Dave Hill

Dave Hill, longtime member of the geography faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder, passed away in Louisville, Colorado on Sunday, January 19, 2014.

They say at 50 you end up with the face you deserve. From the moment I first saw Dave Hill’s sparkling eyes and Cheshire Cat smile, I knew that I made the right decision to study with him in the PhD program at CU Boulder.

The venue was a session on geography education at the 1996 AAG Annual Meeting in Charlotte. Dave and a few of his students were on hand to discuss a new project, Geographic Inquiry into Global Issues. GIGI, as it was known, was a collection of modules for secondary schools that supported the recently published national geography standards. To my young eyes GIGI captured everything I thought geography education should be: fresh, exciting, relevant, and unafraid of controversial issues.

Dave was a giant and always encouraging, even when being critical of my work. He was the most generous, kind, and compassionate advisor and mentor one could ever hope for.

On occasion Dave would make a star turn at playing the role of absent-minded professor. Once we spent an entire hot Saturday walking the Boulder Creek trail to take photos and gather data for making a virtual field study of flood hazards. At the conclusion of our journey Dave opened his camera and realized he had forgot to load it with film. No big deal. We just went back the next day and I got to hear more stories about Dave playing football during the “leather-helmet” era at CU.

Dave was close to retirement when I started my PhD. I promised him that I would study hard and finish on schedule. At least once a week I would provide him with progress reports over lunch at some restaurant on “The Hill” in Boulder. Those lunches usually ended with Dave footing the bill and me meekly offering him a stick of Juicy Fruit as a token of gratitude. The last time Dave took me to lunch – I think about a week or so before my graduation – he presented me with a gift-wrapped box of Juicy Fruit. I smiled and told him I wish I could’ve afforded to buy him a gold watch. He got a big chuckle out of that.

I’ll never forget that frigid graduation day at CU Boulder in December 1999. A few minutes before the start of the ceremony, an usher instructed me and my fellow graduates to line up by the entrance to the auditorium. Dave stood by my side and never budged. When the usher asked him to join the faculty assembled in a different seating area, Dave put his hand on my shoulder, shook his head, and with a big grin said, “I’m sitting with him.”

(Incidentally, if I look alarmed in that photo, it’s because I had to receive emergency root canal treatment on my front tooth a few hours after the ceremony. I guess dentist appointments were one of the sacrifices I made to graduate on time).

It’s no exaggeration to say that I owe everything I have professionally to Dave. He introduced me to a world of thought that affirmed the power of geography in education. One of my most cherished experiences as a CU graduate student was being introduced to Gilbert White in one of Dave’s seminars. Dave recalled being in a similar setting back when he was attending CU. Professor White engaged Dave and his fellow graduate students in a discussion of the role of geography in liberal education and what they thought it should be. Dave remarked, “Gilbert White was not only interested in our views. He also wanted to convey the idea that, as future stewards of our discipline, we should be fully vested in these fundamental questions.” The torch is passed.

Sometimes I open my old CU files and pull out a reading list that Dave prepared for my doctoral orals. At the top is a hand-scribbled note from Dave that says, “Of enduring interest to geography education.” The list is replete with entries by John Dewey, Francis Slater, Jerome Bruner and so many other wonderful educational philosophers inside and outside of geography. I’d like to think that something I’ve written someday could make the cut.

Ask any of the hundreds of geography teachers who benefited from Dave’s professional development institutes through the Colorado Geographic Alliance, and to a person they will remark on the qualities that endeared him to so many: his loyalty to students, friends and family, his refusal to compromise quality, and his indefatigable devotion to geography education. The man could also make one hell of a martini.

The last time I saw Dave Hill was in June of 2009. He invited me to his condo in Boulder for a lamb chop dinner with Myhra, his wife of 50+ years. Afterwards he walked me down to the Pearl Street mall and we found a bench to sit on and enjoy the buskers.

At this point in his life Dave’s once sturdy voice was beginning to sound a bit frail and frayed. “Michael,” he said, “I’ll always appreciate the fact that you kept in touch.” And with that he hugged me goodbye and wandered back up the hill, a golden sun setting over the Flatirons.

Rest in Peace, Dave, and thanks for everything.

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Bob Kates to receive AAG Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography

Robert W. “Bob” Kates will receive the 2014 AAG Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography. The Association of American Geographers proudly confers this award to Kates in recognition of the many ways that his unrelenting creativity, energy, and care for the world around him have led him to enhance and ennoble nature-society research as one of geography’s fundamental contributions to knowledge, at the same time improving prospects for sustainability from the global to the local scales. The Brunn Award for Creativity recognizes the significant impact of his creativity in making this world a better place.

The remarkable focus, quality, and quantity of Bob Kates’ scholarly career have earned him recognitions unmatched by any other geographer in his generation. For example, in 1975 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences; in 1981 he was awarded a MacArthur Prize Fellowship; and in 1991 he was awarded the National Medal of Science in a ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C. Kates also received AAG Honors, the highest awards offered by the Association of American Geographers, in 1979.

The AAG Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography is given annually to an individual geographer or team of geographers that has demonstrated originality, creativity and significant intellectual breakthroughs in geography. The award includes a prize of $1,000.

Friends, family and colleagues are invited to celebrate with Bob Kates on April 12, 2014, when he receives the award at the AAG Awards Luncheon. The special ceremony will be held as part of the 2014 AAG Annual Meeting in Tampa, Fla. For more information about the awards luncheon, visit www.aag.org/annualmeeting/awards_luncheon.

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New Books for Geographers

New Books: January 2014

New geography books

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.

January, 2014

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A MACE for Geographers, or How to Write a Paper

Geography, as a disciplinary field, admits graduate students from different backgrounds with the goal of making them part of a profession that is uniquely situated for grappling with major challenges of the globalized world. Whether studying the pillars of Physical Geography themes, Human Geography concerns, or Geographical Technique abilities, graduate students are here to write their way to graduation. To succeed in the profession, most geographers who follow the Sauerian admonition of “Know Thy Word” point to usage of the written text. I argue that it is not enough to know the word, but to use it correctly! Not everyone is Jared Diamond (ecologist) or Charles Mann (journalist), but everyone can be a facile and persuasive writer of Geography. And, by the power of their keyboard, even becoming honorary geographers.

Most students often write without a road map. In geography, manuscripts shall be treated as a product of intellectual exploration, inquiry and effective communication that follows a meticulous, thoughtful plan for achievement, with a compass at hand. Science writing is no different, particularly with professional journals and scholarly books, because the peer review process ensures that poor papers will not get printed. The “publish or perish” paradigm of American academia, hence, secures that audiences, experts and others, will determine the fate of the geographer. Professionalism, thus, is partially gauged by the impact factor of the outlet, so the author should start focusing on the target journal to get acquitted with its guidelines, recent published collections, format and overall thematic emphasis. Parish (1981) warned that “the style required for research papers is not the same as the style you learned in your writing classes.” You must acquire the ability to express both unambiguously and succinctly, as well as to avoid expressive evocation, complexity, imagery and symbolism. Exhibit your expository style rather than your literary or colloquial one. At any rate, consider the WWW model—What, Where and Why— to sketch ideas to make your geography writing a doddle, not a nightmare (SEAI 2013).

As subject-dependent, geographical research methods are not universal. Analytical tools, methodological protocols, and subject matter are linked vertically amongst the three pillars of geography, but not horizontally. Conversely, writing skills are universal and assignment-independent. Peter Hoffer (2013) advises: to write well, just use your MACE! The acronym for Muse, Artist, Craftsman, and Editor describe four ethereals that shall rest on your shoulders while writing. Let’s get to know them better, following Hoffer:

The MUSE inspires us. She is our creative imagination reified. She brings us ideas, concepts, metaphors, and connections. She runs wild, swirling about us as our ideas flit about when we are gathering our materials and about to write. We need the Muse to guide us as we get down our first impressions, lines of attack, and conclusions. The Muse does not worry about the precise order of these, much less how we express them. Nor should we —not at first. Instead, as we progress in our research, we must let her guide us. The Muse tells us: Do not wait until all the inputs are in —keep on jotting down your insights.

The ARTIST exhibits better control of words than the Muse. The Artist in us demands order, shape, placement, and process. She loves to outline, arranging and rearranging our arguments and our evidence until the pattern satisfies us. The Artist knows that written geography cannot be more than two-dimensional (words going left to right on a line or top to down on a page) while Geography itself is four- dimensional (time, space, and the scalar of historicity, added to the linear narrative). But the Artist also knows how to fabricate a virtual third or fourth dimension. She tells us how and when to interweave analysis and digression.

The Muse and the Artist respect each other well, for the Artist is willing to accommodate a new insight or inspiration somewhere in the organization of the paper; in turn, the Muse recognizes the artist’s need to find some kind of aesthetics, and keeps that evolving pattern in mind as she inspires new ideas.

The CRAFTSMAN is more disciplined than both of them, for the he worries about the finished product. Every Craftsman is known by the professional caliber of his work, just as every graduate student is graded on prose quality. The Craftsman is patient; he drafts a paper according to the artist’s design, then, revises. The best Craftsman is willing to lay aside a paper and return to it, adding new material, cutting away waste. He polishes, trims, and rounds. He routinely produces more than four drafts of a single paper. Moreover, unlike the Muse and the Artist, the Craftsman is happy to have criticism of drafts. His temperament allows him to incorporate constructive comments and rewrite sections that do not work for others. After all, he knows (as the Muse and the Artist sometimes forget) that he is writing for an audience, and ultimately it is that audience’s response that measures the quality of the work transpired. He will perfect the map, the photo, or the line graph that the Artist selected to illustrate the Muse’s hints.

The EDITOR is the last ethereal to check in. Of course, she is always there: chiding the Muse for flights of irrelevant fancy; telling the Artist to tighten the outline to fit the topic; watching every step the Craftsman takes to insure that the reader will understand his meaning. The Editor is the spell checker, grammarian, and style manual. She will brook no shortcuts or technical errors. Every footnote and bibliographical entry must be in correct form as she is detail-oriented. Every quotation must be perfect. The Editor is the superego of the paper, allowing no plagiarism and demanding that every source be cited. Editors, as busybodies, must be repeatedly cautioned to wait their turn with a paper. But, we must listen to the Editor’s admonition: to keep very careful notes; to put page numbers on the index cards, or Xeroxes, or laptop entries, or sticky notes; and to turn every close paraphrase into an exact quotation, lest we slip. Even when the Muse is talking to us and we are writing down an idea at white hot speed, we need to be sure that if such idea originated in one of our secondary sources, we jot down its origin precisely. She will even take the Craftsman’s illustration and check for caption accuracy, date, legend, scale, and halftones. Sometimes the Editor cuts the infograph and includes a table instead.

Hoffer (2013) is quick to point out that MACE is not really as linear as suggested. Although papers usually go through the stages of idea, outline, draft, manuscript and galley proof, in that order, a good writer will always be willing to loop back to earlier stages of the process for emend if needed. Geographers shall insist in having their hard work of proposal development, fund raising, and field performance, rewarded with a publication as recognition of their superb effort with the study. However, either not preparing a paper for publication in the target language of fieldwork regions, or not writing towards an audience that will barely read an output in a scientific journal, often neglects international outreach. There is nothing wrong with publishing in magazines, newspapers, film scripts, television screenplays, or coffee-table books. That your message is getting across diverse constituencies matters, including your peers in the scientific circle you self-adhere when you write a paper. Be literary when you need to be outside the halls of academia, but be scientific with your peers.

One should always be proud of one’s writing; but successful writers do not have overblown egos. They must be willing to go back to the beginning if a paper does not work. In the end, the quality of the manuscript will percolate the sieves of the process; whether a chapter of the Thesis or a section of the Dissertation, most geography graduate students aspire to have a paper published in a journal. The paper will shine when published, knowing that the Muse keeps flirting, the Artist keeps creating, the Craftsman keeps polishing and the Editor keeps emending what will become new writing opportunities, for yet another paper… The more you write, the merrier!

Fausto O. Sarmiento
Professor of Geography
University of Georgia

DOI: 10.14433/2013.0022

References

Hoffer, P. 2013. A mace for graduate students (0r how to write a paper). Printed handout for History Students, University of Georgia. Athens.

Parish, S. 1981. The Student’s Practical Guide: Writing Term Papers for Anthropology (and Related Subjects). Electronic version. https://weber.ucsd.edu/~jmoore/courses/Parish.html

SEAI. 2013. How to write a geography essay. URL: https://www.seai.ie/Schools/Post_Primary/Subjects/Geography_LC/Essay_and_Exam_Tips/Geography_essay_writing/

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President's Column

Supporting the Regional Divisions

Julie WinklerOver the years, the AAG Newsletter has been peppered with presidential columns about the AAG regional divisions. The nine regional divisions host their annual meetings during autumn, and, barring scheduling conflicts, the AAG president represents the national-level Association at these meetings. Hence, it is only natural that former presidents have wanted to share with the AAG membership their thoughts on this intense, motivating, and rather exhausting experience. Foci of past columns have included approaches for enhancing attendance at the regional meetings, ways that the regional meetings can advance geography, opportunities for students, the relative participation of faculty and students from undergraduate-only and Ph.D.-granting geography departments, and the regional division structure itself.

I would like to add my thoughts to this ongoing discussion. However, my travels to the regional meetings coincide with ongoing deliberations by the AAG Council of the challenges and opportunities for the regional divisions. At the AAG Council meeting earlier this month, an entire morning session was reserved for the discussion of two questions posed to the regional and national councillors: How have changes in the “external” environment during the past two decades impacted your regional division, considering both the opportunities they create and the challenges they pose? How can the regional divisions strengthen geography at the national level and the AAG specifically? Thus, I also draw on that discussion for this column.

My overall impression is that the regional divisions have enormous potential for supporting geography and geographers. Some of this potential is very much realized, but much also remains untapped. Geographers require opportunities and venues for professional development throughout their careers. Some geographers will seek development opportunities primarily through AAG national-level activities, such as the AAG annual meeting, and/or through professional offerings from other organizations. But for others, the regional division meetings can provide an important additional, or even alternative, professional development venue. Some geographers may find that the smaller, more intimate regional meetings facilitate networking and the establishment of new research and teaching collaborations. The regional meetings can also be an ideal venue for sharing findings and for interacting with peers for those geographers conducting regionally focused research. For others, the regional meetings can provide an initial foray into disciplinary professional activities. Many geographers, myself included, presented their first paper or poster at a regional meeting. Also, the regional meetings can, and should be, a means for non-geographers interested in working more closely with geographers to introduce themselves to the discipline in a less formal setting. The regional meetings can also fill a professional development role for those geographers whose professional and personal constraints make participation in national-level activities challenging. Some geographers, including many community college faculty, are limited by their employers to only a few off-site days per year, hindering their ability to participate in the nearly week-long AAG annual meeting. Entrepreneurial geographers lose revenue every day away from their businesses. Other geographers are caring for small children or elderly relatives, making extended periods away from home difficult. In these situations, the shorter regional meetings, which often overlap with the weekend, are a more accessible professional development venue.

In order to tap into their full potential, regional divisions need to closely monitor the effectiveness of their annual meeting. Viewing the regional meetings through the lens of professional development can help with this assessment. An initial question is simply whether the meeting attendance is diverse and, if not, whether there are sectors within the geography community who feel that the regional meetings are not providing the professional development opportunities they are seeking. For example: Is attendance from graduate, four-year, and two-year academic programs proportional to the number and size of these programs within the region? Are non-academic geographers in attendance? Do undergraduate and graduate students participate? The quality of the professional development that is offered to attendees is also important: Is informal networking facilitated? Has care been taken to minimize conflicting sessions so that attendees can easily participate in all sessions of interest to them, maximizing exposure to, and feedback on, each other’s presentations? Are workshops or other skill-enhancing opportunities provided? These and similar assessment questions can help identify gaps in what the regional meetings are offering, and also can point to potential enhancements.

Discussion and assessment also needs to occur at the national level, and, in advance of the fall council meeting, the AAG Regional Councillors collectively identified a suite of challenges and opportunities for the regional divisions. A number of the challenges (continued reductions in travel funding, increased conference costs, undervaluation by employers and administration of participation in the regional organizations) are not surprising, but one potential challenge that garnered considerable discussion is that new faculty within a region may be unaware of what the regional meetings have to offer, especially if they are graduates of programs that historically have not participated in their regional division. Potential opportunities include greater advertisement of the regional divisions to AAG members, more joint regional conferences, sponsored plenary speakers who have broad public appeal, and the sharing of best practices among regions. The latter, sharing of best practices, was viewed as having particular potential, as many AAG members are familiar with only a small number of the regional divisions (often the division in which they currently work and the one where they completed their education).

The AAG Council and Central Office are undertaking several initiatives in support of the regional divisions. Regional division chairs have been invited to a luncheon meeting at the AAG annual meeting in Tampa to discuss with Council members their perceptions on the future of the regional divisions and the linkages between the regional and national components of the AAG. Following the luncheon, a two-hour workshop intended for all regional division officers will focus on sharing best practices, including practices and initiatives for membership recruitment and retention, meeting organization, hosting joint meetings, communication with members, and financial management. AAG Central Office staff will also be present to share insights based on their national-level experiences. In further support of the regional meetings, the Council approved at their fall meeting an extension of the childcare subsidy offered to attendees at the AAG annual meeting to attendees of the regional meetings, although at a reduced rate reflective of the shorter duration of the regional meetings. The provision of this subsidy recognizes that for some AAG members the regional division is their professional association, and that these members should have the same benefits as those who mainly participate in national-level activities.

I was fortunate to be able to attend the annual meetings of eight of the nine regional divisions, five this Fall and three last year. Frankly, this experience was one of my more rewarding professional opportunities in quite awhile. Each meeting had its own “flavor,” but some of the lingering highlights and memories, beyond the excellent scientific presentations and posters, include: the APCG member who subsidized the banquet tickets for student first-authors of papers and posters; the moving and relevant keynote address on memorialization of university tragedies at the joint West Lakes/East Lakes meeting hosted by Northern Illinois University, a university that experienced such a tragedy first hand; the pleasure of an esteemed geographer, someone I personally admire, in receiving SEDAAG’s Lifetime Achievement Award; the motion at the SWAAG business meeting to work to make their meetings more family friendly; meeting Maryland’s Chief Innovation Officer at the MAD meeting and discovering that he is a geographer; the vanloads of undergraduate students who attended the Middle States meeting and their incredible presentations; the open house at the University of Nebraska-Omaha Geography Department, host of the GPRM meeting, and viewing their enviable facilities; talking with an assistant professor from a major Ph.D. program, a first time attendee of the SWAGG meeting, who was thrilled with the attendance and feedback for his paper presentation; the gift basket of local products delivered to my hotel by the Geography Club at Stephen F. Austin University; and the Mark Twain impersonator at the APCG banquet who relived Twain’s adventures as a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper in Virginia City, Nevada (absolutely sublime). I also found out that, not only have I forgotten much of my introductory geography, I cannot even follow the Geography Bowl rules (apologies fellow SEDAAG “Dream Team” members!)

You may not receive a gift basket, and the impersonator was perhaps a one-off experience, but nonetheless, give the regional meetings a try. My experiences of the past year certainly have reinvigorated my commitment to my regional division.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the regional divisions and their annual meetings.

—Julie Winkler

DOI: 10.14433/2013.0020

 

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Annual Meeting

Florida’s Tourism Industry

By Ray Oldakowski

Florida, The Sunshine State, is a slogan designed to attract tourists. The nickname was officially adopted by the state legislature in 1970, although it had already appeared on license plates since the 1950s. Florida brings to mind sunny skies, sandy beaches, and warm waters. It is the place for fun in the sun, whether you are looking for boating, fishing, swimming, or simply sunbathing. Florida is home to some of the country’s most entertaining and enjoyable theme parks: Walt Disney World, Sea World, Universal, and Busch Gardens. And the state hosts many events that visitors come to watch such as Super Bowls (15 to date), college football bowl games (six games are scheduled for the 2013-14 postseason), spring training baseball, shuttle launches and other space-related missions, and the Daytona 500. Add in a few cruise ports, some tourists from Central and South America who visit for a day or two of shopping along Florida’s Gold Coast, and a competitive convention business. The result is a tourism industry that is arguably the most salient and successful among the 50 states, and the most important sector of Florida’s economy.

Florida first started receiving visitors with the arrival of Ponce de Leon’s convoy of explorers in 1513, an event the state is currently commemorating with its Viva Florida 500 celebration.  Significant numbers of tourists began to arrive during the latter half of the 19th century.  However, Florida’s tourism history is most commonly defined by the opening of Walt Disney World on October 1, 1971. All other events are categorized as pre or post Disney. In the decades prior to the opening of Walt Disney World, Florida attracted automobile visitors with a number of roadside attractions that promoted the State’s natural environment and wildlife. The map below illustrates the location of many of these attractions, as well as the major US highways that visitors used to travel throughout the state. Places like Cypress Gardens, Silver Springs, and Weeki Wachee Springs (see photo) promoted the lush tropical vegetation and aquatic formations that could be found in Florida. Attractions such as Marineland and Parrot Jungle exhibited the fish, mammals, reptiles and birds that inhabited the state. In a sense, these places were the precursors to contemporary ecotourism.

A map of Florida’s Pre-Disney Roadside Attractions created for the AAG Newsletter by John McEwen, Louisiana State UniversityThe post Disney era is characterized by large theme parks and large numbers of visitors who converge on the state by highway and by air. In a recent interview on NPR (2013), Oscar Collins, a glass bottom boat captain at Silver Springs characterized the park’s heyday during the 1960s by stating “we were doing 4-and 5000 people in the middle of the week, and on weekends, 6- and 7000.” In 2010, Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom welcomed nearly 17 million visitors, an average of over 46,000 persons per day. Walt Disney World’s other three theme parks (EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) welcomed approximately 10 million additional visitors each. Universal’s two Orlando theme parks received approximately 6 million guests each, and Busch Gardens in Tampa welcomed more than 4 million visitors (Inside the Magic 2011).

Numbers like these should allow Florida to pursue some lofty tourism goals. Specifically, the state wishes to become the No. 1 travel destination in the world.  This is the vision of Visit Florida, a not-for-profit corporation created by the state legislature in 1996, which serves as the state’s official tourism marketing agency (www.visitflorida.com). 2012 was a record year for tourism in Florida. The state welcomed over 91 million visitors who spent over $71 billion, generating 23 percent of the state’s sales tax revenue (Visit Florida 2013). There were also over 20 million in-state visits and staycations. This continues a trend of steady growth in the number of tourists from year to year over the past 10 years.  Only the financial crisis of 2008-2009 created a temporary drop in the number of visitors to Florida since 2002. And Visit Florida is taking steps to build on the current success. Beginning in the summer of 2013, video teams trained by Google Maps experts began to use Google’s Street View Trekker technology to capture images of the state’s 825 miles of beaches. Florida’s Governor Rick Scott said “this technology from Google will allow anyone in the world to see how vast and beautiful Florida’s beaches are, which will create more opportunities for tourism.”  The organization is also using social media, expert bloggers with journalism backgrounds, as well as traditional TV, radio, cinema, and print advertising to promote the state for tourism.

And while Visit Florida promotes tourism outside the state, the Partnership for Florida’s Tourism (www.floridastourismcounts.org), a grassroots coalition designed to increase public funding of tourism marketing, promotes the industry inside the state. Their lobbying focuses on the importance of visitors in creating jobs for Floridians. Their research shows that over 1 million Floridians are employed in the tourism industry, and that one new job is created by every 85 additional visitors. Comprised of associations representing restaurants and lodging, attractions, RV and campgrounds, and destination marketing organizations, the Partnership for Florida’s Tourism argues that Florida must combat the increased funding for tourism promotion spent by other states and destinations.

However, there is plenty of combat within the state as well.  Over the past several years, investors in South Florida have lobbied the legislature to allow billion dollar resort casinos to be developed in Dade and Broward Counties. These efforts have been met by strong opposition from the Walt Disney Company and the Florida Chamber of Commerce which support the family-friendly image of Central Florida’s theme parks. They are also concerned that these resort casinos would create the hotel and meeting room space necessary for South Florida to significantly impinge on Central Florida’s convention business.

There are many other examples of serious competition for visitors within the state. The website for Florida Suncoast Tourism Promotions (www.floridatourism.com) contains a regional travel guide that states “South Florida has seen the best days go by as Orlando and other parts of the state beckon tourists . . . Although Fort Lauderdale is no longer a spring break haven, and Miami has seen its share of urban troubles, the beaches, the people, the Everglades, and the experience of it all is not to be missed.”

In addition, some of Florida’s traditional vernacular regions have Balkanized as adjacent areas compete for tourism income and tax revenue. Two of the most recent examples would be the emergence of the Historic Coast in St. Augustine and St. Johns County, formerly part of the First Coast, and the Cultural Coast south of Tampa Bay focusing on Sarasota, formerly part of the Sun Coast. Moreover, the Visit Florida website presents literally hundreds of vacation options, each one hoping to outshine the other and attract potential visitors.

Obstacles to success in the tourism industry are not restricted to competition among Florida localities. Events beyond the control of the tourism industry may impede Florida’s desire to be the world’s number one travel destination. Devastating hurricanes are always a possibility during the summer and fall months. Human caused disasters such as the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in 2010 threatened the pristine character of Florida’s beaches. And Florida’s controversial stand- your-ground law, the focus of intense media attention during the spring and summer of 2013, has many groups calling for a boycott of Florida tourism until the law is overturned.

Despite these obstacles, the state recorded a record number of tourists for the first quarter of 2013. Florida has come a long way since the nature based tourism of the early 20th century, and the state is banking on tourism to remain a major job and revenue creator in the state’s 21st century economy. ♦

Ray Oldakowski
Department of Geography and the Environment
Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, FL

DOI: 10.14433/2013.0021

References

AAG 2014, Annual Meeting, Florida, Tampa, Tourism
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Steven Kale

Steven R. Kale, 65, died November 7, 2013, in his hometown of Salem, Oregon, following a brief illness. Kale achieved much in his life in academics, his profession, and in relationships with others in his life.

Kale, the middle of three children, was born in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1948 to Alton and Ruby Kale. His early years were spent in central Kansas where he and his older brother James became Eagle Scouts. After graduating from Mankato High School in 1966, Kale matriculated at Kansas State University. He earned degrees in Geography and Business Administration. Later, he obtained a master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

In 1975, Steve started his career as an economist at the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. From 1982 to 1989, Kale taught courses and conducted research in economic development, area and community development, renewable energy, and other topics at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

Kale left the University in 1989 to take on transportation work at the Oregon Department of Transportation. He remained at ODOT for 16 years and retired as the agency’s primary freight planning person. However, Steve continued to work, setting up his own consulting firm and taking on jobs for several Oregon ports and intermodal freight businesses to help them plan seed funding for projects. He also subcontracted with other consulting firms on a variety of transportation related projects.

Steve was an active member of many professional organization and national bodies, including the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Intermodal Freight Transport Committee of the Transportation Research Board where he served as the chair. Kale was also active in the Association of American Geographers and the International Geographic Union. His enthusiasm for geography and interest in his alma mater kept him involved on the KSU Geography Alumni Board.

Kale’s lifelong interest in far-away places took him to Oulu, Finland; Mendoza, Argentina; Sidney, Australia; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and much of Europe. He also managed to visit all 50 U.S. states. Steve’s travels also took him to the Arctic Circle twice: once in Alaska and another time in Finland.

A lover of the outdoors, Kale was also interested in hiking, camping, skiing, canoeing, whitewater rafting, and bird watching. He was an ardent supporter of environmental protection and cultivated lifelong friendships with many people. Steve’s personal and professional qualities were very much respected. He will be dearly missed.

Steve was preceded in death by his mother Ruby (Streit), father Alton Dale Kale, his sister Elaine and brother James. He is survived by three nephews: Jonathan Cote, David Kale, and Dan Kale.

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AAG Introduces Global Connections and Exchange Youth TechCamps

We are pleased to announce the Global Connections and Exchange Youth TechCamps: My Community, Our Earth Program (GCE MyCOE). Outstanding United States high school students will be selected to team up with counterparts in Bolivia, Panama, or South Africa. They will collaborate online and in person at one of three rounds of training events in these countries to address the theme of GeoTechnologies for Climate Change & Environment.  All camps will provide competitively-selected youth with academic preparation, orientation, cultural exchange, mentoring and training in use of geotechnologies such as online mapping, community GIS, mobile GPS, and crowdmapping. Each TechCamp round will engage 40 competitively-selected students, aged 15-18, including 10 from across the US, and 30 national counterparts. At each camp, participants will self-organize on teams to create youth-led local projects using online geotechnologies. Teams will continue to work through online collaboration to finish their projects, which will then be showcased in an Online Youth Leadership Project Fair at the end of the program.

The program aims to provide opportunities for youth to learn more about online

geotechnologies and how to apply them in service of their communities, while gaining a deeper understanding about different places and cultures of the world. It is conducted by the Association of American Geographers (AAG) with funding and support from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Youth Programs Division. In addition to ongoing global programs, AAG has conducted regional initiatives in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America under the MyCOE partnership, offering youth an array of resources both online and in print to address themes of sustainable development important to their regions and their communities. To date, MyCOE has supported about 800 youth projects in 102 countries, trained hundreds of students and teachers in the U.S. and around the world, provided professional development, and facilitated connections among universities, governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, private sector entities, and schools.

Deadline for U.S. applicants is January 10, 2014 and for international applicants is February 1, 2014.

A full call for applications is available with details of the terms of participation, eligibility rules, specific application instructions, and criteria for selection on the Techcamps webpage. Pre-camp preparations, webinars, and virtual exchanges take place through May, followed by the TechCamps in summer 2014. Post-camp virtual exchange activities will include online project collaboration supported by the program and finalized by the end of 2014.

The official language for this initiative is English.

For more information, contact: mycoe [at] aag [dot] org or visit www.aag.org/techcamps.

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AAG Staff
AAG Staff
President's Column

Physical Geography In the AAG Journals: Is It Time for a New Approach and a New Journal?

WinklerWinkler
Winkler

A great deal of excellent research is conducted by physical geographers. Unfortunately, only a small portion of this research is published in the two AAG journals, the Annals of the Association of American Geographers and The Professional Geographer. As you peruse your November issue of the Annals, you may notice that, for the first time in a number of years, this issue does not include an Environmental Sciences (ES) section. The small number of submissions to this section, in conjunction with the recent increase in the number of Annals issues per year, has made it more difficult to regularly populate an ES section in spite of extensive efforts by the current ES editor to recruit manuscripts. The submission rate of physical geography manuscripts is in sharp contrast to the overall substantial increase in manuscripts submitted to the Annals and The Professional Geographer, but is consistent with trends observed for journals published by other geographical scholarly societies. Few articles by physical geographers appear in the Transactions of the British Geographical Society, for example.

Why do physical geographers publish less in the AAG journals compared to other subfields of geography? Like any author, physical geographers want their research to reach the largest possible audience. They also want their work to reach the audience that can best make use of, and build upon, their research. The perception of many physical geographers is that these goals may not be achieved by publishing in the AAG journals. My own experience is in line with this perception. Over my career, I have published a modest number of physical geography-related articles in the Annals and The Professional Geographer. For the most part, these articles have been cited by fellow “geographer climatologists.” This, of course, is a community whom I respect, and I am honored that they read my work. But at the same time, I would have liked a broader readership for these articles. Other physical geographers apparently feel similarly, as recent surveys, such as that of Steven Quiring* from Texas A&M University, suggest a decline in the proportion of physical geography articles published in geography journals. Quiring found that in 1989-1997 geographer climatologists published 21% of their articles in geography journals, but by 1998-2005 the proportion had dropped to only 11%.

Another confounding factor is that physical geographers are frequently involved in multi-disciplinary research, and the selection of a journal for publication is often a group decision. Journals with names like Annals of the Association of American Geographers or The Professional Geographer can be seen as overly discipline-specific to non-geographers on a research team. More often, interdisciplinary research is submitted to journals serving a broad range of disciplines or to disciplinary journals with exceptionally large readerships. Greater use of quantitative indices to evaluate research success may also be contributing to the relatively small number of submissions by physical geographers to AAG journals. A decade or more ago, quantification of individual productivity was mostly limited to the number of articles published per year, but now H-factors, total number of citations, and related measures are also used to evaluate research productivity and impact. Since physical geographers often compete for resources and recognition with other physical scientists, they are compelled to publish in journals with similar impact factors as the publication outlets of their non-geography colleagues.

What impact does the limited publication by physical geographers in the Annals and The Professional Geography have on the AAG and, more generally, the discipline of geography? In my opinion, the potential consequences are large. We argue that a major strength of our discipline is its integrative nature and the ability of geographers to think and work across the human/physical divide. Yet how strongly can we make this argument if our major journals include little physical geography? What impression do these journals give others of the breadth of geography and its synergies? Also, how is a geography community built, if a major component of the discipline is not publishing in geography journals, and, consequently, other geographers are largely unaware of their work? And if physical geographers no longer turn to the AAG as a publication outlet, will they continue to participate in and support other aspects of the AAG, such as its professional meetings?

The concerns raised above are not new. Nor do they apply only to physical geography. But the lack of an ES section in next month’s Annals reinforces the need for new efforts to ensure the visibility of physical geography within the geography community and beyond.

An essential initial step is for individual physical geographers — including me — to acknowledge the importance of a physical geography presence in AAG journals to the discipline as a whole. A modest commitment, of perhaps one manuscript submission every three to four years over the course of one’s publishing career, would go a long way to increasing physical geography’s presence in the Annals and The Professional Geographer. Physical geographers also need to reconsider what constitutes an “Annals article.” Many of us wait to submit to the Annals until we have that special manuscript we think appeals broadly across much of geography or can be written in a manner that is easily understandable across multiple subfields. We need to keep in mind that scientifically-sound manuscripts that move a subfield of geography forward also merit review and potential publication in the Annals. Greater publicity of AAG journals to other disciplines is also needed. Strategically-distributed press releases of particularly significant papers, whatever the subfield, can attract readership. Additional options include the wide distribution of the table of contents of the Annals and The Professional Geographer via relevant listservs and other media to reach a broader audience.

But “out of the box” approaches also need to be considered. One such option is for the AAG to add new journals to its publications suite — journals that have the AAG imprimatur, yet appeal to a wide range of disciplines and have broad visibility. Such a journal, tentatively titled Geohumanities, is already under consideration by the AAG Council and Central Office, and, at its last meeting, the AAG Council initiated discussion of a second journal geared toward environmental science, referred to, for discussion only at this point, as Geographical Perspectives on Global Change. Both journals would have as their goal the publication of quality research by geographers and non-geographers that advances geographic understanding and/or employs geographic methods and techniques.

How might a new AAG-sponsored global change/environmental science journal enhance the visibility of physical geography research? A thematic, rather than disciplinary, journal title would hopefully attract a broad readership across multiple disciplines. A broad readership, in turn, would make this journal an attractive outlet for physical geographers and other environmental scientists to publish their research. Also, a more thematic journal would be appealing as a publication outlet for the outcomes of interdisciplinary research efforts. If well supported by physical geographers, all geographers could easily turn to this journal to keep abreast of new developments in physical geography. In addition, the AAG could more aggressively market a journal devoted to global change/environmental science to other disciplines, especially those in the natural sciences, than what is currently possible when only a small number of articles related to environmental science are published in the Annals and The Physical Geographer. Wider marketing would bring more attention to the entire AAG journal suite, benefiting our current journals, as well as the proposed new journal. Furthermore, the AAG imprimatur on a successful global change/environmental science journal that is highly regarded across multiple disciplines would bring more visibility to geography’s contribution to these areas, a benefit for the entire discipline.

Obviously, further effort is needed to assure such a journal’s success. We need to explore and identify a niche(s) that an AAG-sponsored global change/environmental science journal could best fill, and selection of a journal title requires careful attention. A visionary, well respected, and dedicated editor, along with a world-class editorial board drawn from multiple disciplines, are essential to the journal’s success. An intense and extensive publicity campaign is also essential. Admittedly, initiating a new journal, especially at a time when the publication industry is undergoing substantial change, has some risk. But so, too, does having a major portion of our discipline not publishing in AAG journals.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on a new journal, specifically, and on physical geography, more broadly. Also, we will have a moderated discussion on how the AAG can better support physical geography at our annual meeting in Tampa. I invite you to participate. This session is tentatively scheduled for 11:45 a.m. – 12:40 p.m., Thursday, April 10, 2014. More information will be posted on the AAG website and distributed electronically via the AAG Geogram.

–Julie Winkler

DOI: 10.14433/2013.0018

* For more information on the survey conducted by Steven Quiring see “Trends in Publication Outlets of Geographer-Climatologists,” The Professional Geographer, Volume 59, Issue 3, pages 357–364, August 2007. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9272.2007.00618.x Members can log in to see this article.

 

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Julie Winkler
Julie Winkler

William J. Black

The faculty, staff, students and alumni of the Department of Geography mourn the loss of Professor Emeritus William R. Black on October 15th, 2013 at his home in Bloomington, Indiana. Though Bill had fought cancer for a number of years prior, his death was unexpected. A native of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, Bill graduated from California State College of Pennsylvania in 1964. Afterward he moved to Iowa City where in 1966 he earned a M.A. in Geography and in 1969 a PhD. He served on the faculty of the Department of Geography at Miami University of Ohio from 1968-1969 before moving to the Department of Geography at Indiana University in Bloomington. He remained at IU throughout his career, retiring in 2007 as Professor Emeritus after his second 4-year stint as Chair of the department, having also served in that capacity from 1985-1989. Additionally, he held appointments and leadership positions in the Transportation Research Center, Regional Analysis and Planning Program, and the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis in the Schools of Business and Public and Environmental Affairs at IU. Outside Bloomington he held a visiting professorship at Purdue University in 1973 and was a Guest Scholar of The Brookings Institution in 1982.

Bill was a foundational figure in Transport Geography. He directed over 20 transportation research and planning projects, published over 200 research papers and reports, and authored, co-authored, or served as editor of seven books. These contributions include comprehensive studies of the Federal Local Rail Service Assistance Act, a germinal textbook in transportation analysis, and a survey book of sustainability in transportation. He was responsible for the formation of the Transportation Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers and was a key figure in the development of the Journal of Transport Geography. He also served on the editing board of several major journals in transportation and environmental studies. For his ‘Significant Contributions to Transportation Geography’’, he was awarded the Edward L. Ullman Award by the Association of American Geographers in 1995 and was selected to present the Fleming Lecture in Transportation Geography at the Association of American Geographers meeting in Pittsburgh in 2000. He was extensively involved in the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council, including serving twice as chair of the Committee on Social and Economic Factors. For his efforts he received the Board’s Distinguished Service Award in 2002, and designation as Emeritus Member for Significant Contributions to the Organization in 2005.

He was a singular academic in the extent of his involvement, contributions, and achievements outside academia. He was extensively involved in the planning and restructuring of American railroads in the turbulent 1970s for that industry. He served as Director of Rail Planning for the State of Indiana from 1974 to 1975, and was a Chief on the Activation Task Force of Conrail during its formation in 1975 to 1976. He served as the first Director of Transportation of the State of Indiana when that department was formed in 1980. He was also responsible for the routing and planning of the public transportation system in Bloomington, Indiana when it was introduced in 1972. His service to the State of Indiana was recognized by then Governor Otis T. Bowen in 1980 when he was named a Sagamore of the Wabash for Public Service, the highest honor a civilian can be awarded by the Indiana Governor’s office. Upon retirement, Bill stepped away to pursue a life-long love of creative writing. In retirement, he produced a biography of World War I correspondent and Brownsville, PA native Percival Phillips, and was working on one of Philander Case Knox when he died. He also published Mitigating Circumstances: The United States of America vs. Robert Black and Greenhouse Effects, A Novel as e-books.

Perhaps most of all, Bill had a way with words that was unmistakable to anyone who read his work or conversed with him. He had a knack for saying the most impactful thing at just the right time and as succinctly as could be stated. This made him an insightful teacher, engaging public speaker, delightful writer to read, and perhaps most meaningful for those who knew him, a most helpful confidant and mentor.

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