating the international geography assessment began with a research symposium in Basel, Switzerland on September 23-25, 2016. This meeting produced a plan for a five-year program of integrated research and education activities that will include the development of an assessment framework; international comparative analysis of 8th-grade geography assessments and instructional materials; identification of geographic concepts and content threads common to 8th-grade geography classrooms in different countries; and extensive validation studies with internationally-diverse groups of teachers (both pre-service and in-service).

A goal of the project is to produce a geography assessment that meets the standards of the TIMSS model, which has gained international recognition. An assessment of that standard will advance knowledge in the areas of geography education and assessment in two important ways. First, the project will produce, for the first time, a valid and internationally accepted assessment of young people’s geographic knowledge, skills, and abilities. This international collaborative process will demonstrate how assessments of geographic learning can be conducted internationally in diverse educational settings with considerable variation in school geography curricula.

A second major contribution of the project will stem from the data that become available from the international geography assessment following its administration in participating countries. Such data will enable research studies that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to pursue. For example, the geography assessment data could be mined to explore how international variation in school geography requirements, teacher education, and curricular content relate to students’ geographic knowledge, skills, and abilities. Future analyses of data generated by an international geography assessment will be shared broadly with national academies and ministries of education. It will provide public agencies and policymakers with a valuable source of information on student achievement in geography and its contributions to 21st century issues, such as sustainability, energy, and food security.

Members of the international geography assessment committee include Theresa Bourke (Queensland University of Technology, Australia), Chew Hung Chang (National Institute of Education, Singapore), Eugenio Gonzalez (IEA), Dirk Hastedt (IEA), Rod Lane (Macquarie University, Australia), Miroslav Marada (Charles University, Czechia), Jon Moore (Educational Testing Service), Joop van der Schee (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands), Michael Solem (AAG), Joseph Stoltman (Western Michigan University), Kathrin Viehrig (University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Northwest Switzerland), and Okkyong Yoon (Cheongju National University of Education, South Korea).

Please direct questions to Joseph Stoltman (stoltman [at] wmich [dot] edu) and Michael Solem (msolem [at] aag [dot] org).

 

 

 

 

International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, international geography assessment, model
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NSF to Host Webinar on Smart & Connected Communities Solicitation

The National Science Foundation would like to make the geography and spatial science communities aware of the Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) solicitation (NSF 16-610).  The competition expects a significant social and behavioral component to be contained in the proposals and will likely be of interest to many geographers.

There will be a webinar about this new S&CC solicitation on October 20, 2016 from 2:30 to 3:30 pm eastern time.  The direct link to the event page for the S&CC webinar is as follows:  https://www.nsf.gov/events/event_summ.jsp?cntn_id=190025&org=CISE.  It is currently on the CISE homepage under Popular links, Webcasts/Webinars.

Some key components of the solicitation:

Due Dates

  • Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time): November 30, 2016
  • Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time): February 16, 2017

Proposal Categories

This S&CC solicitation will support research projects in four categories:

  • S&CC Integrative Research Grants (IRGs) Track 1. Awards in this category will support the conduct of fundamental, multidisciplinary, integrative research and the building of research capacity. Track 1 awards will provide three to five years of support for projects at a level not to exceed $5,000,000 for the total budget.
  • S&CC Integrative Research Grants Track 2. Awards in this category will support the conduct of fundamental, multidisciplinary, integrative research and the building of research capacity. Track 2 awards will provide three or four years of support for projects at a level not to exceed $1,000,000 for the total budget. It is anticipated that Track 1 and 2 proposals will be distinguished by the sizes of the teams, as well as, the scope and duration of the proposed activities.
  • S&CC Research Coordination Networks (RCNs). Awards in this category support the establishment of a network of multidisciplinary researchers and others who will collectively and significantly advance S&CC research through active exchange of ideas, development of fundamental research directions, and other approaches. Each of these awards will provide four or five years of support for projects at a level not to exceed $500,000 for the total budget.
  • S&CC Planning Grants. Awards in this category will provide one year of support to stimulate research capacity through multidisciplinary team-building and the development of high-impact, fundamental research concepts. Each of these awards will be at a level not to exceed $100,000 for the total budget.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI: 4

The limit on number of proposals per PI, Co-PI, or other Senior Personnel is defined by award category as follows:

  • Integrative Research Grants Track 1 or Track 2: 1;
  • Research Coordination Networks: 2; and
  • Planning Grants: 1.

An individual may appear as a PI, Co-PI, or other Senior Personnel on only one proposal submitted to either S&CC IRG Track 1 or Track 2 (not both), only two proposals submitted to the S&CC RCN category, and only one proposal submitted to S&CC Planning Grant category. This limitation includes proposals submitted by a lead organization and any sub-awards included as part of a collaborative proposal involving multiple institutions.

Preliminary proposals are required only for S&CC Integrative Research Grants (IRG) Tracks 1 and 2 and must be submitted in accordance with the instructions below. The NSF decision made on the preliminary proposal is advisory only and may include feedback on proposed activities, including anticipated budgets. Submission of a Preliminary Proposal is required in order to be eligible to submit a Full S&CC IRG Proposal.

Please refer to the solicitation for further details.  For questions about the solicitation please contact Sunil Narumalani, a program director in the Geography & Spatial Sciences Program and also a managing program director for this new opportunity, snarumal [at] nsf [dot] gov.

nsf, Smart and Connected Communities
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Roger Downs To Receive the 2017 AAG Presidential Achievement Award

Roger M. Downs, professor of geography at Pennsylvania State University, will receive the 2017 AAG Presidential Achievement Award, which honors individuals for their long-term, major contributions to the discipline. Past President Sarah Witham Bednarz will confer the award during the close of her Past President’s Address at the AAG annual meeting in Boston. She remarked, “Downs is a scholar, excellent administrator, and guiding light for geographers interested in teaching and learning.”

He is recognized for his groundbreaking research in the development of spatial cognition in children, spatial thinking with and through geospatial technologies, and the nature and development of expertise in geography. He has worked closely with colleagues in psychology and other behavioral sciences to explore the intersections of geography and the cognitive sciences producing leading-edge work on cognitive mapping and spatial behavior.

Downs’ greatest contribution to the discipline, however, has been through his leadership and deft administrative skills which facilitated a renaissance in geography education. He was a member of the Planning Committee for the 1994 National Assessment Governing Board’s Geography Consensus and has been a driving force in the development of the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment in Geography since then. He was writing coordinator of the team that developed the National Geography Standards: Geography for Life (1994) and chaired the group that revised the Standards in 2012. From 2001 to 2005 he led the National Academy of Science/National Research Council Committee on Support for Thinking Spatially producing the seminal document, Learning to Think Spatially which linked geographic information science and spatial thinking. From 1993 to 2012 as chair of the Geography Education National Implementation Project (GENIP) Downs played an influential role in every aspect of efforts to enhance the quality and quantity of geography education in the United States. As chair of The Geographical Sciences Committee of the National Research Council, he promoted geography education as vitally important to the health of the discipline at large.

He served as head of the Department of Geography at Penn State from 1994 to 2007. Previously he taught at Johns Hopkins University and held a key sabbatical position at the National Geographic Society as Geographer-in-Residence 1995-1996. He holds a B.A. (First Class Honors) and a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Bristol, UK. He received the Distinguished Geography Educator Award from the National Geographic Society in 1996 and the Gilbert M. Grosvenor Award from AAG in 1997.

AAG Presidential Achievement Award, cognitive science, psychology, Roger Downs, Sarah Witham Bednarz, spatial cognition
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