Advocacy

The Battle for SBE and Science Funding: What You Can Do

In early April, the White House published its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027. In its current form, the proposal threatens the core of U.S. scientific leadership; and if passed by Congress, would impose devastating cuts to programs supporting geography, climate, and spatial sciences.

These proposed reductions included a 55% cut to funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the elimination of the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) directorate. The impact of this proposed elimination is already being felt, with Nature reporting that NSF leadership is moving to comply in advance by dissolving the directorate entirely, strictly on the basis of the White House request.

Historically, the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate has been a cornerstone of funding for geographers, and social and psychological scientists, supporting nearly 63% of all academic research across those disciplines, but it suffers from an administrative hurdle that other directorates do not have: it was not statutorily established. SBE was established in the early 1990s because of years-long advocacy by social scientists who believed it should exist outside of the biology directorate. In 2017, NSF reaffirmed the value of SBE research to the nation’s priorities in a report that asserted  “The diverse SBE sciences that are supported at NSF—anthropology, archaeology, demography, economics, geography, linguistics, neuroscience, political science, psychology, sociology, and statistics—produce fundamental knowledge, methods, and tools for a greater understanding of people and how they live,” knowledge that forms a foundation for acting on national priorities in keeping with the NSF mission.

Nonetheless, SBE’s lack of statutory status reduces its legal and budgetary protections.

The Administration took similar measures in 2025, when it proposed the elimination of the directorate in the 2026 Budget. Due to push-back from many in the science community, including geographers, Congress took measures to limit these cuts, ensuring that the SBE would be able to operate at least through FY 2026.

This iteration of the administration’s budget proposal is likely to face a steep uphill climb in both halls of Congress, as it did in 2025, with members from both sides of the aisle articulating their support for sciences. We must continue to show our legislators that funding for spatial science matters.

What’s next?

In the past two weeks, the House and Senate Budget Committees held their first hearings with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Russell Vought. These were the first opportunities for the administration to defend the proposed cuts. During these marathon sessions, members from both sides of the aisle grilled the OMB Director on cuts to NSF, and other domestic agencies, voicing their displeasure with the impact that this would have on research across the board. Each chamber will work to draft and complete their concurrent budget resolutions by months-end.

In the month or so ahead, the budget will move through both Chambers’ appropriations committees, where it will be marked up for hopeful completion by the end of June. The subcommittees most important in determining how NSF, and SBE funds are appropriated include the House and Senate Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS). The House Subcommittee will hold its markup on April 30, 2026, followed by a full House Appropriations Committee markup on May 13, 2026. Both will be public unless voted on as otherwise by committee members.

Congress must approve a budget, to be sent to the President’s desk by the 30th of September, or face a government shutdown.

What can you do?

  • Document how SBE funding has made an impact on your work, your institution, and especially your community and the nation. Send examples to advocacy@aag.org and use them in your communications with your Congressional representatives.
  • Reach out to your member of Congress, using tools like those provided by the Consortium of Social Science Associations, and AAG’s Action Kit to urge your member of Congress to recognize the importance of disciplines like geography to the nation’s long arc of innovation, and to express any concerns you may have related to the elimination of this crucial directorate of the NSF.
  • Attend the May meeting of the National Science Board (the governing body of the NSF) to hear what is planned for this storied institution in the coming months.
  • Encourage members of your network, such as department leaders, provosts, executives in the private sector, to be in touch and amplify your message.
  • Add your voice to the public dialogue on science funding. Many people in your community may not even know the stakes of this battle. Write an op ed, schedule a talk at your library, or share on social media. AAG’s Action Kit has ideas and how-to’s.

Stay alert to the appropriations process as it progresses, and stay in touch with AAG through advocacy@aag.org with your questions and ideas.

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Eddie McInerney
Eddie McInerney
News

The AAG Annual Meeting Revenue Flow

By Antoinette WinklerPrins, AAG Council Treasurer

Photo of Antoinette WinklerPrinsThis is the last message by outgoing 2024-2026 Council Treasurer Antoinette WinklerPrins. In her earlier series, she helped illuminate several financial dimensions of a professional organization such as the AAG. In this column, she shares a visualization of the income and expenses flow of the AAG’s Annual Meeting. Read previous columns.

We recently gathered for our annual meeting in San Francisco—a celebration of the broad and diverse community that geographers are. The annual meeting is a key activity for the organization and its members.  We had over 5,000 registrants and 1,200 sessions, with the majority being held in person, with a hybrid option for session organizers who opted in. Running a meeting is an expensive affair, and arrangements are usually made many years ahead of time, with some costs locked in while others are set at the time of the meeting.  This means that there can be inflationary pressures on costs, as there was this year.

The figure below illustrates the flow of the 2026 AAG Annual Meeting Revenue and Expenses—demonstrating the fixed and variable costs that must be accounted for.

Sankey diagram titled “AAG Annual Meeting Revenue and Expense Analysis.” Revenue flows from registration (79%), exhibit booths (4%), sponsorships (7%), and other sources into total meeting revenue. Expenses flow into categories such as hotel, facility, and catering (22%); audiovisual services (23%); contracted meeting services (17%); staff capacity (25%); and smaller technology and administrative costs. Expenses ultimately divide into 62% variable costs and 38% fixed costs. Credit: Betsy Orgodol
Credit: Betsy Orgodol

 

The AAG operates on a break-even model for its annual meeting and sets its registration fee accordingly, but has to do so ahead of time without knowing precisely how many people will register, nor how some costs will change.

Annual Meeting variable expenses consist primarily of usage-based costs such as catering, certain hotel and facility fees, and audiovisual services—these are not fixed when the contract is signed, and depend on factors such as the number of registrants and number of sessions. The AAG contracts several meeting services, such as meeting and exhibit managers, decorators, childcare services, conference assistants, security, and service providers for conference participants who need accommodation. Staff capacity, insurance, and software technology fees are largely fixed costs that do not change based on the size of the meeting or the number of attendees.

The cost structure the AAG uses provides more flexibility and scalability—when attendance is strong, total expenses rise proportionally but are matched by increased registration and sponsorship revenue, enabling the organization to serve more participants without compromising the quality of the meeting experience. When attendance is smaller, costs decrease in areas like catering and certain service charges, though only to a limited extent since some baseline expenses remain fixed; even so, the meeting can be delivered efficiently while maintaining a consistent standard of value for attendees.

The AAG consistently works to control more costs to ensure that resources are used efficiently and that the meeting remains both financially sustainable and rewarding for attendees. While the AAG strives to conserve meeting expenses in the most efficient manner possible, inflationary pressures, such as those driven by tariffs impacting meeting-related costs and California sales and use taxes, presented a challenge this year.  The combination of planning and contracting ahead helped AAG absorb some of these costs.

We realize that it may feel that registration fees are high; the break-even model for pricing is meant to provide you with the services the membership has asked for and expects (refreshments and meals, hybrid options, childcare, and accommodations for disabilities, among others) and to assure that the meeting is a quality event and a positive experience for all.

Please feel free to reach out to me or Gary Langham, AAG’s Executive Director with questions, comments, or concerns. Send your comments and questions with the subject line “Treasurer’s Corner” to helloword@aag.org.

 

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Antoinette WinklerPrins
Antoinette WinklerPrins
President's Column

Geographic Ignorance, the Iran War, and the End of US Hegemony

William Moseley

Great powers die when they needlessly fritter away their advantages. While I was never a fan of US hegemony, it did confer benefits to the country’s economy and its citizens. The War in Iran is the crowning blow to a year-long string of reckless moves that effectively destroy American hegemony by undermining the country’s moral positions, weakening its economy, and entangling the nation in an unwinnable war. A deeper understanding of geography could have mitigated such miscalculations, something future political leaders and the US public need to better understand if further missteps are to be avoided.

First, the current US administration has taken a sledgehammer to the existing world order built on multilateralism and a commitment to basic human rights. This system was erected in the mid-20th century by the US and its allies in the wake of two devastating world wars. While the US and other powers violated the rules of engagement in a number of instances, there was enough of a commitment to multilateral institutions and fundamental principles that the system ensured a modicum of stability and shared economic benefits. The current administration’s zero-sum view of the world cannot comprehend the advantages that come with cooperation and soft power—and it has done everything possible to undermine multilateralism and destroy US bilateral foreign assistance.

In unilaterally blundering into the war in Iran, the US administration made no attempt to bring along other allies and then was shocked when European countries were unwilling to assist in the endeavor. The crowning blow came on April 7 when President Trump threatened to destroy Iranian civilization if the regime did not comply with his demands: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” Let us be clear that such wanton mass destruction is defined by international law as a war crime. This was a major breach of international moral strictures, shattering whatever remained of principled American leadership, and these statements were swiftly denounced by the Pope and other religious leaders.

Second, the debt-sponsored spending of the current administration has reached historic heights. The US national debt has now hit $39 trillion, and over the past year we have seen the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the pandemic. As of early April, the US had spent $28 billion on the war in Iran, a figure that keeps climbing. Such massive debt accumulation, coupled with cuts in research spending, will undoubtedly weaken the US economy for years to come, effectively diminishing economic might as a major component of US power on the world stage.

Geographical Perspective Is Badly Needed

Third, since February 28, the US has actively been engaged in military attacks on Iran (although we are in the midst of a shaky ceasefire as I write). This war of choice is an enormous strategic blunder as the US administration has plunged the country in an unwinnable conflict by failing to comprehend: 1) the cultural geography of Iran, 2) the daunting physical geography of the Strait of Hormuz (a major pinch point through which 20% of global oil and liquified natural gas pass), and 3) the ongoing vulnerability of the US economy to global oil shocks.

The US administration has grossly misread the cultural, social and political geography of Iran. Iran, formerly Persia, is one of the oldest nation states in the world, with organized settlements dating back to 3200-4000 BC and the first Persian Empire emerging in 550 BC (Achaemenid Empire). The result is not just an ancient cultural complex, but a relatively large country (with 90-some million people) with a strong national identity. This is also a region where the US has behaved badly in the past, supporting a covert coup to oust a democratically elected prime minister in 1953, and then installing Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who ruled until the Iranian Revolution in 1979. While there had been social unrest and internal discontent with the Islamic Regime in recent months and years, the lack of a more robust, organized resistance movement, and a formidably repressive regime, meant that a popular uprising in the wake of US and Israeli air attacks was unlikely. Even with an Iranian public that feels deep antipathy towards its rulers, such an uprising became even more unlikely when the US president made genocidal calls for the destruction of Iran’s civilization, effectively alienating a population with a deep sense of pride in its country.

The Strait of Hormuz is a physical pinch point in the global trade of oil and liquified natural gas. Exports originating in the Persian Gulf must pass through this strait controlled by Iran and Oman (although more so by Iran) (see map below). Iran’s extensive coastline is better suited for controlling the Persian Gulf and the Strait compared to its smaller, southern neighbors. More specifically, Iran’s long, continuous and mountainous coastline, coupled with multiple islands, and a relatively narrow deep-water channel through which large ships can pass, allows them to effectively monitor and mount guerrilla attacks on passing ships. As has been noted elsewhere, Iran does not need to halt all shipping, but only sporadically hit a few targets in order to bring a halt to all commercial shipping. It is increasingly clear that the US Administration and its war planners underestimated the import and difficulty of controlling this area.

Map of Straight of Hormuz and surrounding countries
The Strait of Hormuz, within the context of Iran and region. Cartography by Sophia Spisak, Macalester College, adapted from Encyclopedia Brittanica. Data sources: ESRI, Food and Ag. Org. GAUL, GADM, UN OCHA, USGS, Who’s on First.

 

The United State is still heavily dependent on fossil fuel consumption, with the current administration having abandoned all attempts to build up alternative energy sources. While other countries have worked hard to develop fossil fuel independence, the US administration has refused to understand that a fossil fuel-based economy is not only problematic in environmental terms, but it also leaves the country vulnerable to shocks in the global energy system. Although the US is the largest fossil fuel energy producer in the world, and largely creates what it needs, energy prices are deeply intertwined, meaning that disruptions in one part of the system reverberate throughout the world. As such, the US President’s claim that a closed Strait of Hormuz is not his problem represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how global energy market’s function. It also means that the US is still deeply vulnerable to the energy price shocks created by the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, including less obvious consequences such as higher fertilizer prices for farmers (which will impact food prices) and more profits for oil exporting adversaries such as Russia.

The War in Iran will be a Pyrrhic victory for the US at best. While the US president may eventually claim some sort of win, in the process he will have destroyed the country’s moral credibility and soft power, permanently set back the American economy, and created an unstable quagmire in Iran. The end result will be a hastened end to US hegemony brought about by hubris, cultural arrogance, and ignorance of geography.

Please note: The ideas expressed in the AAG President’s column are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. This column is traditionally a space in which the president may talk about their views or focus during their tenure as president of AAG, or spotlight their areas of professional work. Please feel free to email the president directly at moseley@macalester.edu to enable a constructive discussion.

 

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William (Bill) Moseley
William (Bill) Moseley
On the Map

Tracking the Geography of Diseases: How Epidemiologists Map Infection

Geography In The News logoGeography in the News is an educational series offered by the American Association of Geographers for teachers and students in all subjects. We include vocabulary, discussion, and assignment ideas at the end of each article. 

By Neal Lineback

Have you ever wondered where you caught a cold? If so, you’ve asked the first question epidemologists ask about infectious diseases. Epidemiology is the study of how diseases spread. It relies on geography to find its answers.

You could say that epidemiologists study the “where” of diseases. Specifically, they study the paths of communicable diseases.

What are communicable diseases? They’re the ones you can catch. These illnesses spread through viruses, fungi, or bacteria, typically from person to person, and sometimes from animals to people. Some diseases come from contaminated food, water, or insects. All of these transmissions relate to geography. 

Viruses and bacteria are all around us, particularly in dense human populations. Some are harmless. But dangerous viruses range across a whole host of diseases, from pneumonia and whooping cough to measles, chicken pox, and polio, among others.

Among the least dangerous to healthy individuals is the common cold, or Rhinovirus. Its symptoms are normally mild. The cold is so common that it’s almost impossible to know where you caught it—unless you are an epidemologist. Through contact tracing, distribution maps, and other tools, epidemiologists can find the initial source of an infection. It takes only one or two people for a disease to spread as contacts multiply.

Epidemiology is a science of time as well as space. Once a few people show symptoms, they could infect 50 percent or more of the people they come in contact with, within three to ten days. This makes swift analysis crucial.

A fast-moving virus can cause an epidemic or pandemic. The difference between the two is in distribution. The disease is distributed unevenly in an epidemic, with some communities having few or no cases. In a pandemic, many more people are sick across more areas. Deaths and hospitalizations are elevated too.

This is why the flu virus—which is actually a number of virus types that can mutate over time–and the COVID viruses are carefully tracked by their strain. Flu is also identified by type. If you have ever heard a strain of influenza referred to as A,B,C, or D, you have heard its type, based on its severity. “A” causes pandemics and is the most dangerous. “B” can cause epidemics. “C” causes mild cold-like symptoms. “D” is an animal variety.

The recent COVID outbreak in 2020-2023 was a pandemic in the United States. Ensheng Dong, a Ph.D. student at Johns Hopkins University, was one of the first people in the world to create a map-based dashboard to show the disease’s spread. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS), Dong worked with physicists, geographers, and others at the university to build a map to track outbreaks. Its red-on-black appearance became iconic.

Outbreaks of many viral infections can be mapped. The CDC (Centers of Disease Control) and other international medical institutions maintain huge geographical databases to follow outbreaks around the world. This research is critical in slowing, treating, and containing viral diffusions and concentrations, allowing the medical professionals to predict where intervention (ie. tests, warnings, and vaccinations) can be helpful in reducing deaths and hospitalizations.

Epidemiology is still a young science. Less than 175 years ago, a doctor named John Snow identified the source of the 1854 cholera outbreak in London: a neighborhood water pump. He did this by mapping all of the cholera cases in the area and interviewing the families. Once he identified the common location they’d used to draw water, he removed the handle from the pump. New cases fell.

This map shows the 2013 spread of polio worldwide:

This map by Rachael Carpenter indicates that the spread of polio began with a concentration in Afghanistan, then jumped to Somalia, Kenya, and Nigeria. The disease spread to Nigeria’s African neighbors Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, Uganda, and Liberia.
In 2013, Geography in the News reported on a severe polio outbreak, showing the path of infection. Map by Rachael Carpenter

 

Polio cases began with a concentration in Afghanistan, then jumped to Somalia, Kenya, and Nigeria. The disease spread to Nigeria’s neighbors in Africa, before it was finally halted through the efforts of multiple relief organizations’ vaccine programs, including The World Health Organization (WHO),The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Rotary International, and the Centers for Disease Control.

So how can a microscopic virus jump thousands of miles from Afghanistan to Nigeria? Clearly, modern technology played a role in moving such great distances over the earth’s surface. What made the countries adjacent to Nigeria so susceptible to the spread of polio? These are geographic questions on the minds of health officials as they battle communicable diseases worldwide everyday.The mobilities of viruses around the world require constant attention.

Note: You can reduce your odds of infection by frequent hand washing, using tissues and avoiding touching your face when you sneeze. Cleaning your work spaces and using a mask, or covering your mouth when you cough, are also good practices.

And that is Geography in the News.

Material in this article comes from “Polio Returns with a Vengeance” (2013), an original article for Geography in the News by Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner.

AAG’s Geography in the News is inspired by the series of the same name founded by Neal Lineback, professor and the chair of Appalachian State University’s Department of Geography and Planning. For nearly 30 years from 1986 to 2013, GITN delivered timely explainer articles to educators and students, relevant to topics in the news. Many of these were published on Maps.com’s educational platforms and in National Geographic’s blogs. AAG is pleased to carry on the series.

Vocabulary
  • Communicable disease
  • Epidemic
  • Fungus/Fungi
  • Iconic
  • Mutate
  • Pandemic
  • Strain
  • Virus
Discussion
  1. What are some of the tools epidemiologists use to track how diseases spread?
  2. Why do we say that epidemiology is a science of time as well as space?
  3. What is the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic?
  4. What are some of the reasons that a virus can “jump” long distances?
Further Reading

“John Snow, Historical Giant in Epidemiology.” UCLA https://epi-snow.ph.ucla.edu/

“Medical Geography and Why We Need It.” University of British Columbia. https://geog.ubc.ca/news/medical-geography-and-why-we-need-it/

Milner, Greg. “Creating the Dashboard for the Pandemic.” Esri ArcUser, Summer 2020. https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcuser/johns-hopkins-covid-19-dashboard

“Notes from the Field: Outbreak of Poliomyelitis — Somalia and Kenya, May 2013,” Centers for Disease Control, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. At https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6223a7.htm

“What Is Epidemiology?” Epidemiology for the Uninitiated. BMJ Group. https://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-readers/publications/epidemiology-uninitiated

 

 

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AAG Staff
AAG Staff
News

AAG Partners with Content With Purpose on new digital series: ‘Unearthing Geography’ video series will reveal the power of geographic thinking

Content with Purpose logo using colored letters CWPWashington, D.C., March 4 — The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is partnering with Content With Purpose (CWP) to produce Unearthing Geography, a new digital series that brings the discipline of geography to life, revealing its relevance, impact and essential role in understanding and addressing today’s most complex challenges.

Too frequently, geography is reduced to maps, place names or the physical features of the Earth alone. In reality, it is an inherently interdisciplinary field, one that connects physical and human systems, science and society, and local realities with global dynamics. Through education grounded in the sciences, social sciences and humanities, geographers are trained to think across boundaries, integrate multiple perspectives, and understand how people, places and environments interact.

At a time of accelerating climate change, social inequity, geopolitical tension, and technological transformation, this connective way of thinking has never been more important.

With cinematic storytelling, expert insight and real-world case studies, Unearthing Geography will showcase the work of geographers across academia, government, industry and communities—applying geographic perspectives to issues such as climate resilience, urban development, environmental justice, public health, migration and technological change.

At its heart, Unearthing Geography positions geographers as connectors—of data and lived experience, of disciplines and sectors, and of science and society—highlighting how geographic thinking helps navigate complexity and support systems-based approaches to the world’s most pressing problems.

The series will also look to the future of the discipline: inspiring students and early-career professionals to explore educational opportunities in geography, re-engaging those who have taken diverse career paths, and helping educators, employers, partners and funders better understand the long-term value of geographic education and training.

“Geography is essential to understanding how the world works—and how we can make it better,” said Gary Langham, Executive Director of the AAG. “Our work with CWP is a timely international collaboration to show how geographers work to shape more just, healthy, and sustainable futures.”

Max Smith, Founder and Managing Director of CWP, commented: “Geography offers one of the most powerful lenses for understanding the interconnected challenges facing society today. Through Unearthing Geography, we’re using our storytelling expertise to elevate the discipline and the people behind it, connecting research with lived experience.”

Unearthing Geography will launch at the AAG Annual Meeting in New York in February 2027, followed by a coordinated digital launch and campaign. The campaign will extend across the AAG’s global network and beyond, reaching geographers, students, educators, policymakers, employers, partners and the wider public.

CWP is a B Corp certified strategic content creator that works in partnership with leading member bodies and associations, engaging professionals in their industries’ role in building a better tomorrow.

Organizations interested in contributing to the series are encouraged to contact Sophie Newboult, Series Development Manager at CWP to learn more: sophie@contentwithpurpose.co.uk.

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President's Column

Bridging Difficult Conversations

Illustration showing a group of diverse hands connecting to form a bridge.

William Moseley

I grew up in the Midwest, a cultural region where we stereotypically avoid difficult conversations. While my people might famously say ‘that’s interesting’ when we disagree, or ‘I’m not mad’ when we are furious, such conflict avoidance is not a healthy approach for a large and diverse organization such as the AAG.

Nearly a year ago (April 2025), the AAG Council received a successful membership petition asking that we hold a special meeting to discuss a proposal for “the AAG to endorse the campaign for an academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions, and for financial disclosure and divestment of any AAG funds invested in corporations or state institutions profiting from the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people.” Just a few weeks ago (February 12), AAG members received an email with the AAG Council’s response to the petition, a response which reflects nearly a year of deep conversations with a membership that was often sharply divided on this issue, and on the most appropriate response. I am proud to say that the AAG did not avoid this issue, but tackled it head on in a thoughtful and comprehensive manner. Below I discuss our process for arriving at this response, the response itself, and some common reactions and concerns I have heard from the membership.

 

Our Process

In receiving and reflecting on the petition, the challenge for the AAG Council was to create a space where all member voices could be heard on this important topic. A one- or two-hour online meeting where the petitioners shared their views would have privileged some perspectives over others and not been accessible to a diverse membership on different schedules and across multiple time zones. After careful thought, Council resolved to hear member input on the petition via two pathways last fall:

  1. to create a background document on the topic (including the AAG’s history of dealing with divisive issues, pros and cons of different actions, etc.) which members could comment on over a 60-day period (a two-month asynchronous meeting if you will); and
  2. to offer two online sessions (one closed and the other open to a member audience) where members could directly share their relevant insights with Council.

While this approach was far from perfect, it was appreciated by many. As one AAG member wrote: “We are a community. A community with different viewpoints, research areas, life experiences, and belief systems, which is what makes our community so vibrant. It is also what makes our community, expertise, and ability to constructively debate with one another critical in a time when misinformation, ignorance, and hate are rampant in public discourse.”

 

The Response

As explained in the February 12 email to the membership, there are four components of the AAG response to the petition: 1) an ESG Investment Framework and Implementation Policy; 2) an International Partnership Framework and Due Diligence Policy; 3) a Displaced Scholars Support Program and Fund; and 4) a Statement on Palestine and Higher Education. Below I briefly discuss each of these components in turn.

ESG Investment Framework and Implementation Policy. This policy obligates the AAG to more actively manage and monitor the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment filters that guide its endowment investments. Some of these screens existed beforehand as a result of our climate change work and we added additional screens related to the military weapons industry. As a result, the AAG currently holds no investments in companies listed on the American Friends Service Committee or UN human rights lists. This approach is meant to keep our investments aligned with our values over time, while taking care to sustain our relatively modest endowment in support of our mission. Moving forward, we will review our investments annually, with flags being raised if more than 5% of our investments fall outside of these screens. This policy addresses the divestment concerns of the petitioners without being country specific (we want to avoid investments in problematic companies regardless of where they are operating).

International Partnership Framework and Due Diligence Policy. This policy will help guide new international partnerships (such as formal MOUs, joint programs, or co-sponsored events) with organizations based in countries where there are significant human rights or academic freedom concerns. Using a third-party list of countries where there are concerns as a trigger, the AAG Council will review and vote on potential new partnerships (leaving an official record of the decision). This extra level of scrutiny will also allow Council to make nuanced decisions. For example, Council could decide to collaborate with an organization fighting against oppression in country X, but not to do so with institutions in the same country that are complicit in human rights abuses. While the specific third-party list(s) Council will use to trigger a review is to be determined by a working group in the near future (e.g., Human Rights Watch World Report, Amnesty International Annual Report), it is important to have such a list because Council should not be deciding when or when not to undertake a review on an ad hoc basis. It would also be impractical and cumbersome for Council to review all such partnerships. For example, AAG staff should have the liberty to allow the Canadian Association of Geographers (not on any human rights watch list) to contract for a booth at the annual meeting without Council micromanaging the process. To be clear, the AAG has not had a partnership with any Israeli organization or institution since 2005. This policy, while also not country specific, is essentially a boycott of organizations in other countries that have been complicit in human rights abuses.

Displaced Scholars Support Program and Fund. This is a new AAG program and related fund to support displaced scholars around the world, including those from Gaza and other conflict zones. The program will provide selected displaced scholars with: (1) free AAG membership, (2) waived registration for AAG annual meetings, (3) eligibility to apply for relocation or travel funds, and (4) connections to aid organizations (e.g., IIE Scholar Rescue Fund, Scholars at Risk). A working group will develop the program details over the next year. We currently have three displaced scholars participating in a pilot program, and four internationally recognized experts advising its development. The program provides real and tangible support to geographers whose human rights and academic freedom have been compromised.

Statement on Palestine and Higher Education. The AAG released a statement on February 12 affirming commitments to Palestinian educational rights, human rights, academic freedom, and self-determination. The statement affirms that Palestinian and Israeli scholars, and all members of our community, have the right to pursue higher education and research free from violence, harassment, or discrimination. The statement addresses the destruction of higher-education infrastructure in Gaza, barriers to Palestinian scholars’ mobility and access to education, and threats to campus safety and academic freedom affecting both Palestinian and Israeli scholars. The statement also affirms that criticism of state policy must be clearly distinguished from antisemitism, Islamophobia, or other forms of racism.

 

Member Reactions and Concerns

While it has only been a few weeks since the AAG released its response, so far member reactions have largely been affirming and recognize the challenge of having such a difficult conversation. One member wrote: “It is notable for the way it [the AAG response] advocates positive and cooperative measures that support our shared values in universal human rights and academic freedom, instead of antagonistic and confrontational actions.” Another member wrote: “While the call for a referendum, and ensuing discussion, were sparked by the events in Gaza, the AAG took a meaningful step in negotiating a series of actions that signal institutional change and a responsiveness to member concerns. I appreciate the clear condemnation of violence and repeated focus on human rights, academic freedom, and education, and rejection of racism, that underpins each of the planned and implemented responses.” Of course, not all AAG members have been happy with the process Council undertook to broker this conversation. Let me speak to a few of those concerns here, concerns that were shared with me before the AAG shared its official response.

Since the time we initially received the member petition, I heard from some members that they would like to have had a yes or no vote on the petitioners’ demands. I would first note that such a vote was not called for in the original petition; it was requested later (without the support of the official petition). Second, such votes are not a part of the AAG bylaws (the membership votes on bylaw changes or in instances where the Council requests a vote). Thirdly, such an approach would have circumvented the AAG Council, a body which is elected by the membership and charged with considering issues in a way that reflects the long-term interests of the association (aka fiduciary responsibility, which is broader than financial considerations). Lastly, a yes or no vote on the original proposal was inherently limiting in terms of choices and would not have resulted in the more nuanced response that eventually emerged after considerable deliberation.

Other members have suggested that our process was undemocratic. I would argue that just because there was not a direct vote on the issue does not mean that the process was undemocratic. The AAG is an indirect democracy in that we elect Council members and special committee members (such as the nominations committee) to act on our behalf. Most of us do not have the time to consider all sides of an issue, so we elect representatives to do this work for us. Furthermore, the AAG Council went to great pains to hear member concerns on this issue and in a way that did not privilege the loudest voices in the room.

In sum, I am proud of the way the AAG has handled this difficult conversation. We have not sidestepped a potentially contentious issue, but addressed the main concerns of the petitioners re: divestment and collaboration, stuck to our core values and heard the views of a diverse membership, while not succumbing to divisive language or putting the organization in legal jeopardy. While I am certain that some of you will remain unhappy with this outcome, being part of a big family often entails compromise, working through challenging issues, and building bridges to arrive at a shared understanding and best possible outcome under the circumstances. Our community is stronger for meeting this moment.

Please note: The ideas expressed in the AAG President’s column are not necessarily the views of the AAG as a whole. This column is traditionally a space in which the president may talk about their views or focus during their tenure as president of AAG, or spotlight their areas of professional work. Please feel free to email the president directly at moseley@macalester.edu to enable a constructive discussion.

 

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William (Bill) Moseley
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Careers

Department Profile: School of the Environment at San Francisco State University

Located off the shores of Lake Merced in San Francisco’s southwestern corner, the School of the Environment at San Francisco State University (SFSU) brings together students and faculty committed to scientific exploration, environmental stewardship, and social justice. This unique setting, where urban life meets coastal and mountainous ecosystems, provides an ideal backdrop for studying the connections between people, landscapes, and the planet.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Environmental Education

San Francisco State University students gather samples for a field methods class in the San Francisco Bay.
San Francisco State University students gather samples for a field methods class in the San Francisco Bay.

The School of the Environment offers a broad and integrated curriculum that reflects the shared mission of its faculty and programs. Students pursuing undergraduate majors gain a strong foundation in physical and human geography, in addition to field methods and geographic information science (GIS) and systems. These core skills equip students to understand environmental processes, helping them map change and analyze human–environment interactions. Graduate students have the option of specializing in geography, geographic information science, geosciences, or resource management and environmental planning.

These offerings are supported by the vast expertise of faculty across disciplines. Wide-ranging scholarly strengths range from physical geography and the use of technical programs to human-environment interactions. This includes food justice and urban agriculture, researching sustainable communities, green consumerism, and the politics of mobility.

A New School Built on Collaboration

In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dean brought together three units — the former Department of Geography and Environment, the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences, and the Environmental Studies program — to explore merging into a larger, more cohesive academic home. Andrew Oliphant, professor and School of the Environment co-director, shares the former schools’ shared curriculum, cross-listed classes, and overlapping student communities naturally evolved into what is now the School of the Environment, strengthening opportunities for interdisciplinary research, teaching, and collaboration.

With the formation of the new School, faculty intentionally centered equity, representation, and inclusivity in their mission. Their efforts include a range of initiatives: culturally responsive student support, reducing or eliminating course-related costs wherever possible, and expanding pathways into environmental careers for students from historically marginalized communities. As Oliphant notes: “One of our missions is to change the face of the professional world in California that’s managing and stewarding the environment.”

A Presence Across Campus and Beyond

While the School recently reorganized and renamed itself, department chair Andrew Oliphant notes that its reach extends far beyond environmental programs. Students from art, cinema, ethnic studies, biology, physics, and other departments enroll in its courses.

Through this broad academic footprint, students gain training in climate and environmental fundamentals and the necessary language and context for environmental advocacy. The skills taught in courses are applicable across scientific, creative, and civic fields.

A thriving student–alumni network speaks to the school’s deep commitment to mentorship and career support. Graduates contribute to the California workforce and beyond, including local and state governments, federal agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and private companies and nonprofits such as East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). The school’s organically built internship network helps open doors for students who may not otherwise have access to such opportunities.

San Francisco State University students gather between two CalTrains for a transportation class field trip.
San Francisco State University students gather between two CalTrains for a transportation class field trip.

 

Preparing Students for a Changing World and Workforce

The school balances professional preparation with a deep commitment to the fundamental sciences. Students can begin to prepare for future steps to careers in environmental management, GIS, or planning; working with nonprofits in scientific research; or doctoral-level academic study.

Oliphant also emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary training in an era of rapid technological change: “There will be geographers who lose work to AI … but the broad training we give — understanding biophysical processes, social structures, and the philosophies shaping our world — positions our students well in an AI-driven future.”

A prime resource for students includes participating in alternative learning spaces. For example, SFSU’s remote Sierra Nevada Field Campus offers summer field courses where teams of students and faculty spend a week immersed in research. The field campus also provides a location for locally centered research projects. Graduate students frequently use these field experiences to support their thesis work, and faculty encourage student employment on grant-funded research whenever possible.

One project, funded by the state of California, focuses on the restoration of Sierra Nevada Mountain meadows, which have long been degraded by agriculture, mining, and forestry. With numerous faculty who specialize in remote sensing and biogeography, collaboration with community partners such as the Mountain Maidu Consortium, whose Indigenous stewardship of these landscapes spans centuries, is essential. These partnerships represent the school’s holistic approach to environmental research: recognizing that complex spaces — like mountain meadows — cannot be understood through a single disciplinary lens.

When it comes to recounting student success, “it’s about the daughter of immigrant farm workers from the Salinas Valley, now working for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, advising farmers on healthy soil practices.” Oliphant goes on, “Or a recent graduate from the Pitt River Nation who’s working for the USGS, monitoring Northern California lands, part of his tribal community.” This kind of transformative student success is part of the reason SFSU was ranked 8th nationally for social mobility in 2024 by the U.S. News & World Report.

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Careers

Department Profile: Geography and Geoinformation Sciences at George Mason University

The Geography and Geoinformation Sciences (GGS) Department at George Mason University is fortunate in its Fairfax, Virginia location, close to many professional opportunities in and around the nation’s capital. Anchored in the center of Northern Virginia’s geospatial intelligence hub, surrounded by federal headquarters like the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), US Geological Survey (USGS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as well as leaders in the private sector like Esri, Dewberry, and BAE Systems, GGS can also connect its students and alumni to local government agencies such as Fairfax County’s GIS and Mapping Services.

The department’s breadth is revealed in its name. “We are not the Department of Geography, but we are the Department of Geography and Geoformation Science,” says Dr. Deiter Pfoser, department chair and director of the Center for Geoscience. “So, there’s a huge distinction there … it sort of alludes to the quantitative sides [of the discipline].” Dr. Nathan Burtch, associate professor, undergraduate coordinator and associate chair, agrees.

George Mason University GGS students gather data with a transit device to create contour maps of a local park in GGS as part of their Field Mapping class.
George Mason University GGS students gather data with a transit device to create contour maps of a local park in GGS as part of their field mapping class.

This emphasis on the quantitative is a major incentive of the program, as the majority of the department’s students are pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree and thinking about careers. Students pursuing a BS in geography can choose from concentrations in Geoinformatics, Geospatial Intelligence, and Urban Science, which are marketable and easily conceptualized by employers.

The department’s research initiatives, which have an annual expenditure of approximately six million dollars, largely trend around topics like artificial intelligence, computational analysis, and informatics. Students researching remote sensing have access to a collection of advanced drone remote-sensing equipment, including DJI drones and interchangeable sensors for environmental and infrastructural studies. Dr. Pfoser points out that the program emphasizes “not only geographical proximity to [many geospatial] agencies, but also work proximity.”

The university and the department’s faculty and leaders involve students in research as early into their academic journeys as possible. The College of Science’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP) has been active in providing high schoolers and undergraduate students the chance to engage in faculty-mentored research opportunities since 2019. The GGS department has eight prospective mentors for the 2026 session, tackling research interests like spatiotemporal computing, space weather, and food systems transformation. Dr. Pfoser expresses that “the idea is really to bring students closer to research as soon as we can,” to develop students into exemplary undergraduate, graduate, and PhD researchers.

Graduate degree offerings reinforce the department’s quantitative focus, with a master’s degree in Geoinformatics and Geospatial Intelligence. Undergraduate students interested in this degree, or the master’s in Geographic and Cartographic Sciences, can enroll in the Bachelor’s to Accelerated Master’s (BAM) Program and collect graduate credits in their final undergraduate semesters. In addition to offering accelerated, master’s, and doctorate pathways, the department also promotes a culture of lifelong learning by offering graduate certificates in GIS, Geospatial Intelligence, Environmental GIS and Biodiversity, and Remote Sensing and Image Processing. Executive education partnerships with local companies allow working professionals to advance their skills through the guidance of university course content.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Quantitative Geography

“We’re a little bit more quantitative than the average,” says Dr. Burtch, “But we don’t ignore the cultural and the physical as well.” The GGS department’s Bachelor of Art’s geography program offers concentrations in environmental geography, health geography, geoanthropology, and urban planning. The professors teaching courses in this degree are consistently enthusiastic about their subjects, welcoming students to think critically and exercise real-world problem solving.

The department also values cross-disciplinary exploration. Undergraduate students can choose from a variety of elective courses that traverse neighboring disciplines. Associate professor and BAM advisor Dr. Christine Rosenfeld teaches Spatial Justice, for example, a geographic interrogation of unevenly distributed resources that results in social inequality. Dr. Maction Komwa teaches Geography of Resource Conservation, an analysis of the distribution and preservation of global resources. Dr. Burtch teaches Geography of Sport, purposefully integrating the discipline to reveal surprising explanations about the geography of the sports industry.

The strong sense of student community, accessible advising, and welcoming faculty make the GGS department at GMU an optimal learning environment for students of diverse education and career backgrounds. Standards for teaching excellence are maintained by routine faculty peer review, end-of-semester evaluations, and course modality surveys. The department uses this feedback to support their mindset of “perpetual change” and implement improvements to keep up with the ever-evolving scene of higher education.

Diversity is a big part of George Mason’s identity as an institution, as it is one of the most ethnically and economically diverse schools in Virginia. Dr. Pfoser highlighted the disciplinary diversity of the department by noting that only about half of its faculty are geographers by training. In addition to the interdisciplinary course offerings, the department offers diverse teaching perspectives from career computer scientists, hydrological engineers, environmental geographers, and data scientists. This combination of curriculum, teaching, and student diversity creates classroom environments suited for positive learning experiences.

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Annual Meeting

AAG Mobile App User Manual

With the AAG mobile app, users can view everything in the program in addition to easily creating a digital calendar of events; browsing sessions by specialty group sponsorship, date, time, and presentation type; receive up to the minute notifications on schedule changes or coffee breaks; and see a list of people who are attending the annual meeting. Whether you are brand new to the AAG mobile app or you are looking for more information on how to use the app, this guide will offer detailed instructions.

Getting Started — Download and update your app

Mobile app QR code to download the appThe AAG mobile app is currently available for all major smartphone brands such as Apple iPhone, Samsung, Google Pixel, and LG. To download the app for your smartphone, visit your app store and search for “AAG Meetings” or follow this link from your phone. For tablet devices, either visit the app store and search for “AAG Meetings” or visit the same link as you would for downloading the app to a smartphone. If you do not have a smartphone, have a Windows phone or table, or prefer to use a laptop, the AAG mobile app can also be used on a Windows phone/tablet or any laptop with this link: https://app.core-apps.com/aagam2026. Bookmark the link to easily return to the app on your laptop!

Once you have downloaded the app, open it to see the list of AAG Meetings and click on the meeting to open the program of your choice. The latest is listed first.

You will need to log in to access the program. All annual meeting registrants receive an email with instructions. PLEASE NOTE: you will NOT use your own AAG password to access the mobile app, but one that AAG has chosen and shared in the instructional email. If you are registered for the annual meeting and didn’t get an email or are having trouble logging in, please contact meeting@aag.org.

If you have previously installed the app and you want, you may need to click on the button that reads “Exit to Meeting List” from the home screen of an old program to reach the list of all programs installed within the app. Once you are on the screen that shows the list of AAG Meetings, click the circular arrow button in the top right hand corner to update your app (this arrow button should be RED in color if it is not yet updated). After the app has been updated, click on the program you wish to browse.

Install the program by clicking the install button, then click the blue Open button to open the program.

Note: The first time you open the program, it may need to download updates. This could take a few minutes. Please install the app before attending the meeting and when you are connected to Wi-Fi to ensure the fastest initial download time. Upon opening the app for the first time, you will also be given helpful tips about where to find information in the app. Click Next after reading these tips. There will also be a button available to click if you no longer wish to receive these types of tips.

The Program is Installed! Now what? (The Basics of the App)

Basic features of the AAG app include the ability to set up an electronic calendar of the sessions you plan to attend, browse the program and schedule of events, search for a specific participant or event, and view the maps of the conference venues. If at any time the circular arrow button in the top right corner of the app (under the magnifying glass) turns red, this means that there is an update to the app! Click on the circular arrow to install the updates.

The Home screen of the AAG app is the first screen that will open when the app is launched. Along the top of the app, you will find the quick keys. These are shortcut buttons to take you to the frequently used features of the app. The button shaped like the House will return you to the main app screen. Use this button if you want to return to the main screen at any time. The next button to the right, shaped like a ticket window, is the list of exhibitors who will have a booth in the exhibition hall during the annual meeting. Continuing to the right, the button shaped like an easel, is the list of sessions during the meeting. The fourth button from the left on the top, with the number 19 on it, is your personal calendar. The button that looks like a page is the list of presentation abstracts. Finally the magnifying glass is the search button.

Below the advertisements on the Home screen Yellow bars will appear when you have a new message or when there is an upcoming event on your calendar. Clicking on the Yellow bar with the Caution symbol brings you to your recent messages. These are alerts that might contain useful information such as room changes or coffee breaks. The number next to the Caution symbol tells you how many unread messages you have. The Yellow bar with the calendar icon shows any upcoming events that you have added to your calendar (more below). Click on this bar to see the event.

Below the Yellow announcement bars are a variety of icon buttons that bring you to different features of the app. The basic features of the app will be explained below and include the Calendar, the Sessions, the Search, and the Maps.

The Calendar (My Schedule) button can be found both at the top of the screen and further down the screen. It looks like a flip calendar and has the number 19 on it. This feature allows users to create their own personal schedule of events from the sessions that they are browsing in the app. When you first open the app, the calendar will have nothing on it. As you browse sessions, click on the star icon next to any session you think looks interesting and would like to attend. These sessions are then automatically added to your calendar. It is also possible to add your own events to the calendar. To do this, click the + icon in the top right. From here, add a title, location, date, time, and duration of the event you would like to add to your calendar then select ‘Done’ in the top right. Events that you add to your calendar will be colored in blue while events that are added from the AAG Program are colored in purple. To browse your calendar, click on the date you would like to see at the top of the screen, then scroll down through the times to see all of your scheduled events. For a list view of your events, click on the icon that has the three dots and three lines. The alarm clock icon takes users to a list of all of the events that are currently happening at the annual meeting at the time of clicking on the icon.

To browse sessions in the AAG Annual Meeting program and to add them to your calendar, click on the Sessions button. This button looks like an easel and can be found both at the center top of the screen as well as further down the screen on the left hand side. Once you click on the sessions button, a screen will appear asking how you would like to browse the session. Browsing by Day allows you to look at all the sessions occurring on a particular day that you choose from the dates listed at the top of the screen. These sessions are organized by time and are alphabetical. Browsing by Session Type allows you to look through sessions based on the type of session it is: Illustrated Paper, Interactive Short Paper, Meeting, Panel, Paper, Plenary, Poster, or Special Event. These are then organized by date (select the date you would like to browse at the top of the screen), time, and alphabetical. To browse a session by specialty group sponsors, select Browse by Sponsor Group. This will produce a list of all of the specialty groups and sponsors. Select which sponsor you would like to browse, then select if you would like to browse those sponsored sessions by day or by session type. Lastly, you can browse by Theme to see sessions related to the three AAG Annual Meeting Themes. Browsing by Theme also allows you to browse by day, session type, and sponsor group after selecting your theme of choice. Click on any session while browsing to learn more about the session, including the session description, organizers, and presenters, and presentation titles. To automatically add a session to your calendar, click on the Star on the left. To learn more about the presenter and read their presentation abstracts, click on any presentation in the session agenda. You can also save individual presentations to your calendar instead of entire sessions by looking at the presentation abstract and selecting the Star icon on the left.

The Magnifying Glass shaped icon lets you Search for anything throughout the entire AAG Program. Simply search for the last name of a presenter, a keyword, or an event title in the search box after clicking on the Magnifying Glass. The search results will be displayed below the search bar. Click on any of the results for more information.

Lastly, the Maps icon (this looks like a small 9×9 grid of squares and can be found in the middle of your screen) contains floor plans of the conference hotels as well as a walking map of the main street routes between the AAG meeting hotels. For the hotel floorplans, any of the rooms that are highlighted in orange are rooms being used for the AAG Annual Meeting. If you click on any orange colored room in the floor plan, it will take you to a list of all of the sessions that will be taking place in that room during the conference, organized by date and time.

The above information explains the basic functions of the AAG Mobile App. Using these basic functions will give you everything that the printed program provided, in a faster and more convenient way. It also gives you the ability to easily make a digital calendar of events to attend and find your way through the hotels using the floorplan maps. For more advanced features of the app, continue reading.

Basics, schmasics. I want to know more! (Advanced App Features)

For those app users who want to explore every inch of what the AAG Mobile App has to offer, this section includes additional features of the app beyond the basics. In this section, learn how to create a personal profile and add friends, use multiple devices, read the front matter of the AAG Program and other essentials, read conference abstracts, see lists of presenters and attendees, take notes, read daily Geograms, find your current location, browse a list of exhibitors, and view social media feeds.

It is possible on the AAG Mobile App to create a personal profile such as what you might find on LinkedIN or Facebook. This profile can then be made publicly available to everyone using the AAG Mobile App or used to connect to friends and colleagues. There are multiple ways to set up your personal profile. Either click on the three diagonal lines on the upper left side of the app to open the Message Center and then click at the top to set up a profile or click on the gear icon on the upper right hand side of the app to open the settings and select “MyProfile.” Once in your profile, add your name and any other information you wish. If it is easier, the icon with the arrow in a circle in the top right allows you to import a profile from another site such as LinkedIN. If you would like your profile to be publicly available to others using the AAG Mobile App, make sure that the box is checked next to the phrase: “Tap here to publish your profile to the Attendees list to engage with others users of the app.”

To see who else has created a profile in the AAG Mobile App, select the icon on the Home screen labeled Attendees that has a picture of the two human profiles. This gives you an option to browse all the attendees who have made a profile or to browse attendees by type of attendee (First Timer, Session Chair, Session Organizer, or Student). Connect with people by selecting their name and hitting the “Request Friend” button. After the person you requested to be your friend approves your request, you can send them a message, share your calendar, share notes, or request a meeting all through the app! Simply hit the three diagonal lines in the upper left corner of the app Home screen to open the Message Center and view your list of friends. Click on a friend to open their profile and view the options at the left: envelope (send message), paper and pencil (share notes), calendar (see their schedule after it has been shared with you), ID card (add to address book), trash can (delete friend), hand shake (invite to a meeting), or question mark (help screen).

If you do not want to publicly make your profile available or you know someone who does not have a public profile, you can still add them as a friend on the AAG Mobile App using a friend code. When you click the three diagonal lines from your Home screen to open the Message Center, there will be an icon labeled “+ Add a Friend.” After you click this, you have the option of entering a code that your friend gave you or finding out what your friend code is to give to a friend. The friend code option is only necessary for those app users who do not have a public profile.

To use the AAG Mobile App on multiple devices and be sure that all of your information syncs to each device, Multi Device Sync must be set up. To set this up, first go to Settings on your primary device by clicking the gear icon in the upper right. Scroll down to Multi Device Sync and select First Device. Enter in your email address and a password. On your additional devices, open the settings by selecting the gear icon in the upper right. Scroll down to Multi Device Sync and select Additional Device. Enter the same email address and password that was used for the First Device. After this step is complete be sure to update your app on all your devices by clicking on the circular arrows in the upper right of the Home screen. Your devices should now all be synced to each other and any information added to one device will appear on all of your devices. If for some reason you do not see information being synced, double check that you are logged in on the Multi Device Sync screen in the Settings. Once you have checked that you are logged in, update the app on all devices.

The remaining buttons on the AAG Mobile App access additional information useful for the AAG Annual Meeting. The Abstracts button is similar to the Sessions button, but allows users to search through all of the abstracts submitted for the Annual Meeting. The Presenters button provides a list of everyone who will be doing a presentation at the Annual Meeting. The Presenters button is different than the Attendees button because the Attendees button only contains those who have created a personal profile on the AAG Mobile App and made their profile public whereas the Presenters button is anyone who is presenting at the conference. The Essentials button contains files of useful information typically found in the front matter of the printed program such as information about the Jobs and Careers Center, the Newcomers Guide, Session Chairs instructions, Student Networking Happy Hour, and other information. The Exhibitors button provides a list of those who will have a booth in the Exhibition Hall. Exhibitors can be starred similar to individuals or sessions and saved under the My Favorites button with anything else you have starred in the app. The Social Media button shows you the current X and Instragram feeds, the AAG Facebook page and the AAG YouTube channel. The Membership button navigates to the AAG website that contains more information about renewing and benefits of an AAG membership. The Locate Me button helps you find your way if you are lost. Type in a room that you are standing next to and the app will show you where you are on the hotel floor plans. Lastly, the Notes button lets you see any notes you may have taken about a session. It also allows you to add a note to save for later.

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Awardees

2026 AAG Awards Recognition

Photo of bright sparkly lights on dark background

AAG recognizes geographers for their work and achievements in geography. We will continue to add our awardees as soon as they are announced.

AAG Honors

AAG Honors are offered annually to recognize outstanding accomplishments by members in research and scholarship, teaching, education, service to the discipline, public service outside academe and for lifetime achievement.

The AAG Honors are selected by the AAG Honors Committee, which is elected by the AAG Membership. The committee for the 2026 AAG Honors is comprised of Yongmei Lu, Texas State University (chair); Cindi Katz, The City University of New York; Chandana Mitra, Auburn University; Joann Mossa, University of Florida; LaToya Eaves, University of Tennessee; Kara E. Dempsey, Appalachian State University; Joseph Oppong, University of North Texas; Dawna Cerney, Youngstown State University; Michaela Buenemann, New Mexico State University; Ashley Wallace, AAG (staff liaison).

AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors

Mark D. Schwartz

Mark SchwartzDistinguished Professor Mark D. Schwartz, of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, is internationally recognized for founding the subdiscipline of phenoclimatology—the integrative study of relationships between seasonal biological activity and climate. Over four decades, his pioneering work has transformed understanding of vegetation phenology and its central role in assessing and predicting global environmental change. A prolific and influential scholar, Dr. Schwartz has authored more than one hundred peer-reviewed publications, edited three landmark editions of Phenology: An Integrative Environmental Science, and sustained continuous support from the National Science Foundation. His development of the “Spring Indices” revolutionized how scientists and agencies track the onset of the growing season, establishing indicators now used by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the USA National Phenology Network, which he co-founded. Through visionary research, mentorship, and leadership, Dr. Schwartz has elevated phenology from a niche topic to a core dimension of climate science. His work exemplifies geography’s power to bridge disciplines and connect data-driven inquiry with environmental understanding.

Distinguished Teaching Honors

Seth Appiah-Opoku

Seth Appiah OpokuDr. Seth Appiah-Opoku is honored with the AAG Distinguished Teaching Award for his exceptional contributions to geographic education over nearly three decades. A professor at the University of Alabama since 2002, he has demonstrated a deep commitment to student learning, curriculum innovation, and mentorship. His teaching blends interdisciplinary perspectives with experiential learning, including international field programs in Ghana.

Dr. Appiah-Opoku’s impact is reflected in the success of his students, many of whom have become certified planners and leaders in academia and public service. His excellence in teaching has been recognized through multiple awards, including academic merit honors from the University of Waterloo and Ryerson Polytechnic University, and the Rural Research Development Award from the University of Guelph.

Beyond the classroom, he is a prolific scholar with over 40 peer-reviewed publications and editorial roles in leading journals. He is the author of two books and has edited six others. His work enriches his teaching and exemplifies the integration of research and pedagogy.

Through his dedication to inclusive, globally engaged, and student-centered education, Dr. Appiah-Opoku embodies the highest ideals of geographic teaching. His enduring influence on students and the discipline makes him a truly deserving recipient of the AAG Distinguished Teaching Honors.

AAG Gilbert F. White Distinguished Public Service Award

Derek Alderman

Derek AldermanDr. Derek H. Alderman, Chancellor’s Professor of Geography at the University of Tennessee, has received this year’s Gilbert F. White Distinguished Public Service Award. Dr. Alderman has three decades of experience advancing the field of social and cultural geography through public engagement and transformative leadership. He is a Fellow and former President (2017-18) of the AAG, having used his presidency to advocate for outreach, media engagement, and community partnerships as core professional responsibilities.  He is equally dedicated to geographic education, earning the George J. Miller Award for Distinguished Service to Geographic Education (2023) and the Susan Hardwick Excellence in Mentoring Award (2024) for his extraordinary work mentoring graduate students and supporting K–12 teachers.

Dr. Alderman has (co)authored 3 books, 55 book chapters, 122 journal papers, as well as several public-facing essays that make geography scholarship accessible to broad audiences. He has been cited, quoted in/or contributed to 330 news stories, documentaries, radio & TV broadcasts, blogs, and podcasts. He has partnered with civil rights organizations, museums, and numerous city governments to ensure historically marginalized voices and experiences are represented in public memorial spaces.

His work on the politics of street naming, especially honoring Martin Luther King Jr.—has become a model of publicly engaged scholarship, widely cited in the media and referenced by local policymakers. Dr. Alderman’s public service extends to the federal level. As an appointed member of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Federal Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names (2022-2025), he served as a lead co-author of the nation’s first set of principles for articulating a reparative, participatory approach to addressing derogatory place names.

Public and Engaged Scholarship Honors

Karen Barton

Karen BartonDr. Karen Barton, Professor of Geography, GIS, and Sustainability at the University of Northern Colorado, is the inaugural awardee of the Public and Engaged Scholarship Honors. Given her outstanding community engagements, Professor Barton exemplifies the qualities celebrated by this honor—collaborative knowledge production; the integration of research, teaching, and service; and long-standing relationships with community partners around the world. Her community-engaged research is rooted in and extends the values shared by geographers and humanitarian scholars, cultivating environmental sustainability with community partners in places as varied as Senegal, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Norway. Whether teaching or engaged in community-based research and practice, Karen Barton embodies the ideals of Public and Engaged Scholarship. Her collaborative, inclusive, and responsive approach to research and teaching is exemplary of how geographers can create knowledge with, not merely about, communities. For more than two decades, Dr. Barton’s research on humanitarian disasters, environmental issues, and social challenges has earned international recognition and the deep respect of those with whom she works. Through numerous grants, including twelve Fulbright awards, she ensures that research translates into tangible, lasting benefits for the communities, students, and colleagues involved. This combination of initiative and stewardship has propelled innovation in her own teaching and spurred the purposeful evolution of the Geography, GIS, and Sustainability program at the University of Northern Colorado.

AAG Lifetime Achievement Honors

Nina Lam

Nina LamDr. Nina Siu-Ngan Lam is the E. L. Abraham Distinguished Professor at Louisiana State University, and Wei Lun Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has made transformative and enduring contributions to the field of geography for over four decades. As pioneering scholar in Geographic Information Science, spatial analysis, and environmental studies, Dr. Lam’s seminal research on spatial interpolation, scale, and fractal analysis established foundational principles that continue to shape contemporary GIScience and spatial modeling. Her innovative applications of these methods to topics of environmental health, disaster resilience, and sustainability have significantly advanced the understanding of human–environment systems. Notably, her Resilience Inference Measurement (RIM) framework provides a rigorous, data-driven approach for assessing community resilience to natural hazards.

Dr. Lam has also demonstrated extraordinary leadership and service, including as program director at the National Science Foundation and as president of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science. Dr. Lam has been a dedicated mentor and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and guided generations of students and colleagues whose contributions further her work and influence across the discipline. Dr. Lam’s lifetime of scholarship, leadership, and mentorship exemplifies the highest ideals of the American Association of Geographers’ Lifetime Achievement Honors Award.

Paul Robbins

Paul RobbinsDr. Paul Robbins has profoundly shaped geography through his transformative scholarship, exceptional academic leadership, and sustained public engagement. His pioneering work in political ecology has redefined how geographers understand human–environment relationships. His book Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction remains a foundational text in geography and beyond—spanning wildlife ecology, urban planning, and sustainability science—with more than 6,700 citations. His Lawn People—a highly original and witty exploration of the everyday political ecology of suburban landscapes—was honored with the AAG James Blaut Award and cited nearly 1,000 times.

As Dean of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Robbins has elevated geography as a cornerstone of interdisciplinary environmental research and education. He has expanded faculty, launched innovative programs, and championed access for underrepresented students. He has also mentored generations of geographers and environmental scientists who now lead in academia and public institutions worldwide.

Through frequent appearances in NPR, The New York Times, and Scientific American, Robbins has brought geographic thought to broad public audiences. His eloquent advocacy for the social relevance of geography has strengthened the discipline’s visibility and influence. His career bridges theory, method, administration, and outreach—embodying the multidimensional excellence the AAG Lifetime Achievement Honors celebrates.

AAG Media Achievement Award

GLaD Podcast 

GLaD Podcast: Dani Arribas-Bel; Rachel Franklin and Levi Wolf

The 2026 Media Achievement Award is presented to Drs. Daniel Arribas-Bel, Rachel Franklin and Levi Wolf, the co-creators and hosts of the Geography, Life + Data (GLaD) Podcast. This podcast is celebrated for enhancing the understanding of geography by exploring the intersection of our discipline with data science, public life, and academia—or, as their episode intro says, “geography, life, geography life, and data. Launched in 2023, the GLaD Podcast and its predecessor series have produced over 50 episodes, amassing over 8,000 downloads, over 15,000 views on YouTube, and attracting more than 5,000 listeners worldwide. The podcast is renowned for its ability to simplify complex topics—such as spatial data science and urban analytics—through an engaging and accessible conversational style. It effectively breaks down barriers for students, early-career researchers, and non-specialists. Recognized as an invaluable educational resource, it has been integrated into graduate seminars and serves as a platform to humanize leading scholars. The podcast offers candid, practical advice on academic challenges like job searching and conference navigation, fostering a supportive community. GLaD’s continued independent production underscores the creators’ commitment to bridging the gap between academic research and the wider public.

He Yin

He YinDr. He Yin, Associate Professor of Geography at Kent State University, is honored with the AAG Media Achievement Award for his impactful and globally reaching research on the environmental consequences of armed conflicts and land abandonment. Dr. He Yin successfully translated sophisticated geospatial analysis into actionable insights that guide both humanitarian response and financial decision making.

Dr. Yin’s groundbreaking analyses of war-induced agricultural destruction in Gaza have been featured by some of the world’s most influential outlets—including CNN, BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, France 24, Deutsche Welle, and Bloomberg. These appearances were substantive and helped governments, humanitarian agencies, and the public grasp the scale of environmental devastation and its humanitarian implications. His work has directly informed policy and humanitarian action. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), leading think tanks and NGOs, such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and PAX, have cited his satellite-based damage assessments, while J.P. Morgan referenced his research in its “Eye on the Market” report. His work on land abandonment—highly relevant to biodiversity conservation, food security, and carbon sequestration—has also attracted broad international attention, including coverage in The Guardian, The Hill, and Haaretz.

Dr. Yin has been coordinating the Global Land Programme (GLP) working groups on the topics of agricultural land abandonment, and remote sensing for land system science since 2021. GLP is affiliated with Future Earth.

Learn more about AAG Honors

 

AAG Fellows

The AAG Fellows is a recognition and service program that applauds geographers who have made significant contributions to advancing geography.

The 2025-2026 AAG Fellows selection committee: Budhu Badhuri, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Steven Manson, University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Corene Matyas, University of Florida; Ishan Ashutosh, Indiana University, Bloomington; Sara McLafferty, University of Illinois; and Alex Moulton, CUNY – Hunter College.

Early Career Fellows

Qunying Huang

Qunying HuangDr. Qunying Huang is known for exceptional scholarship, exemplary dedication to training the next generation of geographers, significant contributions to the field of geography, and a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. She leads an internationally recognized research program on geospatial big data and GeoAI at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has established herself as a leading scholar in geocomputation and big-data sensing techniques for real-time emergency response and Earth observation. Dr. Huang is committed to high-quality teaching and mentorship, as evidenced by her recognition as a Madison Teaching and Learning Excellence Faculty Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, where she has made her courses accessible to over 700 students annually from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds. She is a sought-after advisor and has shepherded dozens of master’s and doctoral graduate students who have gone on to academia, government, and industry. She has served in various capacities for the AAG, including multiple roles within the AAG Cyberinfrastructure Specialty Group (CISG), and has organized and chaired numerous sessions at the AAG annual meeting. Her scholarly work has been dedicated to revealing and addressing social issues of underrepresented and marginalized groups, exploring access inequality, and developing evidence-based strategies for increasing equity and inclusion.

Peter Kedron

Peter KedronDr. Peter Kedron is a leading geographer whose work advances fundamental understanding of spatial processes, innovation diffusion, and the dynamics of human-environment systems.  As a faculty member at the University of California Santa Barbara, he is recognized for his methodological rigor and theoretical contributions to spatial data science and economic geography.  Dr. Kedron’s research integrates spatial econometrics, geographic information science, and various forms of geospatial analytics to examine how ideas, technologies, and policies evolve across space and time. His pioneering studies on replication and reproducibility in geographic research have elevated the discipline’s commitment to scientific transparency and open scholarship.  An active leader in the American Association of Geographers (AAG), Dr. Kedron has strengthened the link between geographic theory and data-driven policy solutions. His scholarship exemplifies the fusion of spatial thinking, computational innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration that defines geography’s expanding role in addressing complex societal challenges.

Abigail Neely

Abigail NeelyDr. Abigail H. Neely is associate professor of geography at Dartmouth College, where she is recognized for her scholarship in political ecology, health, and social justice in sub-Saharan Africa. Her award-winning book Reimagining Social Medicine from the South (Duke University Press, 2021) reframes social medicine through ethnographic and archival work in rural South Africa, examining how human and more-than-human forces shape health and inequality. She has published widely in leading journals such as Social Science & Medicine and Progress in Human Geography, with research supported by major NSF and Yale fellowships. Dr. Neely has also played a key role in disciplinary service, including editorial work for Environment and Planning E and leadership of the AAG Working Group on Research Partnerships for Targeted Mentoring Networks. At Dartmouth, she advances socially engaged scholarship as the School House Professor, leading one of Dartmouth’s six house communities, as a former Senior Fellow in the Society of Fellows and as a committed mentor to students and early career scholars.

Later Career Fellows

Godwin Arku

Godwin ArkuDr. Godwin Arku has made significant contributions to the discipline of geography and to the AAG community through impactful scholarship, dedicated mentoring, and wide-ranging service. As professor and Western Faculty Scholar at Western University in Canada, he works in the field of urban geography, including examining the planning and management of cities, and assessing the lived experiences of urban residents, consistently foregrounding equity, institutional accountability, and the need for context-sensitive planning. Dr. Arku is deeply committed to mentorship and capacity building, having supervised many doctoral students who now hold academic and professional positions around the globe. Dr. Arku has made sustained contributions in foregrounding marginalized voices, including work on informal urban communities in Africa and racialized essential workers in Canada, and has been recognized with the Robbins-Ollivier Excellence in Equity Award. Dr. Arku served as the Chief Editor of the African Geographical Review, an official journal of the AAG published on behalf of its Africa Specialty Group. He has served the AAG in multiple other capacities, including as vice chair of the Africa Specialty Group, member of the Government Data and Employment Committee, and current member of the AAG Honors Committee.

Marilyn Brown

Marilyn BrownDr. Marilyn A. Brown is a leading geographer and energy policy expert whose work has shaped national and global approaches to sustainable energy and climate solutions. A Regents’ Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Public Policy, she integrates geographic analysis with technology and policy research to advance understanding of energy transitions, innovation, and environmental equity.  Previously at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dr. Brown led pioneering studies on renewable energy, efficiency, and the spatial dynamics of technological change. Her service on National Academies’ committees and contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlight her leadership in linking geography, science, and policy. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Brown’s research continues to inform pathways toward a low-carbon, resilient, and equitable energy future.

K. Maria Lane

K Maria LaneDr. K. Maria D. Lane is a professor of Geography and Environmental Studies and Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of New Mexico, where she has advanced the discipline through innovative scholarship, institutional leadership, and community engagement. An internationally recognized historical geographer, she is the author of Geographies of Mars: Seeing and Knowing the Red Planet (2011) and Fluid Geographies: Water, Science, and Settler Colonialism in New Mexico (2024), both with the University of Chicago Press. These books illuminate how scientific and cartographic practices shape environmental knowledge and power. As department chair from 2014 to 2019, Dr. Lane launched the state’s first joint PhD in Geography, founded the R.H. Mallory Center for Community Geography, expanded faculty ranks, and redesigned the undergraduate curriculum. Her leadership in securing major NSF funding has strengthened graduate education, supported community-engaged research, and advanced climate change and geovisualization initiatives. She has also served as editor of both Historical Geography and the Journal of Historical Geography and continues to lead public scholarship projects such as the Indigenous Cartographies Symposium and the Native Trails geovisualization collaboration with the National Park Service.

David López-Carr

David López-CarrDr. David López-Carr has conducted ground-breaking research on the intersecting issues of poverty, hunger, deforestation, and health in the Americas. A professor at University of California Santa Barbara, López-Carr’s pioneering work in land change science has deepened our understanding of the relationships between population dynamics and tropical deforestation, and the complicating influences of gender, local economics and remittances, and climate-driven impacts. International agencies and community organizations have benefited from his work documenting place-based ecological and socioeconomic drivers of environmental injustices faced by diverse communities across the globe. An inspiring teacher and visionary leader, Dr. López-Carr has mentored underrepresented scholars, advocated for equitable hiring, and shaped institutional practice by improving representation, recruitment, and retention.

Jerry Mitchell

Jerry MitchellDr. Jerry Mitchell, department chair and professor at the University of South Carolina, is a renowned expert in, and advocate for, geographic education. His extensive leadership, community outreach, and scholarly contributions combine a rigorous understanding of what geographic learning and teaching should aim for with creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to promote that intellectual vision. Through his two decade-long coordination of the South Carolina Geographic Alliance (SCGA), more than 40,000 teachers have received training, networking opportunities, and pedagogical support, making SCGA one of the most successful and innovative alliances in the U.S. As editor of the Journal of Geography, and president of the National Council for Geographic Education, he spearheaded efforts to strengthen and diversify geographic education scholarship; to increase involvement of early-career scholars; and to advance inclusion within the discipline. His many honors and awards, including the AAG’s Gilbert H. Grosvenor Honors in Geographic Education, are a testament to his transformative efforts to advance geographic education at all levels and to shape its future nationally and internationally.

Joann Mossa

Joann MossaDr. Joann Mossa is a highly productive fluvial geomorphologist who researches physical geography through a lens of human environment dynamics. Dr. Mossa has produced influential studies that examine coastal plain river systems as sources of water and assess the geomorphic consequences of mining, hydropower, floodplain alterations, and dredging. This work provides not only a scientific understanding of these processes but also a framework for evaluating their social and environmental tradeoffs. As an award-winning teacher and mentor at the University of Florida, her unwavering commitment to advancing discipline and mentoring the next generation of geographers is truly exemplary. She has been active in the AAG, SEDAAG, her state, university, and department, including service as president of SEDAAG and the Florida Society of Geographers. Dr. Mossa has received the AAG Geomorphology Specialty Group’s Mel Marcus Distinguished Career Award, the Richard J. Russell Award from the AAG’s Coastal and Marine Geography Specialty Group, SEDAAG’s Lifetime Achievement Award, SEDAAG Research Honors in 2022, and the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the UF Geography department. The AAG is honored to recognize Dr. Joann Mossa as a Fellow.

Michael Pretes

Michael PretesDr. Michael Pretes, University of North Alabama, has balanced heavy teaching and mentoring responsibilities with impactful scholarship, extensive service to AAG and the profession, and meaningful public outreach, while still actively publishing research across a broad range of topics. He has taught more than fifty different courses covering human geography, physical geography, regional geography, and geographical methods. He has demonstrated a sustained commitment to advance justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the discipline, including recruiting colleagues and supporting students from varied backgrounds. Dr. Pretes has received numerous major teaching, advising, service, and scholarship honors including those from AAG, SEDAAG, APCG, NCGE, and his home university, and he served as the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Geosciences at the United States Air Force Academy in 2024-25. He has demonstrated exemplary service to the AAG, actively participating in the leadership of both SEDAAG in the region where he currently teaches, and APCG, his original home region, where he is serving as their Regional Councilor to AAG and has contributed as President, Awards Committee Chair, Archivist, and Chair of the Latina/o/e American Travel Scholarship Committee. With his incredible creativity and unwavering commitment to teaching, research, and service, the AAG proudly recognizes Dr. Michael Pretes as a Fellow.

Patricia Solís

Patricia SolísDr. Patricia Solís is an influential geographer whose career bridges research, education, and global collaboration to advance the applied and socially engaged dimensions of geography. As research professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and executive director of the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER) at Arizona State University and co-founder of Youth Mappers, she has created innovative platforms connecting geographic scholarship with community resilience, open data, and youth empowerment worldwide.  Dr. Solís’s work exemplifies how geospatial technologies and participatory mapping can address pressing challenges such as disaster preparedness, migration, sustainability, and social equity. Through leadership in the AAG and international initiatives, she has expanded opportunities for geographic learning and global engagement.  A recognized advocate for inclusive and transformative geography, Dr. Solís has inspired a new generation of geographers to apply spatial thinking for social good—making geography a vital force for resilience, justice, and collective problem-solving in communities around the world.

Barney Warf

Barney WarfDr. Barney Warf is a prolific scholar whose work probes and reveals the dynamic forces of change in political and economic geographies. His many books and articles have expanded the field to instill geographic insights into social and economic dimensions of modern life, including the transformative impacts of digital technologies and media, and the emergence of cosmopolitanism and post-truth geographies. A professor at the University of Kansas, Dr. Warf’s diverse contributions, including a prize-winning encyclopedia, have made geographical concepts and research findings accessible to academic and policy audiences, while increasing participation of early-career scholars who have benefited from his mentorship and editorial skills. In editorial positions at the Professional Geographer, GeoJournal, and other leading publications, and through longstanding AAG committee service, Dr. Warf has shaped the future of our discipline by expanding participation of diverse scholars, advancing a steadfast commitment to academic freedom and freedom of speech, and highlighting the responsibility that geographers bear in the public sphere.

Learn more about AAG Fellows

 

Presidential Achievement Award

Chosen by the AAG Past President, recognizing individuals who have made long-standing and distinguished contributions to the discipline of geography

Sarah Elwood

Sarah ElwoodThis award is presented in recognition of Sarah Elwood’s outstanding and sustained scholarly contributions, specifically her work on participatory, collaborative, and community-based GIS, relational poverty, and the broader dedication of her research and scholarship to social justice in the contemporary world. She is professor and chair of Geography at the University of Washington, doing research that focuses on digital technologies, urban geographies, and creative politics forged by structurally disadvantaged peoples fighting for equity, self-determination, and everyday thriving. Dr. Elwood has studied the use of geographic information systems (GIS) by neighborhood groups fighting gentrification and racial dispossession, interactive online mapping by children whose spatial knowledge and agency often go unseen, digital apps used in low-barrier employment by unsheltered people living and working in public space, and visual poverty politics advanced by unsheltered people and their allies. Works published from these lines of research have opened theoretical and methodological horizons in urban and digital geographies, relational poverty studies, critical and qualitative GIS, visual politics and mixed methods.

Dr. Elwood co-founded and co-directed the Relational Poverty Network (2013-2023) with Vicky Lawson. She is past editor of Progress in Human Geography, co-author of Abolishing Poverty: Toward Pluriverse Politics and Futures (University of Georgia, 2023), and co-editor of Relational Poverty Politics (University of Georgia, 2018) and Qualitative GIS (Sage 2009). Dr. Elwood’s undergraduate and graduate courses focus on spatial technologies and urban geographies, with emphasis on impoverishment, and feminist, critical race, and queer theory. At the University of Washington and prior faculty appointments at the University of Arizona and DePaul University, her pedagogies are rooted in a commitment to experiential learning and collaboration as ways that students can carry out intellectually and socially significant scholarship, incorporating peer-based teaching and learning with spatial technologies, student-designed course readers, ethnographic data collection, student-led field research, and mapping collaborations with community partners.

Nik Heynen

Nik HeynenNik Heynen has earned the Presidential Achievement Award in recognition of his work on urban social justice, ecological restoration, and his collaborative work with the Geechee community on Sapelo Island in Georgia, all of which reflect the broader dedication of his research and scholarship to social justice in the contemporary world. He is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Georgia, a visiting scholar in Food Studies at Spelman College, and the director of education for the Athens-based nonprofit organization Shell to Shore. His research interests sit at the intersection of economic, environmental, climate, and racial justice. For just over a decade, he has been working with members of the Saltwater Geechee in the Hogg Hummock community on Sapelo Island on the restoration of traditional agricultural practices and flood mitigation made necessary as a result of descendants losing their land to development pressure and increasing sea-level rise leading to more frequent flooding. Through this work he co-directs UGA’s Cornelia Walker Bailey Program on Land, Sea and Agriculture with Maurice Bailey.

Dr. Heynen has served as part of the editorial collective at Antipode and was the founding Chair of the Institute for the Geographies of Justice. He has served as an editor for Annals of the AAG and is the founding editor of the University of Georgia Press book series Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation, as well as a co-founding editor of Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space. In recognition of Dr. Heynen’s sustained contributions to the discipline, the AAG recently recognized Dr. Nik Heynen as an AAG Fellow and awarded him the Harold M. Rose Award for Anti-Racism Research and Practice.

Learn more about the Presidential Achievement Award

 

AAG Atlas Award

The Atlas Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments that advance world understanding in exceptional ways. Atlas Award recipients are those who have taken the weight of the world on their shoulders and moved it forward, whether in science, politics, scholarship, the arts, or in war and peace.

Jonathan Foley

Jonathan FoleyDr. Jonathan (Jon) Foley is the Executive Director of Project Drawdown, and independent and internationally trusted organization that provides science-based guidance to climate solutions and strategies. A world-renowned environmental scientist, sustainability expert, and public speaker, Foley focuses on understanding our changing planet and finding new solutions to sustain the climate, ecosystems, and natural resources we all depend on.

AAG recognizes Foley with its highest award for his groundbreaking research and advisory support to leaders and groups in all sectors, around the world. His work has contributed to the understanding of global ecosystems, food security and the environment, climate change, and sustainability. His more than 130 peer-reviewed scientific articles that have been widely cited. In 2014, Thomson Reuters named him a Highly Cited Researcher in ecology and environmental science, placing him among the top 1 percent most-cited global scientists.

Foley is a gifted science communicator whose presentations have been featured at hundreds of international venues such as the Aspen Institute, the World Bank, the National Geographic Society, the Chautauqua Institution, the Commonwealth Club, the National Science March in Washington, D.C., and TED.com. He has taught at major universities on topics ranging from climate change and global sustainability solutions to the future of the food system and addressing the world’s “grand challenges.” He has written popular pieces for National Geographic, the New York Times, the Guardian, and Scientific American, and others; and is frequently interviewed by international media outlets, such as National Public Radio, the PBS NewsHour, the BBC, CNN, and more. Foley appeared in the HBO documentary on climate change “Too Hot Not to Handle,” and the film series “Let Science Speak.” Foley’s leadership before Project Drawdown launching the Climate, People, and Environment Program (CPEP) while at the University of Wisconsin from 1993 to 2008, where he also founded the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) and served as the first Gaylord Nelson Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies. From 2008 to 2014, he served as the founding director of the Institute on the Environment (IonE) at the University of Minnesota, where he also held the McKnight Presidential Chair of Global Environment and Sustainability. Between 2014 and 2018, he was the executive director of the California Academy of Sciences, the world’s greenest and most forward-thinking science museum.

His numerous awards and honors include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, awarded by President Clinton; the J.S. McDonnell Foundation’s 21st Century Science Award; an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship; the Sustainability Science Award from the Ecological Society of America; the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Award; and the Founders’ Medal from the Native Plant Society. He also received the prestigious Heinz Award for the Environment.

AAG commends Dr. Jonathan Foley, the 2026 AAG Atlas Award honoree.

Learn more about the AAG Atlas Award

 

AAG Honorary Geographer

Recognizes excellence in research, teaching, or writing on geographic topics by non-geographers.

Jennifer Clapp

Jennifer Clapp

She is recognized for her groundbreaking work at the intersection of global economy, food systems, and food security, along with her commitment to praxis, including her current service as a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), and her previous service on the Steering Committee of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) from 2019-2023 (vice chair 2021-2023).

She is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo. Her recent books include Titans of Industrial Agriculture: How a Few Giant Corporations Came to Dominate the Farm Sector and Why it Matters (MIT Press, 2025), Food, 3rd edition (Polity, 2020), Speculative Harvests: Financialization, Food, and Agriculture (Fernwood Press, 2018), and Hunger in the Balance: The New Politics of International Food Aid (Cornell University Press, 2012).

Dr. Clapp is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an International Fellow of the Swedish Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. She has also received numerous awards for her interdisciplinary research, including a Killam Research Fellowship, the Innis-Gérin Medal for contributions to Social Sciences from the Royal Society of Canada, a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellowship, the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize, and the Canadian Association for Food Studies Award for Excellence in Research.

We are honored to recognize Dr. Jennifer Clapp as Honorary Geographer, 2026.

Learn more about the AAG Honorary Geographer Award

 

AAG Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography

Presented annually to an individual geographer or team who has demonstrated originality, creativity, and significant intellectual breakthroughs in geography.

Judith Carney

Judith Carney is pictured in front of ornamental grasses

She is Distinguished Research Professor emerita of Geography at UCLA, and an early practitioner of political ecology whose fieldwork focused on human-environmental issues in West Africa and Latin America. Her publications over the past four decades examine the effects of agrarian transformations on gendered agricultural systems in Senegambia, the female-managed shellfishery of Atlantic mangrove ecologies, the role of enslaved Africans in establishing African plant domesticates in New World slave societies, and the significance of subaltern agroecologies for food futures in the tropics. Professor Carney’s research on African expertise in rice culture resulted in her book, Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas (Harvard University Press, 2001), which won the Melville Herskovits award. Her second volume, In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World (University of California Press, 2009), which illuminates the role of enslaved Africans in shaping New World food systems, was awarded the Frederick Douglass Book Prize.

Professor Carney is an elected member of the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the Association of American Geographers from whom she also received its Distinguished Scholarship Honor, the Historical Geography Award, the Netting Award for Geography and Anthropology, and the Sauer Distinguished Scholarship Award. Her research has been supported by the National Geographic Society, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.

We commend Dr. Carney for her recognition for the Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography.

Learn more about the AAG Stanley Brunn Award

 

Susan Hardwick Excellence in Mentoring Award

Given to an individual geographer, group, or department who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in building supportive academic and professional environments in their departments, associations, and institutions and guiding the academic and or professional growth of their students and junior colleagues.

Sarah Holloway

Sarah HollowayThe American Association of Geographers recognizes Professor Sarah Holloway with the Susan Hardwick Excellence in Mentoring Award for her longstanding commitment to supporting students and colleagues, and her role in fostering a positive, inclusive academic environment. Over more than 30 years at Loughborough University, she has contributed to meaningful improvements in departmental and institutional culture through her teaching, mentorship, and dedication to equitable practices.

Professor Holloway has provided guidance to individuals at many career stages, including undergraduate and graduate students as well as early and midcareer faculty. Her thoughtful, individualized approach has helped many scholars grow in confidence, navigate key career transitions, and develop leadership skills. Her mentorship has supported people from a wide range of backgrounds, including first-generation students, international scholars, and those facing social or economic barriers.

Her work has also contributed to broader structural change. Professor Holloway played an important role in advancing maternity leave and part-time employment policies at her university and supported the first researchers to benefit from these improvements. She introduced new topics into the curriculum early in her career and helped shape courses that broaden students’ perspectives and strengthen the learning environment. Her contributions to equity and inclusion were further acknowledged when she received her School’s inaugural EDI Champion Award.

Across her career, Professor Holloway has helped build a more supportive and inclusive academic community. Her sustained contributions have positively influenced individuals, programs, and the wider field. The American Association of Geographers is pleased to honor her with the 2026 Susan Hardwick Excellence in Mentoring Award.

Learn more about the Susan Hardwick Excellence in Mentoring Award

 

Glenda Laws Award

Recognizes outstanding early to mid-career scholars’ contributions to geographic research on social issues.

Rachel Goffe

Rachel GoffeDr. Rachel Goffe is a human geographer whose work sits at the intersection of social reproduction, carceral geographies, Caribbean Studies and Black Geographies. In a time when these issues are absolutely vital, Dr. Goffe is concerned with the state regulation of minoritized lives. While her work is situated in her native Jamaica, the work applies to us all, particularly via the global ramifications of considering racial capitalism, gentrification, placemaking, boundary writing, and how policy and the state dictate claims to the idea of home apply to us all. Dr. Goffe also has a strong record of community engagement and service both in and out of the academy., including organizing writing circles for graduate students from conflict zones and supporting grassroots organizations that fight for Justice in Jamaica. As someone emphasizing the effects of today’s inequities and fighting to lessen them, Dr. Rachel Goffe should be recognized for continuing the legacy of Dr. Glenda Laws and her exemplary commitment to social justice and social policy.

Xiao Huang

Xiao HuangDr. Xiao Huang is a data and environmental scientist who combines these two interests into work on disaster mitigation, human-environment interactions, disaster remote sensing, urban studies, and other areas. Rather than study data for data’s sake, he wants to put data to work studying and solving human problems. He shows that research, public service, and community engagement are not mutually exclusive endeavors. His research dossier advocates that “computational urban science needs to go beyond computational”: he considers how human mobility affects people’s lives how we can map floods in real time with social media, heat risk assessment in urban areas, and much more. His work has been featured in the popular media, showing the public how important geography is for solving social problems. Dr. Huang also has an extensive record of leadership in and service to the discipline. A true public scholar, Dr. Xiao Huang should be recognized for continuing the legacy of Dr. Glenda Laws’s exemplary commitment to social justice and social policy.

Learn more about the Glenda Laws Award

 

E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Award

Recognizing members of AAG who have made truly outstanding contributions to the geographic field due to their special competence in teaching or research.

Jayajit Chakraborty

Jayajit ChakrabortyDr. Jayajit Chakraborty is a Professor and Mellichamp Chair in Racial Environmental Justice at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management in the University of California, Santa Barbara, whose research has analyzed spatial and social inequalities associated with environmental hazards and disasters, as well as informed public policies that address environmental injustices. His extensive body of scholarly work, which includes many co-authored publications with graduate students, is well-cited both within and outside the academy. He has contributed to science research, writing, and advocacy, often as the only geographer, as a member of multiple US Environmental Protection Agency advisory committees. Dr. Chakraborty was recently included in the Stanford-Elsevier ranking of the world’s most cited researchers who are in the top 2% in their academic subfield (geography). He has mentored dozens of graduate and undergraduate students (including first-generation and minority students), taught undergraduate and graduate courses across various geographic subfields, served on the editorial boards of several Geography and Environmental Science journals, and chaired AAG committees.

CindyAnn Rose-Redwood

CindyAnn Rose-RedwoodDr. CindyAnn Rose-Redwood, Teaching Professor of Geography at the University of Victoria, is recognized for her exceptional dedication to teaching excellence, inclusive pedagogy, and student mentorship. Widely recognized as an inspiring instructor and innovative educational researcher, she has received prestigious awards from the Canadian Association of Geographers, the University of Victoria, and the American Association of Geographers, as well as several teaching and learning grants. Dr. Rose-Redwood’s pedagogical creativity is evident through her course design and leadership in integrating anti-racism and social justice into geography curricula, advancing the discipline’s capacity to engage urgent contemporary issues. Beyond the classroom, she has been a transformative mentor to undergraduate and graduate students, serving as a dedicated faculty advisor for student organizations and creating empowering environments for international and first-generation students. Her mentorship has nurtured the next generation of geographers, activists, and community leaders. Also significant are her scholarly contributions to understanding international student experiences. In addition to several refereed articles, her two widely recognized co-edited books reposition international students as critical social actors in shaping higher education, migration, and cultural politics.

Learn more about the AAG Miller Award

 

J. Warren Nystrom Award

Recognizes a distinguished paper based upon a recent dissertation in geography.

Garima Jain, Ph.D.

Garima JainDissertation: “From adaptation to entrapment: Evidence of aquaculture-induced salinity feedback in coastal India”
Learn more about the J. Warren Nystrom Award

 

AAG Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work in Geography

Awarded for a book written by a geographer that makes an unusually important contribution to advancing the science and art of geography.

Alison Mountz and Kira Williams

Let Geography DieAlison Mountz and Kira Williams offer a dramatic and important reworking of the disciplinary history of geography itself with Let Geography Die: Chasing Derwent’s Ghost at Harvard  (MIT Press, 2025). Not only does this important book re-examine a crucial story in the discipline’s institutional trajectory within the U.S. academy, it also offers a creative and compelling model for blending together scholarly history with the reflexive practices of contemporary disciplinary critique. Combining a new reading of archival sources with new questions about queer identity and academic politics, Let Geography Die isn’t just an exhumation of a particular painful moment in geography’s past, but also an inquiry into the discipline’s present and future. It makes compelling reading for any geographers who wish to reflect on how scholarly effort and personal longing fit into the broader systems of disciplines and institutions.

Learn more about the Meridian Book Award

 

AAG Globe Book Award for Public Understanding of Geography

Given for a book written or co-authored by a geographer that conveys most powerfully the nature and importance of geography to the non-academic world.

David L. Prytherch

Reclaiming the RoadWhat would our streets, cities, and neighborhoods look like if urban plans took geographers and their studies seriously? With Reclaiming the Road (University of Minnesota Press), David Prytherch shows us the promise of communities planned, designed, and built for humans, rather than solely cars. Through rich case studies, extensive historical-geographical contexts, and delightful prose, the book offers an indispensable guide for re-engineering urban space through best practices, human-centered designs and policies, and abiding attention to intersectional concepts of equity and justice. In-depth interviews with transportation advocates, city planners, and community leaders across nine U.S. cities meld with interdisciplinary yet accessible theoretical discussions to ground the analysis in both lived experience and insightful scholarship. Immersed in dialogues linking practice, advocacy, and scholarship, Reclaiming the Road wields the powers of geography to ask more of urban design and to reimagine our communities as spaces of mobility and justice.

Learn more about the Globe Book Award

 

AAG John Brinkerhoff Jackson Prize

Encourages and rewards American geographers who write books about the United States which convey the insights of professional geography in language that is both interesting and attractive to lay readers.

Jennifer Mapes

The New American Small TownJennifer Mapes is the recipient of this year’s John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize from the AAG. Mapes is an astute reader of the cultural landscape, deploying her skills in reading and interpreting the American small town and its evolution. Attentive to the social and political forces that shape places and landscapes, The New American Small Town (West Virginia University Press)  challenges stereotypical perceptions and offers a new interpretation by highlighting the diversity among American towns, based in part on the lived experience of their residents. Mapes introduces a typology to show differences among small towns and discusses images ranging from the nostalgic ideal of the “real” America to stale and declining places to towns struggling to respond to rapid growth. With approachable and engaging writing, the book should be interesting to a wide range of readers, equally appealing for a graduate seminar and a general audience. The New American Small Town addresses a big theme in American geography and will encourage readers to think about these places in new ways.

Learn more about the Jackson Prize

 

AAG Council Award for Best Student Paper at a Regional Division Meeting

Encourages student participation at AAG Regional Division meetings and supports their attendance at the AAG Annual Meeting.

Undergraduate

  • Carolina Cambron (SWAAG)
  • Katie Dusek (SWAAG)
  • Margarete Brady (ELDAAG)
  • Jake Plasky (WLDAAG)
  • Delaney Gardner (NESTVAL)
  • Valerie Davidheiser (Middle States)

Graduate

  • Adriana Montoya (SWAAG)
  • Theodora Mary Fletcher (ELDAAG)
  • Kei Kato (WLDAAG)
  • Caitlyn Linehan (APCG)
  • Stephen Adebisi (GPRM)
  • Gianna Dejoy (NESTVAL)
  • Naznin Nahar Sultana (Middle States)
  • Nicko Tovar (SEDAAG)
  • Maxwell Gundling (Middle Atlantic)
  • Haijun Li (Middle Atlantic)
Learn more about the Council Award for Best Student Paper

 

AAG Best Paper Awards in Geography & Entrepreneurship

Sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, these two annual awards recognize promising research studying geography and entrepreneurship. Research that has direct practical implications and addresses pressing environmental, economic and/or social problems is especially appropriate for these awards. One award is given to a student, practitioner or faculty member, and one award is given to an undergraduate or graduate student.

  • Pengfei Li, Best Paper
  • Alexandra Harden, Best Student Paper
  • Marisa Raya, Runner-Up
Learn more about the Best Paper Awards in Geography & Entrepreneurship

 

Marble Fund Award for Innovative Master’s Research in Quantitative Geography

This award recognizes excellence in academic performance for the best research in quantitative geography leading to the master’s degree. Two awards will be issued each year. The award, which is not limited to degrees awarded in the United States, is named for Dr. Duane Marble, creator of the Marble Fund, and instrumental in the development of GIS as a scientific academic endeavor.

Lily Heidger, University of California Santa Barbara

Learn more about the Marble Fund Award

 

Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Award in Geographic Science

Recognizes excellence in academic performance by undergraduate students from the U.S. and Canada who are putting forth a strong effort to bridge geographic science and computer science as well as to encourage other students to embark upon similar programs.

Rachel Loftus, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Learn more about the Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Award

 

AAG Darrel Hess Community College Geography Scholarships

Awarded to outstanding students from community colleges, junior colleges, city colleges, or two-year educational institutions who will be transferring as geography majors to four-year universities receive support and recognition from this scholarship program, provided by Darrel Hess of the City College of San Francisco since 2006.

Colin Montoya, transferring from Pasadena City College to California State University Los Angeles

 

Erin Dickey, transferring from Front Range Community College to Colorado State University

Learn more about the Hess Community College Scholarships

 

AAG Research Grants

Supports direct costs for fieldwork and research.

  • Kim Diver
  • Annick Essoh
  • Jianying Wang
  • Edward C. Holland
  • Ting Liu
  • Orhon Myadar
  • Michelle E. Zuñiga
  • Hanlin Zhou
Learn more about AAG Research Grants

 

AAG Dissertation Research Grants

Supports for doctoral dissertation Research for Ph.D. candidates of any geographic specialty

  • Holland Haverkamp
  • Sanghamitra Sengupta
  • Esmee Mulder
  • Pearl Fichtel
  • Ledeebari Banuna
  • Brian Boyce
  • Frederick Atkins
  • Annika Hirmke
  • Weishan Bai
Learn more about AAG Dissertation Research Grants

 

50 Year Members

AAG honors its members who have been active in AAG for 50 concurrent years.

  • Mary Adamson
  • Kent Barnes
  • Warren Davis
  • Phillip Kolbe
  • Jo Margaret Mano
  • Virginia O’Neill (posthumous)
  • Lizbeth Pyle
  • Jeffrey Roet
  • Nigel Smith

 

 

AAG International Geographic Information Awards

This program supports college and university student career development in the academic areas of applied spatial analysis or geographic information science or systems (SA/GISS). It was established by generous gifts from Laura and Jack Dangermond and the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri).

IGIF Scholarship

  • Alamin Molla
  • Anna Monson
  • Bewuket Tefera
  • Jessica Embury
  • Jiahua Chen
  • Jiayin Zhang
  • Lauren Hollinger
  • Marjan Behnia
  • Pingping Wang
  • Qianheng Zhang
  • Sheida Ghahremani
  • Wenjing Gong
  • Wenyu Zhang
  • Yanbing Chen
  • Yifan Yang
  • Ying Nie
  • Youshuang Hu
  • Yuyan Che
  • Zeping Liu
  • Zhaoxu Sui
  • Zongrong Li

IGIF Graduate Research

  • Ailing Jin
  • Haofeng Tan
  • Haojie Cao
  • Jiwon Jang
  • Mohammad Safaei
  • Seung Jae Lieu
  • Syeda Tasneem
  • Tanvir Hossain
  • Xinyang Zhang
  • Yuxin Cao
  • Yuyang Wu
  • Zhang Chen

IGIF Student Paper

  • Chen Chu
  • Chen Wei
  • Emily Zhou
  • Gabriel Agostini
  • Hao Tian
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AAG Staff
AAG Staff