Jobs and Careers Center at the 2017 AAG Annual Meeting
The Jobs & Careers Center will be located in Rooms 203, 204 & 205 of the Hynes Convention Center, Second Level. It provides a central location for job seekers, students, and professionals to interact with one another and to learn more about careers and professional development for geographers. A careers information table will be staffed and accessible each day for general questions, information, and resources and will be open daily from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm.
This year’s session track will include over 75 panel and paper sessions, workshops, and field trips related to careers and professional development. Sessions will cover a broad range of topics, from working as a geographer in the public, private, nonprofit, or academic sector, to networking, to becoming a certified GIS Professional (GISP), to building inclusive spaces for women in geography. In addition to the many sessions taking place within the Jobs and Careers Center, dozens more careers and professional development sessions will take place at various locations throughout the meeting. The complete schedule of activities is available online at https://www.aag.org/annualmeeting/jobs_center.
Highlighted Sessions
The AAG would like to highlight two back-to-back Friday afternoon sessions featuring two high-profile leaders in workforce development. On Friday, April 7 from 1:20 – 3:00 pm in Hynes 203, Ms. Trinh Nguyen, the Director of Mayor Walsh’s Office of Workforce Development, will participate in a panel entitled “Building Tomorrow’s Workforce: Leading Employers Discuss Career Pathways to Jobs in Infrastructure, Hospitality, Tech, and Sustainability,” and from 3:20 – 4:00 pm (also in Hynes 203), the Honorable Ronald L. Walker, II, Massachusetts Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development will be keynote speaker at the recognition ceremony for the AAG Emerging Workforce Scholars program participants. The session is entitled: “Keynote by Hon. Sec. Ronald L. Walker, Massachusetts Secretary of Labor: Massachusetts’s Workforce Investment Programs and AAG Emerging Workforce Scholars Recognition Ceremony”
AAG Careers in Geography Fair
The AAG Careers in Geography Fair will feature representatives from a wide range of industries that employ geographers. Employer tables will be located in the Hynes Convention Center, Second Level, in the hallway outside of the Jobs & Careers Center on Friday, April 7, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. A room will be reserved for breakout meetings and on-site interviews with qualified job candidates on Thursday, April 6 from 1:00 – 5:00 pm and Friday, April 7 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm. For more information about the Careers in Geography Fair, visit: https://www.aag.org/annualmeeting/jobs_center/career_fair
Career Mentoring
Whether you’re looking for your first job, considering graduate school, or changing careers, the advice of a mentor can help prepare you for success in today’s competitive job market. The AAG has assembled a team of experienced geography professionals, faculty members, and advanced students to provide one-on-one and small-group consultation about careers in a variety of industries and employment sectors. Topics for discussion might include creating resumes and cover letters that will grab an employer’s attention, finding jobs where you can put your geography skills and training to work, choosing a graduate program, developing your personal and professional networks, long-term career planning, and more. Career mentoring sessions will take place April 5-8, each morning from 10:00 – 11:40 am.
Job & Student Opportunity Postings
Each year, the Jobs & Careers Center features job postings and student opportunities in all fields of geography. Attendees can browse the postings during the career mentoring sessions and or at any time during the conference. Employers are also welcome to post printed ads for open positions within their organizations.
Diversity Ambassadors
A diverse group of graduate students, faculty, and professional geographers serve as AAG Diversity Ambassadors. AAG Diversity Ambassadors are organizing a panel session at the 2017 Annual Meeting entitled “Embracing Diversity: An Open Discussion with the AAG’s Diversity Ambassadors.” The session will take place on Wednesday, April 5 from 2:40 – 4:20 pm in Hynes 203. This session is a continuation of similar panels organized in recent years, which intends to both build upon and enhance the information provided in alternative conference sessions focused on careers and professional development.
AAG Emerging Workforce Scholars
This year, the AAG has launched a unique Emerging Workforce Scholars program for Bunker Hill Community College, Boston Latin Academy and Charlestown High students to engage local youth and advance diversity in geography and the geosciences. The Boston Private Industry Council (PIC) and Massachusetts Workforce Professional Association (MWPA) have been working on this innovative project as AAG’s implementation partners. Please extend a warm welcome to the Emerging Scholars as they explore careers in geography and the geosciences! For more information about the program, visit: https://www.aag.org/diversity_scholarship
GISCI Certification
Did you know you can earn GISP credits by participating in the AAG Annual Meeting? Attendance provides several ways to earn necessary points for the “Contributions to the Profession” and “Education” components of becoming a GISP. A workshop entitled “GISCI – An Exploration of Professionalism Early in a Career or Profession” will take place on Thursday, April 6, from 1:20 – 3:00 pm in Hynes 205. Prospective GISPs and current GISPs who have questions about renewing their certification are encouraged to attend. Attendance is first-come, first-served.
For more information and materials about careers in geography, visit the Jobs & Careers area of the AAG website (www.aag.org/careers). For more on the 2017 AAG Annual Meeting, visit www.aag.org/annualmeeting.
Would you like to know more about the work of the AAG throughout the year, beyond the Annual Meeting? Are you interested in learning about additional resources and opportunities available to you through the AAG? Check out a new feature at the 2017 Annual Meeting in Boston, our AAG Snapshots series!
Get the most from your AAG 2017 Boston experience with the mobile app. Enjoy an interactive experience on your Apple, Android, BlackBerry and other mobile devices during the annual meeting. If you’re a laptop user or have a Windows phone, there’s also a Web version for your devices.
The 2016 elections in the United States may impact geography and our nation in the years ahead in many ways. Every year, the AAG addresses “late-breaking” events through special sessions at our Annual Meetings. During our upcoming 2017 AAG Annual Meeting in Boston, the AAG will hold a series of sessions within the special track, The 2016 U.S. Elections: Implications for Geography and Beyond, focused on analysis and research on the 2016 election, and what the results may mean for geography, the nation, and our planet.
Burgeoning global population along with increasing appetite for high-protein or resource demanding food choices may double demands on world agriculture by 2050. At the same time groundwater depletion and climate change are negatively impacting the availability of sufficient water to meet agricultural and domestic freshwater demands in many regions. Compounding these challenges are socioeconomic forces, including armed conflicts and state collapse that negatively affect agricultural productivity, food transference and water resources. The challenges to food and water security over the 21st century represent an increasing and potentially existential threat to global society. These issues are fundamentally geographical in nature and form a central research and educational focus of geography and the AAG special theme.
The special theme, Mainstreaming Human Rights in Geography and the AAG, will feature 50 sessions with more than 250 presentations at the intersection of human rights and geography within the 2017 AAG Annual Meeting and will build on the AAG’s decade-long initiatives in this area. Speakers from leading international human rights organizations, academia, government, and NGOs will address human rights challenges around the world.
James Hanson, known for his climate research and his Congressional testimony on climate change that raised awareness of global warming, will deliver a featured talk, moderated by AAG President Glen MacDonald, on Friday, April 7, from 10:00 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. in Room 210 at the Hynes Convention Center.
Rush Holt, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), will deliver a featured talk entitled, “Advancing Science in the Public Arena,” on Thursday, April 6, from 11:50 a.m. – 1:10 p.m. in Room 103 of the Hynes Convention Center.
The AAG will refund the conference registration fees for any AAG member or attendee who is a citizen of one of the seven countries affected by the U.S. Travel Ban and who by virtue of being outside the United States at this time will not be able to attend the AAG Annual Meeting in Boston. In the interest of giving such members a voice at the conference we also will allow for their abstracts to remain in the program and their oral presentations to be delivered by a registered member able to attend the meeting or their posters to be displayed should they be able to send their posters to the meeting. The AAG also will provide for a Skype or similar teleconference option for these affected participants to present their paper. We will need notification in advance if members affected by the Travel Ban wish to have a surrogate present their talk or poster, or wish to deliver their paper via teleconference.