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AAG Kicks Off Earth Day with the March for Science

Geographers from around the globe participate in the March for Science in Washington, DC

Geographers from around the country traveled to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 22, 2017, to demonstrate and show their support for the March for Science. Despite the rain, Geographers and scientists from many other disciplines and their supporters rallied to march for science!

As a formal partner of the march, AAG was proud to stand with many other organizations that shared a belief that science should be well funded and that political leaders should enact evidence-based policies for the common good.

To kick off the day, the AAG Meridian Place office served as a gathering place and information center for geographers participating in the March. Coffee and refreshments were available for marchers throughout the day. Guests included families like the Brownell family who traveled all the way from Columbus, Ohio, to take part in the march!

Lisa, Ellie, Adam and Jonas Brownell from Columbus, Ohio.
Shortly before the start of the march, the Accuweather reporting team sat down with AAG President Glen MacDonald and Executive Director Doug Richardson to ask them why science is so important and why they are participating in the march. Watch a short clip of AAG President Glen MacDonald’s response to “Why Science is so Important,” here.  Also, watch a short clip of AAG Executive Director Doug Richardson’s thoughts on the “Impact of Federal Funding in the Scientific Community,” here. 

Accuweather reporting team interviews AAG Executive Director Doug Richardson.

 

Accuweather reporting team interviews AAG President Glen MacDonald

Mid-day, you could see marchers holding banners and signs that read, “March for Science Including Geography – The Glue that Holds the Rest Together,” “In Science We Trust,” “Policy After Peer Review,” “The Climate is Changing, Why Can’t We,”  “Science Not Silence,” and many more. AAG members and staff carried three signed Geographers March for Science banners during the march. The three banners had been on display during our Annual Meeting in Boston, April 5-9, and AAG attendees had a chance to sign the banners. Kudos to our AAG President Glen MacDonald who somehow managed to slip past the crowd and get in front of the march with our signed Geography March for Science banner! 

AAG President Glen MacDonald carries the Geographers March for Science banner.

In addition to the March for Science in Washington, D.C., satellite marches were happening around the country and throughout the world. Many AAG member geographers participated in marches including AAG Past President Sarah Bednarz, in Albuquerque, NM; Eric Huntley, Lexington, KY; Paul McDaniel in Atlanta, GA; faculty and students from Salem State Geography, Salem, MA; Dawn Wright, in Vienna, Austria; and many more.

At the conclusion of the march, AAG invited members, partners and supporters to a happy hour reception at the AAG Meridian Place office to rest, catch up and to celebrate the march.

Marchers enjoy a happy hour reception at the AAG Meridian Place in Washington, DC.

AAG would like to thank all the members, partners and supporters who participated in the March for Science. The day was a great success and we look forward to collaborating and partnering in future events that will have an important impact to the discipline of geography and the overall future of science.

For a visual recap of the day’s event, check out our Twitter Moment here.  In addition, we’ve captured the highlights of the day on Facebook as well, and you can watch it here.

Visit the AAG Policy Action page to learn more about our work on the March for Science and to see the ost recent policy actions taken by the AAG.

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Geographers Farhana Sultana and Tim Beach Lecture at Vatican Workshops

Tim Beach, Centennial Professor of Geography and Environment at UT Austin, presented an invited lecture on “Societal Collapses from the Maya to Mesopotamia and Beyond” at the Vatican in a workshop on Biological Extinction sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. His talk included discussions of extinctions in soil ecology and used the lenses of soil and sediments to view and understand the complexity of cultural transitions from the Pleistocene to present, focusing on Maya history.  The workshop, held Feb. 27-Mar. 1, 2017, included world leaders in multiple fields from around the world. Learn more.

Farhana Sultana, associate professor of geography at the Maxwell School, presented at “The Human Right to Water” workshop, also hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, in Vatican City on Feb. 23-24, 2017. She was one of the several international researchers, humanitarian workers, government officials and corporate leaders invited to present and debate issues about water insecurity and ongoing global efforts to ensure access to clean water. Learn more.

biological extinction, Farhana Sultana, Tim Beach, Vatican, Water Security
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Library of Congress Publishes New Book, “Picturing America: The Golden Age of Pictorial Maps”

Designed to educate, amuse, or advertise, pictorial maps were a clever and colorful component of print culture in the mid-20th century, often overlooked in studies of cartography. A new book published by the Library of Congress in association with the University of Chicago Press, “Picturing America: The Golden Age of Pictorial Maps,” by Stephen J. Hornsby, celebrates these vibrant maps, tracing their development and proliferation from the 1920s to the 1970s. Learn more.

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Updated AAG Schedule for the March for Science

Updated AAG Schedule for the March for Science

We invite and encourage AAG members to attend the March for Science in Washington, D.C. or in satellite events around the globe this Saturday, April 22. We have updated the schedule below to include the just-released list of speakers.

Saturday Schedule of Events

9:00 am – 6:30 pm: The AAG Meridian Place Office in Washington, D.C. (1710 16th Street NW) will be open as a gathering place and information center for geographers participating in the March. We will have coffee and refreshments available for marchers throughout the day.

The AAG has designed special “Geographers March for Science” hats that will be available at our office for only $7.00. We have also created large banners for groups of geographers participating in the March, which many AAG members signed during the annual meeting in Boston. You may also download and print a small version of this banner to carry with you.

8:00 am: The gates to the main-stage area for the March will open. The two gates are on Constitution Avenue NW at 15th and 17th Streets 

9:00 – 11:30 am: March for Science teach-ins near the main stage. 

view the map

10:00 am – 2:00 pm: The official main stage program of speeches and presentations. The main stage will be on Constitution Avenue at 16th Street (just north of the Washington Monument). The list of speakers can be found here: www.marchforscience.com/speakers/

1:30 – 2:00 pm: Geographers and friends are encouraged to gather together on the steps of the north side entrance of the National Museum of American History (the Constitution Avenue side of the Museum at approximately 13th Street – NOT the side facing the National Mall) so that we can all march as a large group. 

2:00 – 4:00 pm: Marching to the U.S. Capitol Building to conclude the March for Science. Full logistical details can be found here: https://www.marchforscience.com/event-details/

5:00 – 6:30 pm: Happy Hour Reception at the AAG office. Come join us for a celebratory drink and to gather in groups with your friends for dinner. There are hundreds of good restaurants within walking distance of our AAG office. AAG President Glen MacDonald will offer a toast.

Other logistical information

We would like to know if you will be coming to Washington for the March! Please fill out this form, so that that we can have an accurate count for the March and also for post-reception refreshments and snacks.

Other Related Events in Washington during the March for Science Weekend

  • Friday, 5:30 – 6:30 pm: Event featuring former presidential science advisor John Holdren at AAAS Headquarters. This event is sold out, but we have a few tickets that we will give to the first AAG members who contact John Wertman of the AAG staff at jwertman [at] aag [dot] org.

The AAG is a formal partner of the March, and we affirm the nonpartisan beliefs that the benefits of science are a human right, that science should be well funded, and that political leaders should enact evidence-based policies for the common good.

Please do not hesitate to contact the AAG at 202-234-1450 with any questions you may have about participating in the March for Science or about the event itself. We hope you will join us and our colleagues from all disciplines in supporting this historic event!

The AAG 2017 annual meeting brought some 9,300 registrants to Boston, many of whom signed special banners for the March for Science. These banners containing thousands of signatures will be carried at the March for Science in Washington, D.C., on April 22. The 2017 AAG Annual Meeting was held in Boston April 5-9 at the Hynes Convention Center.
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AAG 2017 Boston Featured Theme — Mainstreaming Human Rights in Geography and the AAG

AAG 2017 Boston — Featured Theme

Mainstreaming Human Rights in Geography and the AAG

This special theme will feature 50 sessions with more than 250 presentations at the intersection of human rights and geography and will build on the AAG’s decade-long initiatives in this area. Speakers from leading international human rights organizations, academia, government, and NGOs will address human rights challenges around the world.

  • In the keynote plenary, “A Continuing Conversation with Noam Chomsky,” Noam Chomsky will engage in a conversational interview with AAG Executive Director Doug Richardson. The audience will also have an opportunity to ask questions following the interview. In addition, Chomsky will receive the 2017 AAG Atlas Award, the association’s highest honor. Be sure and add to your calendar this important keynote session scheduled for Thursday, April 6, 2017, from 5:20 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in Ballroom B of the Hynes Convention Center.
  • Another high-profile Human Rights session, “International Human Rights Priorities: Featured Perspectives,” features panelists Terry Rockefeller, Board of Directors, Amnesty International USA; Michael Posner, NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights and former Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the State Department; Beth Simmons, Andrea Mitchell University Professor of Law and Political Science, University of Pennsylvania; Jessica Wyndham, AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program; Tawanda Mutasah, Amnesty International and Douglas Richardson, Executive Director, American Association of Geographers. This session is scheduled on Saturday, April 8, 2017, from 1:20 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. in Room 103, on the Plaza level of the Hynes Convention Center.
  • Rush Holt, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), will deliver a featured talk on “Advancing Science in the Public Arena,” on Thursday, April 6, from 11:50 a.m. – 1:10 p.m. in Room 103 of the Hynes Convention Center.
Noam Chomsky, Audrey Kobayashi, Doug Richardson, Jessica Wyndham, Tawanda Mutasah, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, James Hansen and Colette Pichon Battle

 

Organizing Committee: Douglas Richardson, Chair (AAG), Sheryl Beach (University of Texas), Jessica Wyndham (American Association for the Advancement of Science), Audrey Kobayashi (Queen’s University)

View the full list of sessions within this featured theme.

You can easily add sessions and events of interest to your schedule in the AAG Mobile App or in your online program.

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AAG 2017 Boston Special Policy Events — The 2016 U.S. Elections: Implications for Geography and Beyond

AAG 2017 Boston — Special Policy Events

The 2016 U.S. Elections: Implications for Geography and Beyond

This series of sessions will focus on analysis and research on the 2016 U.S. election, and what the results may mean for geography, the nation, and our planet.  

  • This special track features the session, “The 2016 U.S. Elections: Implications for Geography and Beyond,” a high-profile panel session, chaired and organized by AAG President Glen M. MacDonald, with Sarah Witham Bednarz, Texas A&M University; Alexander B. Murphy, University of Oregon; Douglas Richardson, American Association of Geographers; Derek H. Alderman, University of Tennessee; Victoria A. Lawson, University of Washington; Julie Winkler, Michigan State University, among others. This special session will be held on Saturday, April 8, 2017, from 5:20 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in Room 312 of the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.
  • The panel session, “Need for Public Intellectuals in a Trump America: Strategies for Communication, Engagement, and Advocacy,” organized by AAG Vice President Derek Alderman, will take place on Thursday, April 6, from 10:00 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. in Room 312 of the Hynes Convention Center.

View the full list of sessions within this featured theme.

You can easily add sessions and events of interest to your schedule in the AAG Mobile App or in your online program.

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AAG 2017 Boston Featured Theme — Geographies of Bread and Water in the 21st Century

AAG 2017 Boston — Featured Theme

Geographies of Bread and Water in the 21st Century

Burgeoning global population along with increasing appetite for high-protein or resource demanding food choices may double demands on world agriculture by 2050. At the same time groundwater depletion and climate change are negatively impacting the availability of sufficient water to meet agricultural and domestic freshwater demands in many regions. Compounding these challenges are socioeconomic forces, including armed conflicts and state collapse that negatively affect agricultural productivity, food transference and water resources. The challenges to food and water security over the 21st century represent an increasing and potentially existential threat to global society. These issues are fundamentally geographical in nature and form a central research and educational focus of geography and the AAG special theme.

  • The AAG Opening Session and Presidential Plenary: Geographies of Bread and Water in the 21st Century will anchor this featured theme. AAG Executive Director Doug Richardson will deliver welcoming remarks to open the meeting. Speakers in this plenary session will be AAG President Glen M. MacDonald (UCLA), Ruth DeFries (Columbia University) and Peter Gleick (Pacific Institute). Discussants will be Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern (Syracuse University) and William G. Moseley (Macalaster College). This plenary session is on Wednesday, April 5, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in Ballroom B of the Hynes Convention Center.

View the full list of sessions within this featured theme.

You can easily add sessions and events of interest to your schedule in the AAG Mobile App or in your online program.

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AAG 2017 Boston Featured Theme — Uncertainty and Context in Geography and GIScience: Advances in Theory, Methods, and Practice

AAG 2017 Boston — Featured Theme

Uncertainty and Context in Geography and GIScience:
Advances in Theory, Methods, and Practice

Uncertainty and context pose fundamental challenges in geographic research and GIScience. Geospatial data are imbued with error (e.g., measurement and sampling error), and understanding of the effects of contextual influences on human behavior and experience are often obfuscated by various types of uncertainty (e.g., contextual uncertainties, algorithmic uncertainties, and uncertainty arising from different spatial scales and zonal schemes). To generate reliable geographic knowledge, these uncertainties and contextual issues will be addressed within the special theme.

  • The Opening plenary of the Uncertainty and Context theme features keynote presentations by Mei-Po Kwan (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Michael Goodchild (University of California) on “New Developments and Perspectives on Context and Uncertainty.” David Berrigan (National Cancer Institute) will be a discussant. Tim Schwanen (University of Oxford) will chair the plenary.  This plenary session is on Thursday, April 6, from 10:00 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. in the Independence West room at the Sheraton.
  • The Closing plenary of the Uncertainty and Context theme features Tim Schwanen, University of Oxford; Wenzhong Shi, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Jamie Pearce, University of Edinburgh; and Daniel A. Griffith, U. of Texas at Dallas. This plenary session is on Saturday, April 8, from 11:50 a.m. – 1:10 a.m. in the Independence West room at the Sheraton.

View the full list of sessions within this featured theme.

Scientific Committee Co-Chairs

You can easily add sessions and events of interest to your schedule in the AAG Mobile App or in your online program

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Undergraduate Student Activities and Resources at the 2017 Annual Meeting in Boston

The 2017 Annual Meeting is the first since the establishment of the new Undergraduate Student Affinity Group and over 400 undergraduates have already registered to attend! At the Annual Meeting, students are encouraged to network with their peers and colleagues, expand their involvement in and understanding of the discipline of geography, and learn skills to build their careers. To celebrate and engage this important part of the AAG community, there will be events, activities, and resources geared for undergraduate students in attendance in Boston.

• Newcomers’ Guide to the Meeting: Is it your first time attending an Annual Meeting? Check out this guide for tips and tricks to navigating the largest geography conference in the world.

• Suggested Itinerary for Students: Overwhelmed by the thousands of presentations and unsure where to start planning your day? Get started with the suggested itinerary for students, available under “Essentials” in the AAG Mobile app.

• AAG Snapshot Talk on Student Membership: As part of the new AAG Snapshots series at the Annual Meeting, AAG staff will be giving brief informational talks in the AAG Communications Center, including the topic “Make the Most of your Student Membership,” presented on Wed., April 5th at 10 a.m. and Friday, April 7, at 3:20 p.m.

• Scavenger Hunt for Undergrads: Looking for a fun way to explore the Annual Meeting? Tackle our Photo Scavenger Hunt designed for undergraduate attendees to help discover different aspects of the meeting. View and download the “Undergrad Photo Scavenger Hunt” PDF under “Essentials” in the AAG Mobile app. The first two undergraduate students to show their completed photos and checklist to AAG Staff at the AAG Booth will get $20 credit to spend at the AAG Booth (located near registration, 2nd floor of the Hynes Convention Center).

• Undergrad Meetup Area at the International Reception: Music, refreshments, and catching up with colleagues new and old are all features of the International Reception. Find the Undergrad Student Meetup area to connect with fellow undergraduates, entire a raffle for an AAG Swag Pack, learn more about the new Undergraduate Student Affinity Group, and add to our graffiti wall by drawing the logo, mascot, or name of your university! The International Reception takes place Friday, April 7, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. in Ballroom B, on the third level of the Hynes Convention Center. Don’t miss it!

• Undergraduate Student Affinity Group Business Meeting – Want to help steer the direction of the new Undergraduate Student Affinity Group? Want to build leadership experience and add service activities to your resume? Attend the 1st USAG business meeting and consider running for a position on the board! The USAG Business Meeting is on Thursday, April 6th, from 8:10 to 9:10pm in the Vineyard Room on the 4th Floor of the Marriott.

• AAG Jobs & Careers Center and the AAG Careers in Geography Fair: Looking for career mentoring, career resources, workshops to improve your skills, or even a chance to speak with potential employers? Be sure to check out the numerous sessions and workshops at the Jobs & Careers Center as well as the employers you can speak to on site at the AAG Careers in Geography Fair. Both will be located on the Second Level of the Hynes Convention Center, in and around Rooms 203, 204, and 205.

• World Geography Bowl – Attend and cheer on fellow students competing in this annual event! The bowl takes place on Saturday, April 8, from 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. in Rooms 101-105 on the Plaza Level of the Hynes Convention Center.

• Geographers March for Science — Sign the Banner: The AAG has partnered with the March for Science. In addition to supporting the march in many ways, the AAG also will have a large banner that will be carried at the March for Science event in Washington, D.C. on Earth Day, April 22. The banner will be in Boston during the Annual Meeting at the AAG Communications Center (near registration) for any attendees who would like to sign their name on the banner to indicate their support. Undergraduates represent the future of geography; we welcome your important signatures to the banner!

In addition to the official meeting hashtag, #AAG2017, consider also using #AAGUndergrads to interact with other undergraduates in attendance and to build your peer and professional network via social media.

Undergraduate students can join the AAG for just $38 per year and receive a range of member benefits including online access to scholarly journals and publications, exclusive access to the Jobs in Geography listings, and reduced rates for Annual Meeting and other event registration. Joining the Undergraduate Student Affinity Group only costs an additional $1 per year. Check out the USAG website and USAG Twitter account for more information.  For questions, contact cluebbering [at] aag [dot] org.

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New Books for Geographers

New Books: March 2017

Every month the AAG compiles a list of newly-published books in geography and related areas. Some are selected for review in the AAG Review of Books.

Publishers are welcome to send new volumes to the Editor-in-Chief (Kent Mathewson, Editor-in-Chief, AAG Review of Books, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803).

Anyone interested in reviewing these or other titles should also contact the Editor-in-Chief.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to current public health policies which have prompted the closing of most offices, we are unable to access incoming books at this time. We are working on a solution during this transition and will continue our new books processing as soon as we can. In the meantime, please feel free to peruse previous books from our archived lists.

February 2020

The Saguaro Cactus : A Natural History by David Yetman, Alberto Burquez, Kevin Hultine, and Michael Sanderson (University of Arizona Press 2020)

Wild Blue Media: Thinking through Seawater by Melody Jue (Duke University Press 2020)

Intimate Geopolitics: Love, Territory, and the Future on India’s Northern Threshold by Sara Smith (Rutgers University Press 2020)

Panic City: Crime and the Fear Industries in Johannesburg by Martin J. Murray (Stanford University Press 2020)

Assembling Moral Mobilities : Cycling, Cities and the Common Good by Nicholas A Scott (University of Nebraska Press 2020)

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