Advocacy

The Future Is Here: Sophia Garcia and the Intersections of GIS, Redistricting, and Social Justice

November 16, 2021

Photo of Sophia Garcia padding a raft in river rapids

We’re celebrating the accomplishments of geographers during Geography Awareness Week (November 14-20) and beyond. Find out more about this year’s theme, “The Future Is Here: Geographers Pursue the Path Forward” at our GeoWeek StoryMap, and follow the celebration at #GeoWeek or #GeoWeek2021.

Photo of Sophia Garcia Sophia Garcia, the GIS and Outreach Director for Redistricting Partners in Sacramento, CA, understands how maps can start necessary conversations. In her current role, she sees redistricting efforts and community involvement as the “perfect intersection of talking about community, uplifting the community and letting them know what’s happening.” In her work she focuses on the imperative that we bring light to the redistricting process, engage communities, and empower them to get involved.

Garcia graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Wellesley College in 2015, and now works for Redistricting Partners from her base in Bakersfield, California. Garcia came to her current role from her previous work as a GIS Analyst for the Dolores Huerta Foundation, where she saw firsthand how she could uplift the work of her colleagues and community organizers through mapping. GIS software has great potential to start a dialogue and Garcia knows this:

Data is more than just numbers; there’s a story behind what’s happening.

Although she grew up with a father who worked in the GIS field (she attended her first ESRI User Conference when she was 10 years old, and mainly remembers the refreshments), Garcia did not see the full potential of GIS until college. Along with her classmates, she was tasked with figuring out how people living in a certain census block could do something sustainable surrounding food and grocery shopping. After knocking on doors and having conversations with people in the neighborhood, she found that not everyone had access to the nearest grocery store because of factors such as affordability, distance, and access to transportation.

Because of the geographic nature surrounding the factors of access to food and sustainability, Garcia had an “aha moment” and realized the stories of everyone she had talked to could be conveyed using a map. She started to work with GIS on the project, and eventually went on to intern with the GIS departments in Kern County to learn more about the different ways that the departments utilized GIS.

At Redistricting Partners, Garcia has been very successful in using mapping technologies and outreach to emphasize the real-world implications of redistricting, and advocate for a more fair process. She was part of the group that sparked the passage of the California Assembly Bill No. 849, which mandates rules to increase transparency in the redistricting process in cities and counties across California. This bill, which Garcia hopes to see similarly implemented in other parts of the country, requires localities to have specific redistricting websites and mandates redistricting to be talked about during long public meetings, among other components.

When asked how younger geographers can explore new, interdisciplinary possibilities in geography, Garcia urges them to find a project they are passionate about and make use of mapping technology which is often available from ESRI to college and K-12 students. She recognizes that you can categorize pretty much any data geographically, and urges young geographers to “find whatever you’re passionate about, or mad about, or excited about, and learn to map it, make it as a poster, share it with someone, and you can have a discussion about it.”

Anthony O. Gabriel

Anthony O. Gabriel, professor of geography at Central Washington University, died Tuesday, September 14, 2021, after a valiant 14-month battle with cancer. He was 56. He was called home to God at his home surrounded by his loving family.

Anthony was born to Oswald Gabriel and Ursula Duhr in Vancouver, B.C., Canada in October 1964.  He grew up in Langley, B.C. and attended Trinity Western University.  He went on to complete his Master’s degree at Western Washington University where he met and married his wife, Marikay Douvier.  Anthony continued to complete his Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario.

Anthony was a professor in the geography departments at Western Washington University, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and finally, for the last 20 years, at Central Washington University.  Through is love of teaching and research, he helped to mold the future of many students. He always went over and above to serve his department and his students. He successfully supervised over 30 Masters of Science theses.

Together Anthony and Mari welcomed two children, Katie and Zach. Anthony was very proud and supportive of his children, as he was involved in their education, extra-curricular activities, and life lessons. He always encouraged his children to pursue their dreams and goals.

Anthony was a devout member of St. Andrew’s Catholic Church. He enjoyed camping and fishing, walking his dogs, playing pool in the Ellensburg Pool League and being a 4-H leader for On Target Shooting Sports.

Anthony was a remarkable, very generous, and caring person, completely devoted to his family. He mentored many young faculty members in the department of geography at Central Washington University, helping them navigate work-family balance. He will be especially missed for his hilarious (and unique) sense of humor and how he loved to make people laugh.

Anthony was preceded in death by his father, Oswald Gabriel. Anthony is survived by his wife Mari, daughter Katie, son Zach, mother Ursula Gabriel, sister Angela Gabriel-Morrissey, brother-in-law Chris Morrissey, as well as numerous in-laws (and out-laws), nephews and nieces.

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Bobby M. Wilson

Dr. Bobby M. Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of Alabama, who was a widely recognized leader in anti-racist scholarship, passed away on August 25^th, 2021.

Dr. Wilson grew up on a farm in Warrenton, North Carolina where his responsibilities on the farm shaped his character and strength. It was also in Warrenton that he participated in the struggle for civil rights in the early 1960s. Later, he would attend North Carolina Central University, which was one of the few historically Black colleges that offered an undergraduate degree in geography. He earned a B.A. in Geography there and then received a fellowship to attend Clark University, where he earned a M.A. (1973) and Ph.D. (1974).

His first teaching position was in the Department of Urban Studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, from 1974-2002. He moved to the University of Alabama (in Tuscaloosa) in 2002, where he stayed for nearly two decades pursuing anti-racist scholarship. He also served as interim chair and retired as professor emeritus in 2015. Fittingly, his office in Farrah Hall was only a few steps away from Malone Hood Plaza on The University of Alabama campus, which celebrates the desegregation of the University of Alabama. His proximity to the plaza is symbolic of Dr. Wilson’s long dedication to anti-racist scholarship.

Wilson was active in several research areas including Urban and Social Geography; Urban Studies; Black Geographies; and the civil rights movement. His publications cover topics including Black perspectives on labor geographies, racial capitalism, urban planning, and residential segregation. His most notable publications were America’s Johannesburg: Industrialization and Racial Transformation in Birmingham, and Race and Place in Birmingham: The Civil Rights and Neighborhood Movements, both published in 2000. These books explore crucial links between the civil rights movement, the unique rise of industrial development in Birmingham, and Alabama’s former slaveholding plantation economy. These books are highly regarded in a variety of disciplines from Urban Studies to Economic Geography for their clear analysis of the spatial dimensions of race and exploitation of Black labor during industrialization. As a testament to the lasting importance of his work, The University of Georgia Press republished America’s Johannesburg in 2019.

In addition to being a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Editorial Board, of Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography, Dr. Wilson was also a long-time member of the American Association of Geographers and was active in the Southeast Division (SEDAAG). He served on the Editorial Committee, of Southeastern Geographer, Journal of the Southeastern Division, Association of American Geographers, the Editorial Board, of Annals of the Association of American Geographers, and AAG’s Commission on Afro-American Geography.

He was recognized by the AAG with a Presidential Achievement Award in 2012, and both a Rose Award for Anti-Racism Research and Practice and the AAG Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. The latter in “recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the scholarship of urban and social geography, urban studies, and anti-racist theory and practice; his teaching and mentoring; as well as his exemplary leadership in support of geography.”

Dr. Wilson is remembered fondly by many former colleagues and students at the University of Alabama and elsewhere.

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Sanford Bederman

Sanford H. Bederman, 89, of Johns Creek, Georgia, died on 19 August 2021 from complications of cancer. A graduate of the University of Kentucky and a U.S. Army veteran who served in Germany in the 1950s, he received his M.A. from Louisiana State University in 1957, and Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Minnesota in 1973.

Bederman began teaching at Georgia State College of Business Administration in 1959, and in 1974 he was promoted to Full Professor at what became Georgia State University. His primary area of interest was Africa, with time spent in the field in Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, Kenya and Morocco pursuing research supported by the NSF, the Rockefeller Foundation and Georgia State University. Over the years, Bederman held several visiting professorships including at Queen Mary University, University of London.

Bederman was recognized as a gifted teacher who taught and advised generations of students and was also a prolific writer, with many publications including articles in The Oxford Companion to Exploration for which he served as the Africa Section editor.

Bederman retired from GSU in 1992, concluding 34 years of service. From 1993-95 he was a Visiting Professor at The University of Georgia, and thereafter he continued to teach at the Senior University of Greater Atlanta. Bederman was active in The Society for the History of Discoveries, serving as Executive Secretary in 2006. He was an Honorary Life Member of the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

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John Herbert Galloway

John (‘Jock’) Herbert Galloway died on July 27, 2021 in Tweed, Ontario, after suffering several years with Alzheimer’s.

Jock, as he always preferred to be known, graduated with a BA in Geography from McGill University in Montreal in 1960, an MA in Geography from the University of California at Berkeley in 1961, and a PhD from University College London in 1965. His doctoral research, conducted under the supervision of Professor Clifford Darby, focused on the historical geography of Pernambuco in Northeastern Brazil, from 1770 to 1920. Jock was appointed a Lecturer at the University of Toronto, St. George in 1964, and then an Assistant Professor in 1965. He was promoted to Associate- and Full-Professor ranks in 1970 and 1977, respectively. Jock retired from the University in 2005 when he was appointed Professor Emeritus. During his many years at the University of Toronto, Jock was a devoted and much loved and respected member of the Department of Geography & Planning as well as at Victoria College where he was a long-time Fellow.

Jock’s research and publications focused on the historical geography of Brazil and the Caribbean, leading to his monograph, The Sugar Cane Industry. An historical geography from its origins to 1914 published by the Cambridge University Press in 1989. Exploring the global geographical diffusion of the sugar cane industry and its various branches, it is now considered a classic reference on the subject. Jock was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the American Geographical Society, and a member, among others, of the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) and the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. He served as Associate, Acting-Editor, and then Editor for the Canadian Geographer from 1966 to 1973, and on the editorial board of the Journal of Historical Geography from 1974 to 1978 and again from 1984 to 1994. He was the Review Editor for the Americas for the same journal from 1978 to 1983. From the late 1980s to the 2000s, Jock served on editorial boards for other periodicals including Latin American Studies, and the Luso-Brazilian Review of the University of Wisconsin Press. Pursuing his interest in sugar and his links with similarly minded people around the world, from 1994 to 2005 he co-edited the World Sugar History Newsletter. Over his long academic career, Jock published numerous articles and chapters, and delivered dozens of symposia papers and invited lectures. He also received several awards from his peers, including the Award for Scholarly Distinction from the CAG, and an Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Toronto.

Jock will be remembered as a wonderful colleague and dedicated teacher. He was in personal life a Renaissance man, urbane, witty, multi-lingual, culturally engaged, and a great cook. Since his retirement, colleagues and students have often reminisced about seeing Jock in the hallways of Sidney Smith Hall, always dressed impeccably, and very often rushing with maps rolled under his arms, on his way to give a lecture. Jock will be remembered as a scholar as well as consummate gentleman who was always supportive of his colleagues and students.

5 August 2021

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Roger Kasperson

Former Clark Graduate School of Geography faculty member Roger Kasperson, passed away on Saturday, April 10. A major scholar in the fields of risk and environmental sustainability, Professor Kasperson had a nearly lifelong relationship with Clark and the GSG: he earned his B.A. in Geography from Clark in 1959, and returned to Clark as a faculty member in Geography and Government in 1968 after earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Chicago and teaching elsewhere for several years. He spent the majority of his career at Clark, in a variety of roles: in addition to being an assistant, associate, and full professor in our department, he headed a number of major centers and initiatives at Clark and served at various points as Acting Director of the GSG, Dean of the College, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and University Professor. He retained an appointment as a Research Faculty member in our department up until the time of his death.

Professor Kasperson was a major figure in the fields of risk analysis and communication, global environmental change, and vulnerability, sustainability, and resilience. As such, he worked closely with a variety of government agencies and NGOs, including the National Research Council, the International Geographical Union, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Change. Perhaps most notably, he was the Executive Director of the Stockholm Environment Institute from 2000-2004. He was also an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a recipient of honors from both the AAG and the Society for Risk Analysis.

Thank you to the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University for permission to publish this obituary. Original found here.

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Nancy Hultquist

Nancy B. Hultquist, retired Central Washington University (CWU) geography professor, died March 30th, 2021. During her geographic career she was an active member of the American Association of Geographers (over 50 years), the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE), and the Washington Geographic Alliance (WGA). Nancy is remembered fondly by students, friends, and colleagues. She was quick to assist junior faculty and devoted countless hours to helping students find employment.

Like many geographers, Nancy was drawn to the field early in her academic career. Also, like many geographers, she had many non-academic interests including bowling, raising Brittneys, and playing the fiddle.

Born in 1943, Nancy grew up in Atlanta, GA where she lived near a 32-lane bowling alley. There she worked and became good at the sport. (Nancy holds the record of High Series (679) for Women in Moscow, ID.) She completed her undergraduate degree in 1965 at Georgia State University and then on to Graduate school, first at the University of Cincinnati and then on to the University of Iowa. Along the way she married John (also a geographer) in 1969. From the farming country of Iowa came the first Brittany. Then the University of Idaho beckoned (1974), and the three headed further west.

The Moscow university provided a split position that Nancy and John shared. Along the way she gained knowledge and teaching experience using computers to make detailed maps. Like so many of her contemporaries, Nancy started out with key-punch cards and eventually moved on to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Countless K-12 teachers were introduced to the early iterations of making maps and GIS through NCGE workshops she participated in with Paul Baumann.

In 1988, Nancy joined the CWU geography department as the first full-time, tenure-track woman faculty member. There, she became involved with an Army initiated (GRASS) GIS program. Initially the program used CWU faculty to do mapping for the Army’s Yakima Firing Center/Training Center. Nancy expanded the program to include undergraduate GIS classes and was instrumental in moving the program along. Her popular classes grew, and she soon had students presenting their GIS projects at professional meetings. It is little wonder that, as an advisor, she supervised more interns than any other geography department faculty.

Other than her love of geography and dogs, (their kennel name – Cedaridge Brittanys – was known throughout the Nation) Nancy was also a talented musician. She first played the fiddle at the age of 4 and, as an additional outlet for her boundless energy, joined a group named Kittitas Valley Fiddlers and Friends. Heart issues from a childhood case of Rheumatic fever ended her academic career, but only interrupted her fiddle playing. Major heart surgery came in 2009. Her surgeon told her she was spared because there was more for her to do on Earth.

As she recovered and gained stamina, Nancy began to take a larger role in the music of the Kittitas Valley Fiddlers and Friends. They played at elder care facilities in Ellensburg and other venues in the area, especially at the Adult Activity Center. The photo accompanying this text is from this period. She considered the entertainment provided to the residents of the valley in these facilities one of her best experiences.

Nancy was known as a great teacher and an even greater supporter of student success. She maintained a jobs list of employment opportunities across the Pacific Northwest which currently has over 800 subscribers. Many CWU alumni credit her tireless work to helping them launch their career. The list will continue, serving as a living memorial to her impact. Please take a moment to remember Nancy B. Hultquist as a shining light to students, colleagues, and friends.

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Allen G. Noble

Dr Allen G. Noble, Professor Emeritus at the University of Akron, Ohio and a longtime AAG member, passed away on March 24. He was 90 years old.

In his early career, Dr. Noble served as a United States Foreign Service Officer in Bombay, India, and Curitiba and Belém, Brazil. He went on to a distinguished academic and publishing career in regional, cultural, and physical geography. His book Wood, Brick, and Stone: The North American Settlement Landscape was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1984. In the late 1980s, AAG recognized Dr. Noble with the AAG Honors, the highest award offered by the AAG. The Ohio Academy of Sciences cited him in their 100th Year Celebration as one of Ohio’s Distinguished Scientists.

Noble’s ability to keep his family goal oriented and organized will be greatly missed. He was predeceased by his daughter and is survived by his wife, two sons, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren

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William A. Dando

William A. Dando, Distinguished Professor of Geography and professor emeritus at Indiana State University, passed away on January 1, 2021, at the age of 86, after a brief illness. Throughout his life, he was an exemplar of a balanced academic life, excelling at research and teaching while also serving his communities: a true “gentleman” of geography.

William Arthur Dando was born in Newell, Pennsylvania on June 13, 1934 and grew up exploring the surrounding hills and valleys. He served in the Air Force from 1954-6, including a stint in Iceland. Under the G.I. Bill, Dando attended California University (PA), just across the river from Newell, earning his B.S in Geography and Mathematics in 1959. He received his M.S. in 1962 and Ph.D. in 1969 from the University of Minnesota, working with John Borchert. His dissertation was entitled “Grain or Dust; A Study of the Soviet New Lands Program 1954-1963.” This work began a lifelong interest in food production and Soviet agriculture.

Dando’s first teaching position was at the University of Maryland. In 1970, he received a Danforth Associateship, “awarded in recognition of good teaching and in humanizing the education process.” In 1972, he was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Postdoctoral Research Grant to study Romanian agriculture, becoming one of the first Americans to spend time on a communist collective farm.

Beginning in the early 1970s, he started leading geography field courses to the Soviet Union, allowing him to gather data behind the Iron Curtain while giving hundreds of students memorable field experiences. In addition to university students, he also took teachers and farmers on educational trips to the Soviet Union, making over twenty trips.

In 1975, Dando accepted a position at the Geography Department at the University of North Dakota, becoming chair of the program.

In 1980, Dando published The Geography of Famine (1980) which received international acclaim. In 1982, he contributed a chapter on “Man Made Famines” to Famine: Its Causes, Effects and Management which was recognized with the World Hunger Media Award by the United Nations.

Dando spent the 1981-82 academic year as a Senior Scholar at Chung Chi College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Dando moved to Terre Haute in 1989 where he was the chair of the Department of Geography, Geology, and Anthropology at Indiana State University until his retirement in 2002. After retirement, he founded the “Senior Scholars Academy” at ISU, a pre- and post-retirement think-tank for retired faculty members dedicated to regional enhancement and community revitalization.

Throughout his years at the Universities of Maryland and North Dakota and then at Indiana State University he taught undergraduate and graduate classes, mentoring students of all levels as well as faculty. Michael DeMers, a beloved student and friend, dedicated his first book to Dando, writing: “I offer this work first to William A. Dando, who put my feet on the path of geographical knowledge and who has been an unwavering supporter of my work. He not only shared his knowledge and skills with me but, more importantly, he shared his time, his family and, above all, his love. No student ever received so much from an advisor. His has been the pattern that I have tried to emulate” (Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems, 1997).

Dando was a prolific researcher and author, publishing over 29 books and monographs, 79 articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia entries, and two atlases. A scholar to the end, he continued to publish books and articles after his retirement, including Food and Famine in the 21st Century (2012) and Geography of the Holy Land: Jerusalem, Regional Cities, Small Towns, and Rural Places (2020). He had a knack for grant-writing and had numerous grants over his academic career, adding up to millions of dollars in funded research.

He received numerous awards for teaching, research and service from a variety of institutions and organizations, including from the University of Maryland, University of North Dakota, Indiana State University, the NCGE, the West Lakes Division of the AAG, and from the AAG.

At all the universities he worked at, Dando was active on campus, serving on university committees. He also gave numerous presentations to local organizations and advised various state offices on geography-related topics, including at one point the governor of North Dakota.

He worked with teachers to help improve the teaching of geography in schools in Maryland, North Dakota, and Indiana. His contributions to geographic education were recognized by awards from the Geographic Educators of Indiana, the National Council for Geographic Education, and the AAG.

Dando was a member of the AAG 60 years. He served the AAG in a variety of capacities: vice-chairman (1971) and chairman (1973-4) of the Middle Atlantic Division; as treasurer (1977-8) and chairperson (1978-9) for the Great Plains-Rocky Mountain Division; as a chairperson (1994-5) and regional councilor (1997-2000) for the West Lakes Division; on the AAG Proposal Writing Committee 1990-3; and chairperson of the Bible Specialty Group (1993-2021).

Former Executive Director of the AAG, Doug Richardson, a long-term friend of Bill Dando, noted that “Bill’s curiosity, energy, and wide-ranging scholarship, coupled with a deep commitment to his students, have made significant and enduring contributions to the discipline of geography. His big heart and his expansive vision will be missed by all.”

His deep interest in food and famine issues was not just academic. He was an active member of Centenary United Methodist Church of Terre Haute and he and wife Caroline worked its monthly “Fourth Monday” luncheon, a free meal to whoever needs it, just two days before his passing.

He leaves behind his wife and co-writer/editor Caroline Z. Dando; children Christina, Lara, and Bill (all geographers); four grandchildren — Emmaline, Anna, Alex, and John; and thousands of former students and mentees.

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Robert Thomas Kuhlken

Robert Thomas Kuhlken, retired professor of geography and former geography department chair at Central Washington University, died on January 1, 2021. He was 67.

Kuhlken was a lifelong scholar, educator, and tireless observer of the natural world. He was more comfortable outdoors than in, and always eager to explore new terrain. He studied at the University of Virginia at Wise and Oregon State University and was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to study agricultural terracing in the Fiji Islands while earning his doctoral degree in geography from Louisiana State University.

His specialization in human geography and his focus on land management fit perfectly with his desire to learn and explore. He favored traveling via public transportation on excursions throughout Mexico, South America, Polynesia, New Zealand, and Europe to get an unfiltered view of the local culture.

Kuhlken brought the results of these travels to the classroom, sharing his firsthand experience with his students. He taught college geography for more than three decades, spending most of his career at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, where he retired in 2015 as professor emeritus in geography.

He taught thousands of students at CWU. Countless first-year students with little knowledge of the rest of the world were captivated by Kuhlken’s enthusiastic spirit of adventure, his colorful stories, and deep insights into human and physical landscapes across the globe.

Kuhlken also taught courses focused on cultural geography, Oceania and North America, and urban and regional planning. His planning courses drew, in part, on his nearly 10 years of experience as a professional planner in Oregon before beginning his academic career. Quite a few of his students have gone on to successful careers as planners themselves.

As a scholar, Kuhlken’s work emphasized cultural ecology, historical geography, and environmental literature. He co-authored A Rediscovered Frontier: Land Use and Resource Issues in the New West which Rowman & Littlefield published in 2006.

He also published on topics as varied as Pacific archeology, zydeco music, and arson. In more recent years, his passion for fishing led to new scholarship on the geography of recreational fishing and the sport of angling.

More than anything, Kuhlken loved to be outdoors with friends and family—hiking, fishing, sailing, biking, gardening or just feeding the birds in the backyard. In remembrance, please donate to the National Park of your choice.

He is survived by his wife, Cynthia McGill Kuhlken; his stepson, Jeff Acker; and his brothers William Kuhlken, Kevin Kuhlken, and Karl Kuhlken.

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