Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Annual Meeting 2025

DoubleTree Omaha – Downtown, Omaha, NE

The Geography & Geology Department of the University of Nebraska Omaha invites you to join us in Omaha at the 2025 Great Plains-Rocky Mountain Division Meeting of the American Association of Geographers, being held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of National Council for Geographic Education.

Both meetings will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Omaha – Downtown.  Omaha, whose metropolitan area just reached one million residents, is a dynamic regional hub, known for its Henry Doorly Zoo (ranked top zoo in the country) and for hosting the annual College World Series.

Special events include:

• Paper and poster sessions
• Joint events with NCGE
• Field trips
• Keynote talk from Dr. Jessica DiCarlo (organized by NCGE)
• And much more!

Schedule and Program

• Friday, October 17 – Field trips, opening reception
• Saturday, October 18 – Paper/poster/panel sessions, student paper & poster competition, luncheon with keynote address, GeoBowl

Field Trips

Thursday

• Omaha as a post-industrial city walking tour, 4-5:30 p.m.

Friday

• Loess Hills (explored the Loess hills south and east of Omaha with stops at apple orchards, Arbor Day lodge, Iowa Loess Hill sites, and other local points of interest), 9am-2pm
• South Omaha bus tour (historic meatpacking and immigrant enclave, dynamic community of Central and South American immigration), 8am-11am
• Omaha as a post-industrial city walking tour, 9-10:30am
• North Omaha bus tour (exploration of Omaha’s Black American community, its rich dynamic history, and its challenges), Noon-3pm
• Omaha as a post-industrial city walking tour, 1-2:30pm

Registration

Submit your abstract after you register

Abstract submission deadline is October 9.

Lodging

The DoubleTree by Hilton Omaha Downtown places you in the heart of Omaha near conference events. For more information about the hotel, see the NCGE conference page.

Student Paper/Poster Competition

To be considered for an award, each student will need to register to attend their fall Regional Division meeting and submit their paper at that time. Awards will be presented at each Regional Division meeting.

• GPRM Region Awards for Best Student Papers and Posters — Awards are given for Best Graduate Student Paper, Best Graduate Student Poster, Best Undergraduate Student Paper, and Best Undergraduate Student Poster. Award amounts for each competition are $100 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place, with the exception of the best graduate student and undergraduate student papers, who will receive the AAG Council Award (see below).
• AAG Council Awards for Outstanding Undergraduate and Graduate Student Papers at Regional — These awards are designed to encourage undergraduate and graduate student participation at AAG Regional Division meetings and support their attendance (in-person or virtual) at AAG Annual Meetings. Each awardee (one undergraduate and one graduate) will receive $1,000/each in funding for use towards the awardee’s registration and travel costs to the AAG Annual Meeting.

Geography Bowl

Enter your department’s GeoBowl team to compete at this year’s GPRM-AAG Regional Meeting for fun, prizes, and glory, as well as the chance to represent the GPRM Region in the World Geography Bowl at the national AAG Meeting!

GeoBowl is a friendly and fun academic competition based on fundamental factual and conceptual geographical knowledge. Teams of six students compete—game-show style—to answer questions and earn points. Teams must have a minimum of six members but can also have reserves that can rotate in and out of different matches. Teams are encouraged to include a mix of graduate, undergraduate, male, and female students, but this is not a requirement at the regional level.

The top three teams and top three individual scorers will be recognized. The six highest-scoring participants, including a minimum of one undergraduate and one female representative, will also be invited to represent the GRPM Region and compete in the World GeoBowl at the AAG Annual Meeting. Those invited will receive a small stipend for their participation at the Annual Meeting.

Schools wishing to participate are required to pre-register and send the institution and departmental name, all team member names, class (grad or undergrad), and email of each team member to the GeoBowl coordinator. Please include the words GeoBowl in your team registration or any other GeoBowl-related correspondence.

Sponsorship Opportunities

The annual meeting of the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Division of the AAG is expected to draw an enthusiastic group of 200+ active geographers, including faculty, practitioners, graduate students, and undergraduate students.

Sponsor support will enhance our meeting by connecting geographers to related organizations and their goods and services. All funds generated by sponsorships are used to offset participant registration costs which, in turn, promotes even higher meeting attendance.

Sponsorship Levels

• Platinum Sponsor — $1000
  • Two complimentary registrations
  • Recognition at banquet
  • Logo on conference website
  • Table for use at registration area
• Gold Sponsor — $500
  • One complimentary registration
  • Logo on conference website
  • Table for use at registration area
• Silver Sponsor — $250
  • Logo on conference website
  • Signboard display at registration area

Questions?

Contact GPRM regional chairs Christina Dando and Rex Cammack, University of Nebraska Omaha.
For questions about student paper competitions, please contact Karen Falconer Al-Hindi.