News

Maximizing your Donation to the AAG

November 3, 2025

Credit: imagine buddy vsLbaIdhwaU, unsplash

By Antoinette WinklerPrins, AAG Council Treasurer

This is the sixth of a short series of perspectives by 2024-2026 Council Treasurer Antoinette WinklerPrins — a series designed to help illuminate some of the financial challenges a professional organization such as the AAG faces. In this column, she offers perspectives on the financial aspects of running the AAG Annual Meeting. Read previous columns.

Donating to organizations you care about can happen at any time of the year; however, the later fall is the time of year that most people donate to causes they believe in, in part due to the U.S. tax code that permits tax deductions for charitable giving. Since we are heading into the latter part of the year, I thought I’d focus my column this month on some best practices about making donations, whether large or small.

Donations help organizations do their best work

Donations really matter to nonprofit member organizations such as the AAG. The funds they bring in permit a range of activities and awards that simply would not be possible without this money. No matter the size of the donation, the gift is appreciated. Regular donations, whether monthly or annually, are especially helpful, because these let an organization such as the AAG plan, but one-off gifts are of course always welcome. What matters most is giving consistently over time, at a level that suits your budget while helping to support your values.

Do some research

It is best that donating to any cause is not done in a vacuum, so I recommend you consider looking up the organization you are considering donating to in a nonprofit evaluator such as Charity Navigator. You can search these sites for the organization of your choice, by name of their “Employer Identification Number” (EIN) – an IRS assigned number (for the record, the AAG’s EIN is 53-0207414), or by name. That means, though, that you need to know the legal name of the organization. In the case of the AAG, the legal name is the Association of American Geographers, as that is the name used when we were founded. About a decade ago, AAG members voted to change the name of the organization to the American Association of Geographers, and that is our “d/b/a” (“doing business as”) name.

For a large gift, get guidance from the organization

If considering a large donation, especially one with a possible endowment for a specific award or purpose, please reach out to AAG staff ahead of time to talk through the details. It is very important that you limit the restrictions/conditions/purpose of the donation — it is better to assign your donation to general use (“where the need is greatest”). The limitations you impose today may make sense for a specific purpose at this moment, but those limitations may not make sense decades into the future. Many nonprofit organizations are hamstrung with restricted funds, sometimes decades old, that they cannot access or use for awards or services they are undertaking for their membership today. A recent case in Orlando, Florida involved a behest intended only to purchase art for the permanent collection, which the institution has gone to court to release, citing the fact that it has no funds for purchasing art for a permanent collection, but does have significant operating needs. Restricted funds are appealing to donors, who understandably want to leave a specific legacy, but can ultimately constrain organizations from fulfilling their missions. Please reach out to the AAG office to learn more about setting up a major gift or bequest. [insert mailto link to donate@aag.org]

There are many ways to give

Donate when, in whatever way you can, and at the level that you can afford. You can donate via Charity Navigator, or you can donate directly via the AAG website. More people are moving towards the use of “Donor Advised Funds” (DAFs) which are a mechanism set up via financial firms such as Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, etc., to manage cash and other assets that are earmarked to be donated to a qualified charity over time. These accounts are popular because they offer tax advantages and flexibility in asset contributions, and these are an easy way to support desired charitable causes through a single account. If you use a DAF, you will also need to know the correct legal name of the organization you wish to donate to, or its EIN.

We appreciate your support

Thank you! By donating you support the organizations you care about and affirm their purpose and work.

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.

Saul Cohen

On June 9, 2021, Saul Bernard Cohen passed away at the age of 95, surrounded by his loving family. Born in Malden, Massachusetts, he spent much of his life on the East Coast, as he attended the Boston Latin School and later went on to earn his bachelor’s and Ph.D. at Harvard University—graduating right before Harvard terminated the geography program.

He headed the School of Geography at Clark University and became a professor, director, and then later Dean of the Graduate School. During this time, he was lauded for revitalizing the Graduate School of Geography’s (GSOG) academic standards and increasing minority enrollment in the late 1960s/early 1970s. He also established teacher preparation programs for new and experienced teachers with funding obtained from the U.S. Office of Education for the Training of Teachers program, and a National Science Foundation departmental development grant designed to produce “centers of excellence.”

His plans included developing new strengths in the areas of environmental cognition, international development (particularly in Africa), and environmental hazards management. The expansion of the school’s graduate program allowed the faculty to double, and the number of graduate students substantially increased. Traditional environment-focused courses were rejuvenated by new concepts and techniques. As the environmental movement grew, the number of geography undergraduate majors rose to more than 100. The school also doubled its annual output of doctorates in the 1970s. Clark was a linchpin of one of Cohen’s other programmatic ideas: a consortium of doctorate-granting geography departments recruiting faculty or prospective faculty of historically Black colleges and universities to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees.

Following his career at Clark, Cohen served as president of Queens College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) from 1978 – 1985. Through his persistent advocacy, he was responsible for securing funding for key capital projects, many of which are still standing, including the Benjamin Rosenthal Library, the Copeland School of Music Building, science facilities, and Townsend Harris High School.

After leaving Queens College, Cohen was a professor of geography at Hunter College for 10 years. He served as AAG president from 1989 to 1990, and in 1993, he was elected to the New York State Board of Regents. He served for 17 years, chairing the Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Committee when it established new academic standards for the school.

He is remembered for his research specializing in economic and political geography of the Middle East and editing and authoring 16 books, including his work as an editor of The Oxford World Atlas. Saul was a beloved husband to his wife of 71 years, Miriam Friederman Cohen, and a dedicated father and father-in-law, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend.

See All Memorials

Bryon Middlekauff

Professor Emeritus of Geography, Dr. Bryon Middlekauff, passed away on September 3, 2025. He was a faculty member at Plymouth State University (previously Plymouth State College), NH from 1988 to 2016. Bryon’s life was marked by a deep passion for teaching geography and mentoring both students and faculty.

Bryon’s bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees—all in in geography—were from the University of Maryland, Appalachian State University, and Michigan State University, respectively, and his dissertation focused on Appalachian paleoclimatology. He returned to this topic in a subsequent published article, and his scholarship also examined fieldwork practice.

Bryon joined the social science department at Plymouth State University after positions at Western Carolina University and Youngstown State University. In 2001 he taught at the University of Wolverhampton in the U.K. while on sabbatical and in 2004 expanded his teaching to encompass the environmental sciences, receiving a new appointment in 2008 as professor of geography and environmental planning.

“One of Bryon’s many strengths was engaging students both in the classroom and beyond,” says former colleague Dr. Patrick May, a longtime colleague. “His lectures were very dynamic, and he got a lot of students really excited about geomorphology, ‘the geography of geology’—understanding the processes that shaped the environment around them.”

Bryon felt strongly about the importance of field studies and led college trips around New England, eastern Canada, and to the American Southwest, as well as travel courses to Paris, the United Kingdom, and Tanzania. He also ran workshops for the New Hampshire Geographic Alliance, leading rigorous day trips throughout the state to help educate educators about the natural environment.

Bryon was instrumental in advancing Plymouth State’s geography program both nationally and regionally. He was heavily involved in the American Association of Geographers (AAG) and attended annual meetings where he presented papers and poster sessions. He was also a member of the New England St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society (NESTVAL) and served as their Regional Councilor to the AAG for two terms. Bryon received NESTVAL’s Distinguished Service Award in 2013 which included a citation for a Lifetime Contribution to NESTVAL and Geography, one of only three people to receive this distinction. In 1993, Bryon was instrumental in establishing a NESTVAL competition to create a team to send to the first AAG World Geography Bowl, held at the AAG’s annual meeting in Atlanta. Bryon mentored the PSU team members, preparing them for the competition. Under his guidance, Plymouth State’s Geo Bowl team won the New England-St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society competition several times and students participated in the national competition at the annual AAG conference. “The bowl was a way to excite students,” says May, “and Bryon assured that they took advantage of the full conference experience, including sessions and field trips.”

“He was instrumental in building the PSU Geography Club and remained in touch with many former students,” continues May. “Students will remember him to be very demanding and that they were lucky to have him because he shared so much enthusiasm for his field.” For his students, Bryon opened a door into the world of becoming a professional geographer. He encouraged many of his students to attend graduate school and accompanied some on visits to the schools.

Dr. Jennifer Collins, now at University South Florida, started her career at Plymouth State College, in the year 2000, where she notes that Bryon had such an impact on both her personally and her career, recognizing that she was a Geographer and suggested she become a member and come to the AAG annual meeting. Prior to that Jennifer was only an American Meteorological Society member. Jennifer notes that being a member of the AAG has been instrumental to her career and she owes that to Bryon who also helped her network at the AAG conference. “He was a friend, colleague, and mentor, all wrapped up in one.”, she said.

Bryon enjoyed many activities from fly-fishing to skiing. Most of all he enjoyed spending time with his wife, children, and grandchildren. Bryon is survived by his wife and former Plymouth State Director of Advancement Julie DeGalan ’91MBA. Together they co-wrote the book, Great Jobs for Environmental Studies Majors, and were members of Holmes Heritage Society, which honors those who have included Plymouth State in their financial and estate plans. He is also survived by his daughters, Lari (Pat) Hayhoe and Amy (Dan) Jones; grandchildren, Nick (Chelsea), Beau and Olivia Hayhoe, Billy (Olivia) and Tyler Townes, Hayden Jones, and Chelsea Roberts; and great-grandchildren, Charlie, George, Margaret and Penny Hayhoe, Phoebe Townes, and Fiona and Josie Roberts. He is survived by his sister, Kirklyn Kline; nephews, Kevin (Cindy) and Kirk Eikelberger; and grand-nephew, Riley Eikelberger.

Additional information is available in an online obituary.

Written by Pat May, Jennifer Collins, and Julie DeGalan

See All Memorials

Wayfinding

Maps as ‘Materials that Carry Memory’

October 27, 2025

Joanathan Bessaci with his art. Courtesy: Joanathan Bessaci

When artist Joanathan Besacci was growing up in Lyon, France, he was surrounded by the vast variety of the world, past and present. His maternal grandmother emigrated to France from Vietnam, and his paternal grandfather was from Kabylia (Northern Algeria). As a child, Bessaci spent hours watching his artist father work and exploring the flea market in Lyon, France, where his grandparents had a stall.

The flea market was a magical place, he says, “a doorway to other worlds.” His memories of it go back to 1986, when it was still called La Fecine, in Villeurbanne, set up on a street closed on Sunday mornings. In the 1990s, it moved to Vaise, and by the end of the decade, it found its current home: Les Puces du Canal.

Aerial view of a flea market in Lyon. Courtesy: Joanathan Bessaci — Flea market in Lyon. Courtesy: Joanathan Bessaci

“I went there as a child, still half-asleep but filled with excitement,” Bessaci recalls. “My grandfather arrived as early as 4 a.m.; I followed my father around after 5 a.m. You had to get up early to hope for a good spot. Sometimes sales began right in the trucks, under the flickering light of flashlights, before the sun had even risen.”

It was here that he first discovered the maps, books, and old photographs that now form the essential materials of his art. “They carried stories, past lives, fragments of humanity which, though I didn’t realize it yet, would become the very substance of my work.”

The flea market also influenced Bessaci’s fascination with the riddles presented by old objects and artifacts, “guessing what an object had been used for, what life it had lived, who had touched it before me. In some maps, I find traces of passage—a handwriting, a stain, a tear. These marks of time move me deeply. They make each piece unique, irreplaceable, like an imprint left by history. It is in this intimate relationship with objects, memory, and enigma that my artistic practice took root.”

Bessaci started as a graffiti artist, in his teens. His work evolved over time into the elaborate paper cut-out sculptures, using maps and photographs, that he makes today. At art school, he says, “I discovered the relationship to time. Coming from graffiti, where everything must be done in urgency, I was stunned to learn that a single project could take 80 to 100 hours of work. At first, it was a trial, almost a violence against my rhythm. But little by little, this temporality became an obviousness, a new kind of breathing.”

Now based in the United States, Bessaci continues to develop his practice and present his work in exhibitions and art fairs. He draws inspiration from antique Michelin road maps, primarily from the 1920s to the 1970s. He combines them with photographs and vintage textiles to create works that blend the markers of human individuality with topographies and routes. “My process is instinctive, almost archaeological,” he told Bold Journey magazine in 2025. “I collect, cut, layer, stitch. Each gesture is an attempt to surface memory, to retell what we think we already know.”

Artist's rendition of a portrait of Arthur Ashe. Courtesy: Joanathan Bessaci — Portrait of Arthur Ashe. Courtesy: Joanathan Bessaci

The maps Bessaci includes in his art create what he calls “layered stories.” The roads and rivers become metaphors for “chosen or imposed paths, uprooted or rediscovered roots.” The cuts, overlaps, and fragmentation he imposes are ways to question his subjects, and to challenge the idea of the subject as fixed. He seeks to portray “something in motion, composed of ruptures and recompositions.”

Bessaci had been primarily a painter for more than 15 years when he shifted his practice these sculptural works on paper. The change coincided with the birth of his daughter, and an extended period of time in a secluded studio in a very small town in France. On a visit to his grandfather at around this time, Bessaci received a box of old items, including old road maps. “It was as if the flea market had returned to my hands, charged with memory and secrets to be revealed.”

At first, Bessaci was reluctant to make any changes to the maps: “The day I dared to cut directly into a map, I felt an inner shift,” he says. “The maps immediately spoke to me: they were at once adventure, travel, and a profound resonance with my family, my memories of the flea market, and this need to explore the traces left by time.”

As Bessaci experimented and refined his technique, he began layering the maps, up to five layers at a time, to explore depth. The more he worked with old maps, the more he saw correspondences with people, and with memory and life itself: “The roads and rivers reminded me of veins, a living cartography of the body and of memory.”

Bessaci describes much of his raised work as bas-relief. He frames his cutouts between layers of glass and road maps, comparing them to mille-feuilles, a many-layered dessert. The layers create depth, “almost a vibration.”

Today, Bessaci owns nearly 5,000 maps, mainly Michelin, dating from 1890 to 1990.

“Their texture, their faded colors, their smell of ink and aged paper fascinate me,” Bessaci says. “A map is a displacement, an adventure, but also an anchor. It helps us know where we are, and I like to believe it also helps us know who we are.”

Bessaci is now working on a new series he calls Roots and Paths, using the kinds of photographs that turn up at flea markets, secondhand stores, and estate sales, devoid of their original context and family connections. Bessaci cuts the people from these images, leaving only their silhouettes, emphasizing their gestures. His goal is to neutralize “any visible markers of race, gender, and age, allowing the viewer to project their own memories, their own emotional history.” In place of the removed material, he fills in map fragments—roads, rivers, mountain ridges—as “layers of inner geography.”

He can foresee many years—perhaps a lifetime—of working with maps as an artist. “Maps, more than any other medium, have something magical: I don’t feel like I chose them—they found me,” he says. “They reflect my identity, but also the memory of my family, of places, of stories that shaped me. What I love is that they never fully reveal themselves. They hold secrets, hidden stories. I like to slip clues into my works, and sometimes, years later, a collector tells me: ‘I’ve just discovered this detail.’ At that moment, I feel that the map keeps speaking, long after me, as if it carried its own narrative.”

On the Map

North American Beavers in South American Forests?

October 24, 2025

Beaver's head above water as it swims in a body of water. Credit: Camerauthor Photos, Unsplash

Beaver in its natural habitat in Northern Ontario. Credit: Camerauthor Photos, Unsplash

Geography 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 Cadence Bowen

Patagonia, a remote region at the tip of South America, has some long-distance intruders. In 1946 the North American beaver (Castor canadensis), was brought here. Its population has thrived—to the dismay of local humans.

The story of beavers in Patagonia shows how humans can introduce invasive species. These are non-native species which can overrun native species. This often causes an imbalance in the ecosystems in these environments. The problem of invasive species is driven by human interests, such as commercial or agricultural use of animals or plants.

North American beavers were almost wiped out in their native habitats by 1900. They were saved through intense conservation. Ironically, in Patagonia the focus is how to get rid of them. The Wildlife Society’s Pablo Jusim says, “Technically, it’s viable to eradicate beavers from South America—one of the biggest eradications in the world if we achieve it.” He estimates a cost of about $31 million and 20 to 30 years to eliminate Patagonian beavers and restore ecological balance.

Well, How Did They Get Here?

Imagine the southernmost part of South America: that’s Patagonia. Part of both Chile and Argentina, Patagonia is known for its diverse geography. Snowy mountains and lush forests in the west are answered by steppes and deserts in the east. The archipelago of Tierra del Fuego is at the tip of this area. It has its own diverse and rugged terrain, from lowlands and glaciated coasts in its north to high mountains in the east.

Map showing Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

In 1946, the Argentine government introduced just 20 North American beavers to Tierra del Fuego. The intention was to kickstart a fur trade for pelts. Officials believed the climate would be similar enough to the beavers’ native climate to suit them. Little thought was given to native trees, plants, and ecosystems. The trees and forests of North America co-evolved with beavers and can take their energetic tree felling and dam building. The native forests of Tierra del Fuego had never experienced anything like this. Plus, beavers have no natural predators in Tierra del Fuego. Eighty years later, the species’ population is more than 150,000, almost outnumbering human inhabitants.

Impacts of these “Ecosystem Engineers”

Beavers are ingenious animals with the ability to alter the landscapes they inhabit. These furry creatures are admired for their important roles in North America, both their contributions to river ecologies, and their earlier pivotal role in the fur trade of early America. They shape the environment more than any other species besides humans. Kodi Jo Jaspers, manager of the Wenatchee Beaver Project in Washington State, calls them “ecosystem engineers.”

When beavers build dams in North America, they create habitat for a lot of different species. This can help address the impacts of climate change by retaining groundwater, absorbing rain, and stopping or slowing the spread of wildfires.

Beavers’ impacts in North American ecosystems don’t translate well to the South American islands of Tierra del Fuego. They have become destructive toward its pristine forests and rivers. They lack the natural predators that North American beavers face, such as bears, wolves, and coyotes. Their natural behavior—gnawing trees and building dams—causes the roots of the remaining trees to rot in the saturated soil. Eventually, these trees to die. The river systems and watersheds that support life on the islands are filled with dead flora and sediment.

“I admire the animal actually. … How it works with the rivers, how it is adapted, how they molded nature for their own benefit, builds his house, his dams. ”

—Pablo Kunzle, Interviewee in Beavers: Patagonia Invaders

Is there a future Patagonia without beavers?

The 2015 documentary, Patagonia Invaders, highlights the community response to Tierra del Fuego’s beavers. From trendy fur coats to beaver tenderloins, locals have taken unusual steps to reduce the numbers of these invasive critters and their continuing impacts.

A study in the 1990s showed they had colonized about 94% of the rivers in the archipelago. Peacefull population control measures had limited results. In 2015, the Argentine government began a three-year eradication project. They applied the toughest means: full-body traps and hunting. The approach was successful enough for The Wildlife Society to recommend a larger-scale approach.

Researcher Mara Dicenta coined the term “Beavercene” to describe the changed landscape of Tierra del Fuego since 1946. She views the introduction and attempted eradication of beavers there as two ends of the same spectrum, caused by “a history of colonial interventions that ignore local environments.”

The latest approach to managing beavers in Tierra del Fuego’s forests might result in harmony or further destruction. In a fragile place that is out of balance, that question still hangs in the balance.

And that is Geography in the News, updated October 10, 2025

Material in this article comes from “North American Beavers Destroy South American Habitat” (2008), 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.

Sources Consulted for this Article

Dicenta, M. (2020). The Beavercene: Eradication and settler-colonialism in Tierra del Fuego. Environment and Society Portal, Arcadia Collection, Spring, (1) https://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/beavercene-eradication-and-settler-colonialism-tierra-del-fuego
Jusim, P., A.P. Goijman, A. Schiavini (2025). A leap in scale for invasive species management: a medium-scale beaver eradication pilot project. Wildlife Management 89 (3), April. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22706
National Wildlife Federation Invasive Species (Threats to Wildlife Guide). n.d, https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Threats-to-Wildlife/Invasive-Species
Ogden, L. (2018). The beaver diaspora: A thought experiment.” Environmental Humanities 10 (1): 63–85. https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-4385471
Rapp Learn, J. (2025). The Wildlife Society Wild Cam: How feasible is beaver eradication in Argentina? https://wildlife.org/wild-cam-how-feasible-is-beaver-eradication-in-argentina/
S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Invasive Species Program (n.d). https://www.fws.gov/program/invasive-species
S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (n.d.). Beavers work to improve habitat. https://www.fws.gov/story/beavers-work-improve-habitat
YouTube Movies & TV. Beavers: Patagonia Invaders (2015). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F_wWA7KiTg&t=3s

Vocabulary and Terms

Archipelago: A group of islands scattered across a body of water
Co-evolve: When two or more species have evolved together over millions of years, and have influenced or supported each other’s evolution
Ecosystem: A place that is defined and shaped by the relationships and interactions of many species within it.
Flora: Broad definition for plant life
Habitat: The place where life forms live; the habitat is made up of the conditions and features of the land, as well as the habits and relationships of species living there.
Nonnative Species: Living beings that are removed from their original natural environments and introduced to another by humans
Invasive Species: Nonnative species that have traits which enable them to outcompete and threaten native species, or cause damage to habitats..
Steppes: A large area of flat, unforested grassland
Terraform: To transform an area of land, often with removal of material, new structures, or addition of non-native species of plants and animals that can change the habitat.
Watershed: A geographical area that channels precipitation to rivers, streams, or creeks to eventually reach a larger body of water, such as bays or the ocean

Questions for Discussion and Further Study

What are invasive species? What is the most common way for invasive species to be introduced?
When we talk about species that have co-evolved, are we only talking about native species?
Why were North American beavers introduced to Tierra del Fuego? What was the result of this introduction?
Why do North American beavers thrive in Patagonia?
Can you think of any invasive species in your local environment? What efforts are being made to control or eradicate the species?

News

How Does AAG Screen its Investments?

October 7, 2025

Jumble of white numbers on a black background

Credit: Jon Tyson, unsplash

By Antoinette WinklerPrins, AAG Council Treasurer

This is the fifth of a short series of perspectives by 2024-2026 Council Treasurer Antoinette WinklerPrins — a series designed to help illuminate some of the financial challenges a professional organization such as the AAG faces. In this column, she offers perspectives on the financial aspects of running the AAG Annual Meeting. Read previous columns.

Many nonprofit organizations care about where and how they invest the funds they have available for investment. Most organizations work with financial advisors and use mutual funds as a way of obtaining strong and consistent returns on their investment decisions. While it is a core obligation of the AAG to invest in such a way that it can support its programming and awards, nonprofit organizations also usually have strong missions, and usually seek to align their investment portfolio with their mission. One method of doing so is to use investment “screens,” a device that permits the investor to identify stocks that align with their core mission, and more importantly, to exclude investments that do not.

To manage its modest endowment, the AAG uses exclusively socially responsible screens known as ESG filters. ESG stands for “Environment, Social and Governance” and means that these screens select for investments in corporations that demonstrate concern about environmental issues, social justice, and ethical and transparent governance, and excludes investments in the fossil fuel industry, arms manufacturing, or occupied territories. This way the AAG investment portfolio aligns with AAG’s mission. The AAG has been 100% ESG invested since June 2022, working with its bank, Truist, through its Envestment PMC investment platform. This platform uses ESG screens from Morningstar Sustainalytics, which has conducted monitoring and research into ESG investing for more than 30 years. Clients such as the AAG select screens they wish to have applied to screen investments.

Truist offers a variety of different ESG screens, from which a maximum of three can be selected at any given time. In coordination with the AAG Finance Committee, the AAG Executive Director selected screens that screen out investments in fossil fuels and seek out the best-in-class choices for the environment. AAG also has chosen as its third screen, one that focuses on social justice, including attention to human rights and occupied territories around the world. We feel that these screens reflect the values of the organization, and all of AAG’s investments are now automatically pushed through these screens to generate a portfolio to ensure consistency with these values.

The AAG is constantly seeking to balance its needs for investment success while underscoring the desire to invest in ways that match its members’ values. By selecting screens that square with our mission, we can assure our members that we lead with our values in our investment portfolio. As part of the work of the Finance Committee, which I chair as AAG Treasurer, there is periodic review of the selected screens to ensure that they are functioning as intended.

On the Map

The Geography of Bison: Returned from the Brink

October 1, 2025

Close up image of a couple of bison from a herd at Yellowstone National Park. Credit: Taylor Wright

By Neal Lineback
Edited by Jane Nicholson, with mapping by Rachael H. Carpenter

The American bison, commonly known as the buffalo, is an icon of the U.S. “Wild Wild West.” The wild American bison was a major food source for native Americans for thousands of years. Yet, by the 1900s, it had been hunted to near extinction by settlers, trappers, and hunters,

The bison is the largest animal native to North America. Males weigh up to a ton (2,000 lb or 1,000 kg). At the turn of the century, there were only reportedly 23 wild bison left inside the territory of Yellowstone National Park and perhaps only a few hundred or so more scattered elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada.

In attempts to salvage the species, governments, organizations, and individuals made efforts to save a few bison. Those few in Yellowstone were successfully protected and became a core of the revival of a herd whose numbers rebounded rapidly. Other captured bison were protected by enterprising farmers and agencies, some on small farms and others as the beginnings of small herds. All of these actions saved the bison’s genetic profile from extinction.

The bison is a hardy creature, able to withstand extreme temperatures, heavy snow, drought and onslaughts of most predators. The bison’s size, herding instincts and aggression help ward off wolf packs and bears, the animal’s main threats. Accord to the National Bison Association, there were 1,986 bison ranches and farms in the U.S. in 2022.

Map showing where bison are raised in the U.S. Credit: Rachael Huerta — Where bison are raised in the U.S: both on ranches and public lands. Credit: Rachael H. Carpenter

Several issues still plague the bison from reviving to historic numbers. First of all, the territories available for wide-ranging herds of wild bison are very limited. Fences must be very strong and/or electrified to usually contain them, but even the strongest fencing cannot always contain bison, particularly large males. Private herds must be constantly managed. Although a large bison bull can literally run through fences when frightened, more “escapes” are caused by mating instincts where several males will push through their containing fences en masse to reach a female in estrus (ready to breed).

When they escape their containment as on bison farms surrounded by fences, bison are very hard to retrieve. They often require tranquilizer shots to neutralize their natural aggressiveness. Unlike cattle that can be rounded up with help of dogs, bison are almost immune to that process, sometimes only responding to food (grain) to lead them back into confinement.

Whereas bison escapes are mostly associated with bison farms and smaller ranches, the unfenced 4,900 bison in Yellowstone’s free-ranging herd are unconfined, which brings a new and different problem. When these bison leave the Park, they range onto surroundings under private ownership and National Forest Services land. Thus, they may cause jurisdictional problems, whereby they enter private grazing land and cropland, tear down farmers’ fences, damage farm equipment, destroy delicate ecosystems, and harass farm animals. Once on private land, they are unprotected and exposed to hunters and highway vehicles.

There are an estimated 400,000 bison in the United States, including 31,000 in conservation-focused facilities (parks and Tribal Lands), and the rest on bison farms and ranches. The Native Lands Advocacy Project (NALP) estimates that bison numbers overall increased at a rate of 13.36% between 2012 and 2017, while Tribal bison increased by 1031%. Clearly, Native Americans’ reverence for bison has enhanced the reproductive and survival rates among the herds under their care.

So what is the geographic distribution of bison in the United States today? Every state except the smallest East Coast states contains some small bison farms and larger

ranches. Most of the bison are raised as food, with the market prices for ground bison being three to five times more costly than beef. Consequently, commercial bison meat is mainly marketed to high-end restaurants and advertised as a healthy specialty item.

The word is out: Bison are BACK!!

And that is Geography in the News, updated October 1, 2025.

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.

Sources Consulted for this Article

Lunstrum, E. and Havice, E. 2025. Introducing Jurisdiction. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 115(5), 1005–1028. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2025.2467326
Moore, S. King’s Carolina Bison. Asheville NC https://carolinabison.com/
The Native Lands Advocacy Project. Village Earth. https://villageearth.org/affiliate-page/native-lands-advocacy-project/
National Wildlife Federation. American Bison. https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/American-Bison

Vocabulary and Terms

Bison — Shaggy, humpbacked ox native to North America and Europe.
Buffalo — A term used interchangeably with “bison” in North America, but actually a different of four-footed grazing mammal native to Africa.
En Masse — French for “as a group.”
Estrus — The state of a female ready to mate.

Questions for Discussion and Further Study

What happened to buffalo populations in the 1800s?
Are buffalo dangerous to humans? Why or why not?
What are some of the challenges ranches and public land managers face in raising and caring for buffalo?
Buffalo populations are increasing swiftly, but are they anywhere close to the population that once lived in North America before European settlement? See if you can use the sources above and your own search to find that information.

Helping Students Bridge the Gap from Student to GIS Professional: How Esri YPN Supports Educators

October 1, 2025

Photo of Golden Bridge in Vietnam with sculpture of two hands supporting the bridge. Credit: Khải Đồng

Golden Bridge, Hòa Ninh, Hòa Vang, Da Nang, Vietnam. Credit: Khải Đồng

By Rosemary Boone, Senior Industry Marketing Manager – Education, Esri

Graduating from a higher education program is an exciting milestone, but it can also feel overwhelming. Students often ask, “What comes next?”

Esri Young Professionals Network (YPN) helps answer that question by bridging the critical gap between being a student and becoming a working GIS professional. The network also plays a vital role in supporting educators, who are deeply invested in their students’ success, both academically and professionally.

What is Esri YPN?

The Esri Young Professionals Network (YPN) is a global community and network of over 20,000 members worldwide that anyone can join at no cost. Esri YPN is designed to support its members to thrive at any stage of their GIS journey. Members consist of college students, recent graduates, emerging and seasoned GIS professionals, truly making it “a network for all” no matter your age or experience.

Built on three core pillars: Learn, Connect, and Lead, our mission is to provide members of Esri YPN with opportunities and resources to strengthen their skills, expand their networks, and step confidently into leadership roles within the geospatial industry.

Through networking events, professional development opportunities, and its Ambassador Program, Esri YPN empowers students to grow beyond the classroom and begin building the foundation of their careers while still in school.

Why It Matters to Students

By joining YPN, students gain:

A support system beyond graduation – Access to peers and mentors through the YPN Chapters, conference activities, LinkedIn group, and YPN Networking Space.
A platform to build their professional brand – Opportunities to showcase their work, present ideas, and raise their visibility through the YPN Ambassador Program.
Professional development resources – Engage in professional development through attending our webinars, conference sessions, chapter meetups; and by subscribing to the YPN blog on Esri Community.

For students, Esri YPN is more than a network, it’s a launchpad for their future in GIS.

Why Educators Should Take an Interest

By getting students involved in Esri YPN, educators can:

Strengthen their program’s value by demonstrating clear pathways to professional growth.
Help students gain confidence in their ability to enter a competitive job market.
Ensure graduates remain connected to a community that will continue supporting their careers long after they leave campus.

While curriculum and experiential learning opportunities build technical knowledge, students also need guidance on how to bridge the gap from student to professional. By encouraging participation, educators can equip their students with tools and connections that extend well beyond the classroom.

How to Get Started and Involved

Getting students connected with Esri YPN is simple—and the benefits begin immediately.

Encourage students to join online – Direct them to esri.com/ypn, where they can join at no cost and gain instant access to resources, events, and community spaces.
Reinforce their ability to participate tand network. Upon joining, members receive a confirmation email linking to their member badge and digital swag they can share with their networks.
Suggest they join a local YPN chapter. Esri YPN has ten chapters across the United States each hosting local in-person networking meetups. Join a local chapter and search for upcoming chapter events.
Encourage them to become a YPN Ambassador. Students can take steps to become a YPN Ambassador to make them stand out to their peers and recruiters. Upon completion, YPN Ambassadors receive a badge and certificate.
Remind them to browse and subscribe to the YPN blog. The YPN Blog on Esri Community is rich in GIS career content brushing on topics like building a GIS portfolio, overcoming imposter syndrome, and GIS career pathway highlights.
Keep encouraging them to start networking online. Join the YPN LinkedIn group and YPN Networking space on Esri Community to begin meeting peers and mentors in the geospatial field from across the globe.

Students who start engaging with YPN early will be equipped with a better sense of a professional identity, supportive network, and the confidence to step boldly into the next stage of their GIS journey.

Rosemary Boone is a Senior Industry Marketing Manager for Esri, concentrating on executing marketing strategies for K-12 schools and higher education institutions. She holds a master’s degree in education technology with an emphasis on multimedia. Prior to her career in marketing, she taught elementary school and taught overseas. In her free time, she likes to listen to music, exercise, and spend time with her two Dachshunds.

Featured Articles is a special section of the AAG Newsletter where AAG sponsors highlight recent programs and activities of significance to geographers and members of the AAG. To sponsor the AAG and submit an article, please contact meeting@AAG.org.

News

AAG Welcomes Fall 2025 Interns

September 19, 2025

The AAG welcomes two new interns joining the AAG staff this fall.

Mirembe Ddumba is a junior studying Economics at Penn State University. She first became interested in geography during a Spring 2025 economic geography course, where she saw how maps and data could explain not just where things happen, but why communities grow and change the way they do. Using ArcGIS, she looked at how AI and shifts in different industries affect where people live and work, and realized that a map can sometimes tell a story better than pages of numbers. That interest led her to a Paragon Policy Fellowship, where she co-authored Charleston’s 2025–2027 flood-resilience plan and presented ideas to city leaders. She also co-created EcoGrow, a solar-powered smart farm with AI forecasting that won first place in a campus innovation challenge.

On campus, Mirembe served as Secretary of the African Student Association, planning events that highlighted culture, food, and music while building community among students. She also gained experience through an Amazon externship in workforce analytics and by attending Google’s Genesis2Genesis Student Conference, where she explored how finance and technology shape everyday decisions. Mirembe looks forward to contributing as a Media and Science Communication Intern at AAG and sharing geography in ways that are approachable and spark curiosity. In the future, she hopes to work internationally in London at the intersection of global affairs, policy, and economics, using geography as a way to better understand and address challenges around the world.

Samra McCullin is a fourth-year student at George Mason University majoring in Geography with a minor in GIS. Samra’s first introduction to the discipline was a human geography class that she took in high school, where she found passion in the intersection of social, environmental, and physical sciences. In her undergraduate coursework she is constantly surprised at how she is able to exercise both her creative and analytical strengths. The freedom of a multidisciplinary major has allowed her to explore many subgenres within geography, her favorites being tourism, transportation, and sustainable development. Following graduation in the spring, Samra intends to pursue her masters in Geographic and Cartographic Sciences, working towards a professional career in digital cartography. Samra feels lucky to have found geography as a career path so early into her academic journey and hopes that through her work as a Communities Support Intern for the AAG, she can help more people find purpose and belonging within the discipline.

If you or someone you know is interested in applying for an internship at the AAG, the AAG seeks interns on a year-round basis. More information on internships at the AAG is also available on the About Us section of the AAG website.

President's Column

The War in Gaza and an Inclusive AAG Process for a Thoughtful Response

September 15, 2025

Magnifying glass highlighting Gaza on a larger map.

The AAG will hold a special meeting on October 3 in response to a membership petition asking the association “to endorse the BDS 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.” Our bylaws state that if more than 10% of members sign a petition with a valid call, then the AAG will host such a special meeting. As this is a divisive issue, I write to clarify three points: 1) my personal perspective on the war in Gaza (which you deserve to know, but is irrelevant to the position of the AAG), 2) the AAG process for responding to troubling world events, and 3) some of the factors the AAG Council will need to consider before arriving at a decision on an appropriate AAG response to the situation in Gaza.

First, my own views. The situation in Gaza is deeply concerning and distressing to me personally. As some of you may know, much of my scholarship and United Nations (UN) policy work has dealt with food security and agricultural development in the Global South, often from a political ecology perspective. As per the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, famine was officially declared in Gaza on August 22, 2025, confirming what many had long argued was an unfolding humanitarian crisis. It is significant and sobering that this respected and cautious UN-backed food security monitoring group concluded that all three thresholds that define a famine had been crossed. It calls the famine in Gaza “entirely man-made.” It further notes that there are “half a million people facing catastrophic conditions characterized by starvation, destitution and death.” The IPC report on Gaza comes nearly two years into an armed conflict with Israel that was triggered by the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. Israeli restrictions have limited the flow of food and aid into Gaza. I believe in the right to food as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and I stand against using food as a weapon of war. I also recognize the right of Israel to exist, condemn the October 7 attack and support a two-state solution. However, let it be clear that my own personal views matter no more than anyone else’s in our community and that the central question is whether and how the AAG might respond to this terrible situation. The AAG Council must make the best possible decision in relation to its mission and values, with the fullest possible input of our membership and according to our bylaws.

Second, what is the AAG’s process for considering a response to such a crisis? The AAG Council, the democratically elected representatives of the membership, has a legal and ethical obligation to consider actions called for in a membership petition or — in some cases — to decide how to respond to a crisis or government decision. In considering potential responses, the AAG Council must do so in a way that is in the best interest of the organization (also known as fiduciary responsibility). Typically, Council deliberations on potential actions include an analysis of relevant background information and occur without the active participation of the broader membership. However, because this deliberation was triggered by a membership petition, the AAG will engage in an open and transparent information collection process before the AAG Council arrives at a decision. The synchronous meeting of the membership on October 3 is intended to answer questions and kick-off an inclusive information collection process that provides the greatest potential for all members to participate. The process will involve a 60-day period in which any AAG member may asynchronously comment on a draft background document that will inform Council decision-making in regard to a potential AAG response to the situation in Gaza. This written comment option will be complemented by two AAG Council listening sessions (one closed session and one open to all members), both during the 60-day period. Members can sign up to share their perspectives on this matter with Council, starting on October 3. Once the background information collection period is complete, the AAG Council will deliberate on the best course of action, taking into account the concerns and perspectives of the membership as well as the mission and wellbeing of the organization.

Contrary to some views circulating, the October 3 zoom meeting will not entail an open debate among the AAG membership on the best course of action, nor a presentation by the petitioners or other groups (although this could happen in a subsequent listening session), nor a live vote of the membership. To undertake an open debate would be challenging (imagine an open zoom meeting with hundreds of members asking to speak). Furthermore, privileging some perspectives in featured presentations would be less than inclusive. Lastly, while I have received dozens of emails asking for a membership vote on the BDS proposal, this approach is not called for in our bylaws. Previous AAG membership votes have never been directly undertaken in response to a petition, but rather for an election, a bylaw change (such as the AAG name change) or on an issue at the request of the AAG Council.

Third, once the membership comment phase is complete, what types of issues might the AAG Council need to consider before arriving at a decision on an appropriate AAG response to the situation in Gaza? There are a range of potential responses, including divestment of AAG funds from organizations profiting from the oppression of the Palestinian people, an academic boycott of Israeli universities, endorsing BDS as a political movement, making a public statement about the situation in Gaza, calling for a vote of the membership on an action proposal, or no action. As noted previously, Council will need to consider all facets and nuances of these potential actions and make a decision that is consistent with the values and the well-being of the organization. In terms of our values, the AAG is committed to principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion as outlined in the JEDI strategic plan and adopted by the organization in 2020. The AAG is also opposed to both Islamophobia and antisemitism, and we are dedicated to creating venues for free and open discussion of academic ideas.

While I could not possibly summarize all aspects the Council will need to consider (many of which will be in the aforementioned background document), let me just mention a couple issues that may be of interest to the membership. First, because of the work of the AAG’s climate action committee, we adopted socially responsible investment screening a few years ago. As a result, the AAG’s relatively small endowment (about 1.1% the size of my college’s endowment for example) does not have investments in the fossil fuel industry, arms manufacturing or occupied territories. Second, while the AAG could issue a statement about the situation in Gaza without violating nonprofit laws, endorsing BDS as a political movement may have complications. To wit, nonprofits, or 501(c)3 organizations, in the United States have strict restrictions on political endorsements. Furthermore, given that anti-BDS laws exist in 38 states, a BDS endorsement might inhibit our members in those states from using public funds to attend a regional or national AAG meeting. Lastly, the AAG is committed to academic freedom and we need to think carefully about any actions that might impede the free and open exchange of ideas.

In sum, the war in Gaza is deeply troubling, as were the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. While this issue has the potential to divide our membership, I have faith in the transparent and inclusive process that the AAG has embraced in its deliberations on the best potential response. While I understand that some of our members may be frustrated that we are debating this issue at all, or that the decision-making process is not moving quickly enough, it is important that we do this well. Healthy organizations are able to openly and fairly discuss contentious issues if they have a clear process for doing so. I am confident that our community will emerge from these deliberations stronger than ever.

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.