Careers

The State of Geography: Patterns and Trends by Racial and Ethnic Identity

In December, AAG released the State of Geography report, which provides an overview of broad trends in degree conferral at the undergraduate and graduate levels, both within geography and in comparison with general trends in other social sciences and in academia overall.

Last month, we examined the data for trends and indicators in terms of gender identity. This month, we look at how well graduation trends are doing in terms of representation of students across racial and ethnic groups that have been historically excluded from geography. 

As President Marilyn Raphael noted in her February 2023 President’s column, “The [State of Geography] report confirms some of the concerns about our field’s lack of diversity, offers signs of change, and leaves us with important questions about the nature and constraints of the data,” which is drawn from the National Center for Education Statistics, Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes.  

In the report and this article, AAG is using the term “historically excluded populations” to designate the students in these categories. American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Student Visa Holder, Race/Ethnicity unknown, and Two or More Races. We also used the term to follow the practice of AAG’s JEDI committee, which uses the term intersectionally, acknowledging that multiple modes of discrimination can combine (e.g. racism, sexism, ableism, classism), and describing the persistent barriers of the discipline, be they formal or perceived:  

“Geography is not perceived as a welcoming discipline for women, queer and trans people, oppressed racial/ethnic groups, and other individuals from historically excluded populations. There are several interconnected reasons for this. First, modern geography’s roots in white, Western, patriarchal, settler colonial, and cis-heteronormative understandings of the world mean that the discipline has long reflected and perpetuated systems of oppression. Second, there are systematic and structural barriers that limit the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty and students. Third, marginalized faculty and students do not necessarily see geography as relevant or reflective of their realities, and as a result, they do not see in it prospects for a well-defined, practical, and impactful career. Together, these elements create impressions of geography that range from antiquated to hostile. While these perceptions exist today, they should not mark geography’s future. Receptivity will only improve if we become intentional about embedding JEDI into standard practices within the AAG and the broader geography discipline.” [Source: AAG 3-Year Justice Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan, 2021] 

The State of Geography report is among AAG’s efforts to embed JEDI into standard practices within our organization and to encourage their adoption throughout the discipline. 

Signs of Promise  

Even as growth in overall degree conferrals has dropped in geography for roughly the past decade, the graduation rate of students in historically excluded populations has grown during the same time. In fact, during the past 25 years, the percentage of degree-earning geography students who are from historically excluded populations has more than doubled, from 14.8% in 1994-1995 to 36.4% in 2020-2021. The trend is most pronounced in graduate studies, particularly PhD programs. Our analysis included student visa holders among the categories because NCES counts them among the race and ethnicity categories they track. This group of students makes up a large proportion of students at the graduate levels, and themselves form a diverse cohort of many racialized identities within and beyond an American context, although it is hard to identify specific racial or ethnic groups in this category.  

At the bachelor’s degree level, the proportion of students in many racial or ethnic categories increased, with the greatest gains among students of more than one race and Latinx or Hispanic students. There was little growth in bachelor’s degree conferral among American Indian and Alaska Native students or Black/African American students.  

In fact, there appears to be almost no growth in bachelor’s degree conferrals for Black students since 2010. Given total growth, the percentage appears to be declining for percent growth of Black students, a phenomenon that adversely affects the number of Black PhD graduates and, consequently, Black geography faculty.   

Trends in Geography Bachelor’s Degrees Conferred by Race and Ethnicity 
Figure 22. Trends in Geography Bachelor’s Degrees Conferred by Race and Ethnicity

 

At the master’s and doctoral levels, U.S.-based diversity drops dramatically, while student visa holders become a significant proportion of degree recipients. The increase in student visa holders, proportional to other student groups, during the past decade suggests that international students–who often have quite different understandings and experiences of race—may be more attracted and welcomed to U.S. geography than U.S. students of color. 

There appears to be an inverse correlation between the level of degree and the diversity of the students pursuing the degree. Diversity is greatest at the undergraduate level, drops at the master’s level, and drops still further at the doctoral level. 

Figure 24: Trends in Geography Master’s Degrees by Race and Ethnicity

 

Figure 26: Trends in Geography Doctoral Degrees by Race and Ethnicity
Figures 24 and 26: Trends in Geography Master’s and Doctoral Degrees by Race and Ethnicity

 

How Geography Compares Among Disciplines 

Because geography is an interdisciplinary science, we compared student choices of major among several social science and physical science disciplines. As a graduate degree sought out by students from historically excluded populations, geography holds its own among the social sciences at the master’s level, with slightly better representation at the PhD level than most other social sciences (with the exception of economics). At the bachelor’s level, however, geography has a lower rate of representation among these students than most other social sciences, except for history. 

Geography fares similarly to other physical sciences in the amount of representation from historically excluded groups in bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and PhDs. Representation increases from bachelor’s to master’s to PhD. 

Overall, geography is behind virtually all other fields of study we examined across all degree types, in terms of racial and ethnic representation. From 1997 to 2019, Jordan et al. (2021) found that “geography [doctorates] consistently trailed the social sciences and the academy,” a gap that has been widening.  More than half of computer science degrees, to cite one example, are conferred on students from minoritized backgrounds—across all levels of degree. This indicator has relevance for GIS studies within geography: computer science and data analysis, perhaps data visualization, are a popular degree for students of many backgrounds, and GIS programs can leverage this popularity, combined with greater efforts to attract and retain students from diverse backgrounds. 

Detail from Figure 20. Minoritized students (in red), as an overall proportion of bachelor’s degrees in (L to R) geography, business management and related services, and computer science. The values rise from left to right.
Detail from Figure 20. Minoritized students (in red), as an overall proportion of bachelor’s degrees in (L to R) geography, business management and related services, and computer science.

 

Concluding Thoughts 

The growth in geography degrees among students from historically excluded populations is good news for the discipline: it is they who have contributed any new, positive growth to the field in recent years. That growth is nowhere near the levels needed for full, representative equity, however. While it offers a signpost to a more diverse geography, the overall lack of diversity is also a reminder that we must redouble our efforts. 

In developing the report, we encountered several unknowns, such as the “race/ethnicity unknown” category and the student visa category. As noted in our article on gender, qualitative information is also not available. Gaining qualitative insight is crucial because an increase in graduates from groups previously excluded does not mean that racial bias and inequality do not exist. Jordan et al. (2021) identify four drivers of inequity in doctorate programs: 

  1. lack of dedicated funding for underrepresented minority doctoral students,  
  2. minimal prior exposure to academic and professional geography,  
  3. passive recruitment strategies, and  
  4. pervasive whiteness of departments. 

[Exploring Persistent Racial and Ethnic Representation Disparity in U.S. Geography Doctoral Programs: The Disciplinary Underrepresentation Gap] 

In her 2002 article “Reflections on a White Discipline,” geographer Laura Pulido looks at her own experience as a student and faculty member of color within geography programs. Finding that “the study of race is both marginalized and fragmented within geography,” she ultimately moved from geography into a newly organized American studies program that acknowledged ethnicity and race. She writes, “Although other issues also existed, comfort and intellectual community were the key reasons I made the move.” These studies indicate that pragmatic factors such as funding and active recruitment should be coupled with a strong commitment and follow-through for the representation of many identities, and a welcoming and supportive intellectual environment for engaging critical questions around race, ethnicity, and identity. 

As we previously noted in our article on gender identity and degree conferral, NCES data do not lend themselves to being examined intersectionally, that is, with an acknowledgment of the complex ways discrimination and marginalization can function across multiple identities. Separating out race and ethnicity from gender cannot be done: we are all a combination of various identities and experience our lives through the lenses of those identities, including our experience of exclusion. Quoting the JEDI Committee once again, “…there are systematic and structural barriers that limit the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty and students [and] marginalized faculty and students do not necessarily see geography as relevant or reflective of their realities, and as a result, they do not see in it prospects for a well-defined, practical, and impactful career.” Although the numbers indicate that more students of differing identities are finding their way to geography, especially for advanced degrees, we must find ways to build on this positive trend: to actively working toward structural change in the discipline and to find out more about what attracts students of differing identities and experiences to geography, and what contributes to their decision to pursue advanced study.  

Get Involved in the Next State of Geography Report:

We look forward to further expanding on our findings in the State of Geography Report in the future, with data from a variety of sources, including NCES, AAG surveys, and AAG member expertise. We welcome questions, ideas, or suggestions about the findings at data@aag.org.   

Read the full report
Further Reading

Peake, L.J. & England, Kim (2020). (What Geographers Should Know About) The State of U.S. and Canadian Academic Professional Associations’ Engagement with Mental Health Practices and Policies, The Professional Geographer, 72:1, 37-53, DOI: 10.1080/00330124.2019.1611455 

Brinegar, S.J. (2001). Female Representation in the Discipline of Geography, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 25:3, 311-320, DOI: 10.1080/03098260120084395 

Kinkaid, E. & Fritzsche, L. (2022). The Stories We Tell: Challenging Exclusionary Histories of Geography in U.S. Graduate Curriculum, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 112:8, 2469-2485, DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2022.2072805 

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The State of Geography: Patterns and Trends by Gender Identity

In December, AAG released the State of Geography report, which provides an overview of broad trends in degree conferral at the undergraduate and graduate levels, both within geography and in comparison with general trends in other social sciences and in academia overall. For the next several months, we—the authors of this AAG report–will examine how these trends manifest, with similarities and differences, among students of differing gender identities, as well as those in racialized categories of identity who have been historically excluded from geography. 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data for Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes form the basis of the State of Geography report. Simply looking at these data, shows immediately how conclusions and even the formulation of questions are constrained by the limits and assumptions in how data are framed and collected. While acknowledging the ways in which the data themselves can shape expectations, we use the information from NCES both to examine the status quo and to push further into new avenues for change and for strengthening the discipline’s equity and representation. 

CIP data about gender is based on only the two normative choices: male and female. These categories effectively erase the presence of the transgender and nonbinary people who are pursuing geography degrees. AAG’s own data-gathering, based on voluntary identification of gender by our members, demonstrates that at least 2% of our members identify outside the normative binary. Because the two conventional classifications of gender are so rigid, people who identify differently from “man” or “woman” have to be miscategorized to be counted, their gender identities erased by design. As AAG uses these terms in the absence of better options, we acknowledge the flaw in the data and the need to push the field to more accurately capture the range of genders in future reports. 

Still a Man’s Field, But Promising Indicators of Change

The bottom line is that geography remains a male-centered field. However, NCES data and other sources indicate that while people identified as women are underrepresented in total geography degrees conferred, they have more consistent positive growth in degree conferral than people identified as men. The higher representation of women in geography graduate programs than in undergraduate programs could indicate that many women (and any nonbinary people classified in the data as women) find their paths to geography after earning their bachelor’s degrees in other fields. They also appear to have a higher representation in doctorate programs, where the data categories of men and women have reached close to 50:50 parity, and on two occasions students identified as women have achieved 52%.  

Comparative bar chart showing the ercentage of total degrees conferred by Geography and Geography-related CIP code by gender and degree type, 1986-2021 (Figure 8 from the report)

 

This proportional change is partly due to a decline in degrees for those identified as men, and partly due to a growth in degrees among students identified as women. The 2012 inflection point, possibly related to the Great Recession that began in 2008, is visible in Figure 7. The pronounced decline in geography degrees during 2012 was not as severe for degree-holders identified as women, compared with those identified as men.  

 

Line chart showing the number of degrees (combined bachelor's, master's, Ph.D.) conferred by Geography and Geography-related CIP codes, 1986-2021 (Figure 7 from the report) 

How Geography Compares with Peer Disciplines

Gender proportions for bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geography remain relatively stable in their make-up since 1986, even though other social science degrees at these levels have diversified more visibly by gender during the past several decades. The pattern of higher attainment of doctoral degrees by students identified as women is similar in all social sciences and geography.  

In the physical sciences, the gender mix is also showing signs of being more inclusive of people identified as women, this time at all levels from undergraduate through doctorate. Studies in natural resources and conservation in particular show a larger participation of students identified as women relative to other physical sciences related to environmental studies and to geography.  

Studies in natural resources and conservation in particular show a larger participation of women relative to other physical sciences related to environmental studies, and to geography.

Overall, although there are positive developments in gender equity within geography, especially at the doctoral level, it still lags behind sibling disciplines such as meteorology, geology and earth sciences, natural resources and conservation, and anthropology in attracting more gender-diverse pool of candidates. 

Success Is Not Only in Numbers

The data available to us add to our understanding of the state of gender diversity in geography and academia from 1986 until now. How can we gain further insight, not only into changes in the gender representation in our discipline, but the factors that lead to greater success in diversity and inclusiveness? 

An important research goal is to better meet the reality of gender in data collection and studies. Major institutions must transform their data efforts to better include the full spectrum of gender, and they must hear from their research communities to demand this transformation. For example, AAG recently signed on to a joint letter to the National Science Foundation to hold it accountable to previous promises for data collection efforts for sexual orientation and gender diversity. In terms of attainment goals, while it is tempting to let success rest with a desirable ratio, such as the number of degree conferrals, it is better to see such a number as potentially encouraging and a cue to strive further with programming and approaches that promote greater gender representation across the entire career spectrum, including greater support for and access to tenure-track and leadership opportunities.  

Numbers alone are not the issue; they are only the indicators of issues, but they are an important starting point. AAG is looking at ways that we can bring about greater quantitative knowledge of the full spectrum of gender diversity in geography. We also know that there are important qualitative considerations underlying the trends we see in geography. For example, we know that the experience of pursuing a degree can be very different across genders. Faculty representation and experience is both an important part of this and its own area worth examining. The work of Brinegar (2001) indicates that gender representation of both faculty and students matters to successful outcomes. Beyond representation, we need to better document how women, trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people are either empowered and supported or frustrated and discouraged as members of departments, as teachers, mentors, and colleagues. 

 Experiences in the classroom set the tone: Kinkaid and Fritszche (2022) analyzed 32 class syllabi for graduate-level Introduction to geography classes for the prevalence of many influencing narratives and assumptions, including those related to gender. The researchers found that “seemingly minor decisions about framing, content, and organization” led to reaffirmation of exclusionary ideas about geography, but with some examination and reframing, can also lead “toward more inclusive and diverse imaginaries of the geographic tradition.” 

The role of care and support in the academy and professional societies has been studied by Peake and England (2020), Mullings, Parizeau and many others, including the gendered aspects of mental health and wellbeing. Support for mental health and wellbeing, in turn, has a direct impact on the success of geographers of all genders. Career-related questions that additional data could address include: What are the career prospects for geography graduates of all genders, within and outside of academia, in the private sector, and in government? What do we know about pay parity and advancement opportunities? Are goals for gender equity being developed with intersectional experiences in mind, with attention to the experience students and faculty who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), who or different nationalities and citizenships, and with access and accommodations for disabilities, to name only a few considerations?  

Early trends are also of interest. Data exist from gender trends in AP Human Geography class enrollment in high school, where it seems likely that more people identified as female than male are signing up. Could this open the door wider for undergraduate choices of major? Especially intriguing in this regard is the deepening trend among those identified as women—and we might discover if we collected more detailed data, people of diverse gender identities—to study and contribute to the study of natural resources, climate, and conservation, food security, critical studies, and the like. Is there enough awareness and incentive for these studies to be pursued through geography? 

Thinking creatively about how to address these questions through data will take a collaborative effort from all of us. In 2023 and beyond, AAG looks forward to working with our members and geography departments to enhance our understanding of and take action on these questions.  

Next month, AAG’s State of Geography series continues with articles on categories of race and ethnicity, as well as data needs. 

Get Involved in the Next State of Geography Report:

We look forward to further expanding on our findings in the State of Geography Report in the future, with data from a variety of sources, including NCES, AAG surveys, and AAG member expertise. We welcome questions, ideas, or suggestions about the findings at data@aag.org.   

Read the full report
Further Reading

Peake, L.J. & England, Kim (2020). (What Geographers Should Know About) The State of U.S. and Canadian Academic Professional Associations’ Engagement with Mental Health Practices and Policies, The Professional Geographer, 72:1, 37-53, DOI: 10.1080/00330124.2019.1611455 

Brinegar, S.J. (2001). Female Representation in the Discipline of Geography, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 25:3, 311-320, DOI: 10.1080/03098260120084395 

Kinkaid, E. & Fritzsche, L. (2022). The Stories We Tell: Challenging Exclusionary Histories of Geography in U.S. Graduate Curriculum, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 112:8, 2469-2485, DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2022.2072805 

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AAG Statement on the Targeting of Diversity Education and Critical Inquiry by U.S. States

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AAG Welcomes Risha Berry as new Director of Diversity and Inclusion

Photo of Risha BerryRisha R. Berry, Ph.D. has been named the new Director of Diversity and Inclusion for AAG. Among her responsibilities will be acting as the staff liaison for AAG’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion plan, adopted in December 2021.

“I’m excited to start my work with the American Association of Geographers,” said Dr. Berry. “Geographers work on critical issues that are shaped by questions of equity and justice, from climate change to immigration to war and peace to hunger and poverty. It will be an honor to work with AAG to strengthen its response to the field and to the world’s great needs through the practice of geography.”

Dr. Berry brings to her new role at AAG the knowledge and expertise resulting from 30 years of research, strategic direction, and leadership development addressing structural inequalities and racism and their collective impact on educational attainment and economic mobility. Among her many accomplishments, she is the founder and expert of the theory of organizational containment, which is defined as the “continual barriers that members of an organization encounter as they attempt to advance their career paths in pursuit of access to organizational resources critical to job effectiveness and career advancement” (Berry 2014).

A native of and current resident of Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Berry was a founding member of that city’s Mayor’s Office of Community Wealth Building (the nation’s first such office). She was responsible for creating and establishing the educational alignment strategy for wealth building, which resulted in the creation of the RVA Future Centers initiative, placing post-secondary planning centers at each of the comprehensive high schools in Richmond.

She also co-chaired the creation of the Social Justice Core and Urban Education and Families Core as a visiting scholar with Virginia Commonwealth University. While there, she was appointed Interim Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services by the Mayor of Richmond, creating a strategic plan for aligning Community Wealth Building with citywide Human Services outcomes.

Dr. Berry also has led her own leadership coaching firm and several projects across the U.S. focused on community education and equity building, including working with a neighborhood equity group in Baltimore, Maryland; a national organization focusing on supporting city leaders in executing goals for equity in early childhood systems alignment; and she is also a Community Advisory Board Member and chair of the Housing and Health Equity Subcommittee of the Virginia Commonwealth University Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research.

She is a national fellow with the National League of Cities (Aligning Early Childcare Systems).

With many grants, awards, and publications of research to her name, Dr. Berry brings valuable insights and ideas to her new role at AAG. We are excited to welcome her, and to follow up with a conversation about her perspective on working with AAG when we return from the holidays.

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The State of Geography: Data and Trends in Higher Education 

By Mark Revell and Mikelle Benfield

This year, AAG debuts The State of Geography report, presenting trends and indicators in post-secondary geography education in the United States. This report uses Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) codes, established by the National Center for Educational Statistics, to provide a snapshot of geography degree conferral patterns at the undergraduate and graduate levels. These data help identify trends and areas in need of additional attention, such as decreasing degree conferral in geography, racial and gender diversity across the discipline, and more.  

Recent changes in geography majors and graduation rates observed in this report take place against a broader backdrop of change in higher education, where uneven or declining growth in enrollments and degrees has taken place in numerous majors since 2012, and has been aggravated more recently by COVID-19. Our findings indicate a similar slowing of the robust growth in geography majors that began in the 1990s and peaked in 2012. The overall number of geography degrees has steadily declined since then, tracking with declining degree conferrals in many other disciplines, with the greatest impact felt in the social sciences and humanities, and at the undergraduate level. The trends for post-graduate degrees are more encouraging, with steady growth until very recently, almost certainly due to the impacts of COVID-19. 

Geography by Many Other Names

This report only captures trends for the six CIP codes that are currently related to geography, acknowledging that geography is also interdisciplinary and embedded in other disciplinary studies not clearly addressed by CIP codes. As new codes have been added over the years, we can see trends in disciplinary growth. In particular, GIScience and cartography degrees take up a larger proportion of current degree conferrals, particularly among master’s degrees. The proportion of GIS-related degrees is less dramatic at the bachelor’s and doctorate levels. 

Image of a portion of page 4 of the PDF report showing just the change in proportion among master’s degrees over time
Master’s degrees have shown higher proportions of GIScience and cartography degrees in recent years.

 

Reviewing CIP categories that have been added since 1980 yields insight into directions for the discipline. Three categories that are used most often date from, respectively, 1980 (Geography), 2000 (Geography, Other), and 1990/amended 2010 (GIScience and Cartography was Cartography from 1990-2010). Three additional categories created in 2020 have yet to be widely adopted, but identify known directions for geography practice: Geospatial Intelligence, Geography and Environmental Science, and Geography and Anthropology. 

While the interdisciplinary nature of geography makes it widely appealing for study, it also makes the discipline a challenge to track due to the variety of non-geography CIP codes that departments can apply to their programs. For example, GIScience programs may use a computer science CIP code; physical geography may be classified through a natural sciences CIP code. The reason behind the choice of codes by program coordinators could range from codes that are better suited to visa programs to choosing high-growth non-geography CIP codes more likely to be favored by college administrations. In fact, AAG’s Guide to Geography Programs in the Americas already notes some CIP codes used by geography programs that were not included in this initial report, such as public health. Then, too, geography is being taught in other programs that are experiencing very high growth, such as atmospheric sciences, natural resources and conservation, and computer science and IT. These could be masking geography study, or could represent combined programs and departments.  

Minding the Undergraduate Gap

Along with geography degrees at all levels, undergraduate degrees climbed steadily from just over 3,000 in 1986 to peak at roughly 5,000 in 2012. Growth has declined since then, reaching the level last seen thirty years ago at roughly 4,000 degrees conferred. When compared with all social and physical sciences, however, The State of Geography report found that geography has held its own, with a similar rate of growth to the combined rates for all social and physical sciences. Notably, natural resources conservation is the top physical science degree, and growing swiftly. This is a relevant finding to the capacity of geography studies to appeal to undergraduates, since spatial skills are indispensable to natural resources conservation. Almost all the sciences have experienced a dip in degree conferrals since 2008, and most lag far behind fields such as business management, marketing, computer sciences, and engineering. Part of this is likely the fallout from the Great Recession: The share of students majoring in social science and humanities degrees dropped steadily between 2008 and 2018, while the share of majors perceived as “recession-proof” grew. 

Line chart showing Geography’s performance relative to select other social sciences

Line chart showing Geography’s performance relative to select other physical sciences
Geography’s performance relative to select other social and physical sciences.

 

In short, geography as a major makes a good showing within both families of science to which it has affinities. This indicates the enormous opportunity that lies in breaking geography out of silos and rethinking the breadth of its appeal to undergraduate students. In fact, Stoler et al. found in their 2020 study of student preferences that the actual word ‘geography’ rated far lower in undergraduate students’ minds than words suggestive of many geographic focus areas, such as ‘environment’ or ‘sustainability.’ The news about conventional geography degrees for undergraduates is sobering, and the discipline’s influence among college students seems far from waning. 

Graduate Study Strong Despite Setbacks

While the net number of bachelor’s degrees conferred has grown by only one-third since 1986, effectively falling from historical highs to 2000-era levels, graduate studies grew by almost 100% (96% and 98%, respectively). Since 2016, however, graduate degrees have dipped sharply along with other disciplinary degrees in social or physical science compared with other disciplines, possibly a partial consequence of economic factors that are now aggravated by COVID-19.   

Line chart showing the comparison of Geography with other fields of study
Geography majors across all levels of study (bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate), compared with select other fields of study.

 

Among the comparison fields in the report, geography graduate studies outperform virtually all other social sciences we examined at the graduate level when it comes to percent growth: they are second only to economics at the master’s level, and the number one choice at the doctorate level among the social sciences we compared. Among the physical sciences we compared, geography is second only to the rapidly growing field of natural resources and conservation at the master’s degree level (the same scientific field that has also greatly grown in undergraduate degrees). Doctorates in geography are outpaced by those in three physical sciences that all have close affinity with our discipline: natural resources and conservation, geology, and atmospheric science. It is worth asking why, if geography is such an attractive post-graduate degree, it has less traction among undergraduates. Are many geographers drawn to the discipline too late to change majors for their bachelor’s degree? Does the major even exist at their college? A student cannot earn a geography degree if none is available. Bjelland (2004,) found that only 7% of undergraduate liberal arts colleges offered a geography degree. For their part, the state university systems have made program changes since 2008, including combining or eliminating programs, due to increasing budget pressure and austerity. These changes yielded many more hybrid departments that may not explicitly recognize their geographic components (this is especially true in departments of urban planning and environmental science).  

Notes on the Future

The overall decline in growth in geography degrees in the U.S. in recent years, especially among undergraduates, is concerning. Yet the relative strength in advanced degrees demonstrates staying power for the discipline, even at a time when so many disciplines and degrees are also declining. This could indicate that geography, often referred to as a “discovery” major, is resonating with students once they have discovered the field. Additional promising news, although outside the scope of this first report, is the apparent growth among associate degree geography or GIS programs at community colleges. There are now 210 community colleges in the United States that grant associates’ degrees in geography and GIS, compared with an estimated 158 in 2018. Shabram and Housel have found that many community colleges are “agile and demand-driven,” responding to the growing, unmet workforce need for spatial skills, noted by Solem et. Al. (2008). 

Geography is also better positioned as a STEM science in future: the Geography and Environmental Studies CIP offers an important chance to increase geography’s visibility in this popular scientific area. Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security recent added Geography and Environmental Studies to its list of STEM degree programs.  

These new developments can contribute to heightened awareness of geography, as well as better understanding of its power as a major and a career choice. 

Note: The State of Geography Report also covers the conferral of degrees by race, ethnicity, and gender. These dimensions are crucial to a full understanding of the momentum of the discipline, and will be covered in future articles. 

Get Involved in the Next State of Geography Report:

We look forward to further expanding on our findings in the State of Geography Report in the future, with data from a variety of sources, including NCES, AAG surveys, and AAG member expertise. We welcome questions, ideas, or suggestions about the findings at data@aag.org.  

Further Reading

Bjelland, M. (2003) A place for geographers in the liberal arts college? The Professional Geographer, Vol 56, Issue 3 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0033-0124.2004.05603001.x  

Revell, M. Community colleges are changing the landscape of higher education. (2021) ArcNews, Fall. https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcnews/community-colleges-are-changing-the-landscape-of-geography-education/  

Shabram, P,, and J. Housel, (2021) Building a partnership to build a pipeline for geographers. New Directions for Community Colleges, 194 Sum. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cc.20453 

Solem, M., I. Cheung, M.B. Schlemper. (2008) Skills in professional geography: An assessment of workforce needs and expectations. The Professional Geographer, Vol. 60, Issue 3.  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00330120802013620  

Stoler, J. D. Ter-Ghazaryan, I. Sheskin, A.L. Pearson, G. Schnakenberg, D. Cagalanan. (2021) What’s in a name? Undergraduate perceptions of geography, environment, and sustainability keywords and program names. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. Vol 111, Issue 2. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2020.1766412 

View the report

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0123

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Paul Edward Phillips

Paul Edward Phillips, 79, Hays, died Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at his home surrounded by family, after a long battle with pancreatic and liver illness.

He was born on January 25, 1943 in Peoria, Illinois to Dale and Frances (Icenogle) Phillips. In 1961, he graduated from Woodruff High School in Peoria and then earned his BS and MS degrees at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois in 1965 and 1967. He was united in marriage to Patricia Jean Purkey at Christ Lutheran Church in Normal, Illinois on May 29, 1965. Paul earned his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas in 1978, and he taught Cultural Geography at Fort Hays State University for 50 years, retiring in 2017.

While at FHSU, he taught a multitude of geography courses, led numerous geography field trips for students and teachers, was chairperson of the Department of Geosciences, initiated the teaching of geography for students across the globe courses at FHSU via distance learning, was instrumental in developing the Kansas Geography Alliance to educate K-12 teachers in effective methods to include geography in the state’s social studies curriculum, as well as serving on many university committees throughout his tenure.

Paul was also active in his church and in the community of Hays. At Messiah Lutheran Church, he served multiple times as congregational president and on the Board of Parish Life, more recently helping in the kitchen for the Wednesday Midweek evening education program and Vacation Bible School. His community activities included holding many offices in the Hays Lions Club, on the Board of Directors for the Farmer’s Credit Union, and many years of the Hays City Planning Commission, continuing to serve as chairperson until the time of his latest illness. His longtime interest in radio found an outlet as he served on the High Plains Public Radio (HPPR) board for many years.

Survivors include Pat, his wife of fifty-seven years of the home, his daughter Keri Lynn Applequist and husband Patrick, a granddaughter Jennifer Anne Applequist and a grandson Phillip James Applequist, all of Larned, Kansas, a sister Carol Anderson and husband Charles of Tucson, Arizona, as well as nieces and nephews in Illinois and Arizona.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Paul loved traveling and enjoyed sharing stories and pictures from his many trips across the US and around the world. He strongly feels that first hand knowledge about the world is more important today than ever, so when he realized his time on earth was nearing its end, he and Pat established the Paul and Pat Phillips Abroad Award at FHSU to support students pursuing a BS degree and wishing to spend a semester abroad. This would help with student expenses not otherwise covered by the Study Abroad Exchange Program.

Originally published by Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home.

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News

Closing the Gap between Curriculum and the Professional Realities of the Geospatial Technology Industry 

Geographers participate during a MapGive open mapping event for humanitarian aid. Credit: U.S. Department of State
Credit: MapGive, U.S. Department of State

Jessica Embury and Atsushi Nara 

If you ever started a new job and felt unprepared for the role, you are not alone. According to a recent survey by Cengage, nearly half of recent graduates feel underqualified for entry level jobs. Although the mismatch between curriculum and the needs of professional industry is not confined to the field of geography, it becomes especially important in the context of low student enrollment in US geography programs. Continuing participation in geography programs hinges upon student awareness of viable career prospects. Curricular materials must align with industry requirements to maintain student interest and adequately prepare students for successful integration into the workforce.  Students may be more likely to pursue a geographic education if they understand their career prospects and have the ability to assess the relevance of their developing skillset.  

The Encoding Geography initiative is working to raise student awareness of career prospects and develop curricular materials in alignment with industry needs. Encoding Geography is a collaborative effort between Southern California schools, community colleges, and universities (San Diego State University [SDSU], University of California Riverside, San Diego Mesa College, Sweetwater Union High School District), and supporting stakeholder organizations (the AAG, the National Center for Research in Geography Education, Texas State University, and the California Geographic Alliance). The goal of the initiative is to connect students of all backgrounds with geography and geocomputation through an inclusive curriculum spanning multiple education levels.  

To support Encoding Geography’s goal, researchers at SDSU conducted a survey of 140 professionals working in the geospatial technology industry. Participants answered questions about their demographics, education, current employment, and use of spatial and computational knowledge and skills at work. To supplement the survey’s findings, the research team interviewed geospatial technology professionals and compiled detailed descriptions about career preparation and trajectories, and the knowledge and skills needed during recent work projects.  

Of the 140 survey respondents, 60% identified as male, 37% identified as female, and 3% declined to answer. 76% of the respondents described themselves as White, 8% described themselves as Asian, and 8% either did not identify with any of the options or declined to answer. The remaining 8% of respondents described themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native, Filipino, a combination of choices, or with a self-description. 14% of the respondents are of Hispanic or Latino origin, 83% are not, and 3% declined to answer. Regarding academic degree attainment, 44% have master’s degrees, 37% have bachelor’s degrees, 18% have doctoral degrees, and 1% have an associate’s degree or vocational certificate. During their degree programs, 61% of the respondents studied geography (e.g., human geography, geographic information science, geospatial science) as a major, minor, or special emphasis. 

Survey respondents listed a variety of reasons why they chose to study geography, but many expressed passion for the subject matter, related methods and tools, career prospects, and the geographic community. Interviewed professionals reiterated many of these reasons for choosing a geospatial career. Hsiao-Chen Shih, a data scientist, recognized that “geographic information represents real-world big datasets that can be used to solve real-world problems.” Chaz Olloqui, a GIS specialist, “chose to pursue an education in GIS because [he] was interested in making a positive change in our natural environment.” 

Figure 1. When asked why they chose to study geography over other options, professionals working in the geospatial technology industry expressed passion for geography itself, geographic methods and applications as well as potential job opportunities and connection to the geographic community.
Figure 1. When asked why they chose to study geography over other options, professionals working in the geospatial technology industry expressed passion for geography itself, geographic methods and applications as well as potential job opportunities and connection to the geographic community.

 

When asked to identify the tools that support geographic/spatial thinking at work, survey respondents pointed to geographic information systems (e.g., Esri software, QGIS), python programming, data processing software (e.g., Excel, SQL), statistical and spatial analysis techniques, and domain knowledge.  

Keaton Shennan, a GIS web developer, stressed the importance of programming and database management skills:  

It’s helpful to know a framework and have something that you’ve built, have examples of work that you’ve done, and [be able to] explain what’s happening behind the scenes – that’s pretty critical to getting a job in the field.

 

In contrast, Carmen Leedham, a senior GIS analyst, focused on the value of a flexible mindset and collaborative teamwork: 

Be flexible because a lot of things aren’t going to work and you need a plan B, C, D, and so on. It’s very helpful to know people within your line of work so you can ask questions and be nudged along in the direction you need.

 

Figure 2. Geospatial technology professionals identified geographic information systems, python programming, data processing software, statistical and spatial analysis techniques, and domain knowledge as essential tools for work. 
Figure 2. Geospatial technology professionals identified geographic information systems, python programming, data processing software, statistical and spatial analysis techniques, and domain knowledge as essential tools for work.

 

During the interview series, most of the professionals expressed satisfaction from their work in the geospatial technology industry and felt that they contributed to the greater good. Carmen said, “I like working for an organization that is helping people and making sure that things are working as they should be. It makes me feel good — like harm reduction is occurring.” In a similar vein, Hsiao-Chen stated, “[My] knowledge of remote sensing, GIS, and geocomputation perfectly helps me achieve the goal of moving the world toward a decarbonizing future.” Statements like this demonstrate the applicability of geography to real-world issues and may inspire students to pursue geographic education.  

These early findings clarify career prospects and highlight focus areas for the development of curricular materials. More detailed findings from SDSU’s survey and interview series will be available in an upcoming peer-reviewed journal. 

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0122

This work is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2031380. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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AAG Staff
AAG Staff
President's Column

Geography and Geographers in a Changing World

Photo of wind turbines on a farm by Karsten Wurth for Unsplash
Credit: Karsten Wurth for Unsplash

Photo of Marilyn Raphael by Ashley Kruythoff, UCLA

October and November are AAG Regional Meetings months, and I was preparing to go to my first as AAG President. As is customary, I asked what members would like to hear about, and was offered a number of different but related topics including “anything related to the future of geography and the role of the AAG.” The latter was especially important because a large proportion of the members attending the regional meetings are students — graduate and undergraduate. Instead of choosing a single topic, I integrated the two, and before I knew it, I had committed myself to speaking on Geography and Geographers in a Changing World.

Now, anyone looking at that title would instantly realize that this is not a 40-minute oral presentation; rather, it is the topic of a multi-authored manuscript (for example, this one) suitable for publication in a medium much like the Annals, or an edited book suitable for use in a “History of Modern Geography” class. In fact, a day or so after the presentation I casually googled the topic and found several related titles, including Gilbert White’s Geographers in a Perilously Changing World.

Graduate and undergraduate students in our discipline are trying to put their geographical education and their hopes for jobs into context as they prepare to leave university. They are entering a world that is more interconnected than ever — the speed with which information and misinformation are spread via social media is one example of that connectedness. Another is the reliance on mapping technologies for nearly everything, from finding the fastest route home through traffic to understanding public health trends. Our students face a world in which the economy is unstable, the global political state is tenuous, the climate is changing, and environmental degradation is a perennial problem. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, we have just experienced three years of a pandemic that has fundamentally changed the way we live and work.

Our students are so concerned about these issues that they are wondering how their geographic education is going to help them find jobs as well as answers to these pressing problems. Indeed, they are demanding a truly synthetic geography education that gives them a broad toolkit to tackle the world into which they will graduate. To meet their questions, it is worth reminding ourselves of who we are as geographers, from where we’ve come and to think about where we might be going. And how we fit into today’s world. It helps to take stock of what has happened in context, as we move to the next phase.

Changes in Geography and the AAG

“Change is a constant” is an overused phrase, but it is good to be reminded. Geography has been changing along with the world, very recently as well as over the last few decades. The discipline was once the static study of place concerned with how things are arranged on earth’s surface, with the map being the geographer’s tool. Geography’s quantitative revolution and the technological development of computers in the mid-20th century facilitated the development of geographic information systems (GIS), initially the tool of geographers but now used almost universally where spatial data analysis is needed. GIS, as well as new ways of thinking about things geographical, for example critical (human) geography and critical physical geography, means that geographers can ask different, arguably better, questions, potentially increasing the richness of their answers.

There has also been significant change in the leadership of the AAG, from one where men were far overrepresented, to one where women are more visible and active as leaders. The Association was founded in 1904. Seventeen years later, it elected its first female President. It took another 63 years before the second female president was elected (1984). Now, in the 21st century, a female president has become commonplace, so much so that I am the third female president in the last three years and next year there will be a fourth.

Other evidence of change within the AAG is apparent in the 2023 Annual Meeting theme: Toward More Just Geographies. This theme was chosen “in recognition of the urgency, centrality, and interdependence of equity, inclusion, diversity, and justice within our discipline and in the world” and reflects a core shift within the institution, matching changes that are occurring worldwide. This is not a singular action, but part of a fundamental change in the ways in which we operate. The AAG is now implementing a Council-approved 3-Year JEDI (justice, equity, inclusion and diversity) strategic framework.

The Outlook for Geography (as the Landscape Changes)

The point that I am making is that even with all of the changes that are occurring around us and within our organization, the core geographic ideas will not change. Geography, as in what we do, will change. A perfect example is how GIS has allowed us to ask new questions and to frame pre-existing questions differently, while still focusing on the richness of space moving from the static study of places on maps to the more revealing and arguably more interesting concepts such as the processes underlying the formation and interconnectedness of these places. A present-day working definition of geography is now closer to something like this: Geography examines human (e.g., social, cultural, economic, political) and physical (eg climatological, geomorphological, biogeographical) phenomena within the context of space, that is to say, how their location and their connections to others over space contribute to their characteristics and impacts and to the definition of the others.

The tools of geography are being used by other disciplines, and not just GIS. What I mean is that the interdisciplinary approach to understanding is becoming (or has become) commonplace. The contemporary movement in the social sciences, where I note many geography departments are housed, is towards addressing questions of global interconnection; migration, urbanization; environmental sustainability; climate change and its impacts, among others. There is a movement toward the use of more synthetic approaches to answer these questions. The synthetic approach is embedded in geography as is evident in the working definition that I outlined above and practiced in approaches like critical physical geography (and including critical remote sensing, qualitative GIS).

Finally, the demographic makeup of geographers is changing (or becoming more evident)

I am especially delighted that we see more geographers, representing many more identities: cultural, gender, ability/disability, and ethnic identities bringing with them a greater diversity of experience and knowledge. This expanding diversity means that different points of view are being introduced and incorporated into the body of geography. This can only make for a healthier discipline. There has never been a better time to be a geographer.

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0119

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 raphael [at] geog [dot] ucla [dot] edu to enable a constructive discussion.

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Marilyn Raphael
Marilyn Raphael
Careers

Program Profile: Lakeland Community College’s Geography and Geospatial Technology Program

Photo of geography students receiving instruction on UAS operation during a class lab. Credit: Bobby Oliver
Geography students receive instruction on UAS operation during a class lab. Credit: Bobby Oliver

“Keeping up with technological change in the industry is key to our program,” explains Bobby Oliver, M.A., GISP professor and department chair for the Geography and Geospatial Technology program at Lakeland Community College (LCC) in Kirtland, Ohio. “We’re constantly updating and revising our curriculum to meet all of the changing needs, to ensure our students have access to the most current and advanced geospatial technologies out there.”

At LCC, keeping pace with the geospatial industry is essential to ensure the success of the hundreds of students who enroll in the Geography and Geospatial Technology program. Not only do Oliver and the LCC faculty accomplish this goal, but they do it well. In 2020, the program was recognized with the AAG Award for Associates Program Excellence. We asked Oliver what it was that made them stand out from the rest and her response was threefold: service-learning opportunities, a community engagement focus, and a highly connected professional network.

Photo of students at Lakeland Community College participating in an introductory geography class; by Bobby Oliver
Students at Lakeland Community College participate in an introductory geography class. Credit: Bobby Oliver

 

Community-oriented learning as a pathway to excellence

Since the program’s inception in 2011, LCC geography students have completed service-learning projects with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, the City of Euclid’s Shore Cultural Center, and many other Cleveland-area nonprofit organizations. In response, these projects have often translated into internship opportunities for students.

We do a lot of community and college-wide engagement and make it a goal to create service-learning projects for students. We require our students to go out and be part of professional organizations within the community.

—Bobby Oliver

The involvement of LCC students within the local Cleveland community facilitates a symbiotic relationship centered around the value of a geographic education. For Oliver, this is a key component to the program. It enables students to apply their growing knowledge and skills in the real world while also building connections and bringing awareness to organizations that may not have previously understood the value of geography.

Finding success through championing the students and championing the program

Program faculty have also taken a proactive, integrative approach to teaching students about how the skills they’re learning in the classroom translate to professional careers, something geography students often aren’t aware of. Internships with local employers, job shadowing, alumni engagement, and professional meetings are well engrained elements of the program. “We have what’s called a career service checklist our students go through within each one of the courses in their program,” explains Oliver. “All of these things have helped build their job search skills for when they hit the job market.”

Developing and maintaining relationships with local professionals working in geography, GIS, and other related professions has been critical to the program’s success. Many of these professionals are on the program’s advisory board, which has strong and diverse representation from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. This has the added benefit of ensuring that students learn on the latest software platforms used by industry professionals.

GIS poster project by Lakeland Community College Geography student Caroline Petersen on Flow Map Analysis of Cambodian Refugee Migration, 1976-1995
GIS project by Lakeland Community College Geography student Caroline Petersen on Flow Map Analysis of Cambodian Refugee Migration, 1971-1995

 

How increased visibility is essential to program viability

As with many geography programs, maintaining strong enrollments is the foremost challenge the program faces, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the difficulty of recruiting and retaining students. However, Oliver and other program leaders have developed innovative solutions to attracting students, by exploring opportunities with other departments on campus, leveraging a dual enrollment program with area high schools, and making ongoing efforts to increase the program’s visibility on campus and in the community.

For our program to be successful, we have to make sure that people see what we’re doing, and how it impacts our community. Making sure the campus is aware that we’re here and [that] what we do is very essential—especially when it comes to [LCC’s] enrollments and long-term viability.

—Bobby Oliver

 

Video of LCC alumni Caroline Peterson sharing her experience in the LCC GIS program and how she uses those skills in her career.

An annual GIS Day event, Women in GIS luncheons, presentations to the Math Club and Model U.N., and collaborative projects with other departments across campus have all helped to highlight the program’s value. “We’re really trying to get the students to see how our community and region use GIS, and how geographic and geospatial skills are used in real jobs,” says Oliver. “These are the things that I feel really put us ahead, for a two-year program.”

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Mark Revell
Mark Revell
News

Powerful Geography at Work

By Michael Solem, Brendan Vander Weil, Richard G. Boehm and Joann Zadrozny

Growing and diversifying the geography discipline and workforce is a complex challenge that needs to be met with an “all-hands-on-deck” effort by teachers, geographers, and geography organizations. A recent AAG newsletter article made the case that this process should start well before students graduate from high school. That article included a Call for Participation for a panel session on this topic, being organized for the 2023 AAG Annual Meeting.

Here, we highlight some of the work at the National Center for Research in Geography Education to address the nation’s priorities for broadening participation and workforce development. Powerful Geography is an initiative involving students, teachers, community college faculty, university researchers, and professional geographers and employer organizations. The project aims to raise awareness and appreciation among students about geography and its applicability to a wide array of job and careers.

Detailed logic model for assessing teacher and student success with Powerful Geography approaches, including changed perceptions, ability to engage, exposure to new concepts, and connection to students’ interests
Logic model covering detailed steps for assessing and reinforcing the success and effectiveness of Powerful Geography approaches. Credit: Michael Solem

 

Powerful Geography’s teaching and learning approach begins with teachers acquiring knowledge about the life and career aspirations of their students. Using this information, researchers seek out and interview professional geographers working in related career areas (environmental management, energy, transportation, social work, agriculture, business, and so forth). The two datasets are then used by schoolteachers and college faculty to design and develop state-based curriculum resources for schools and undergraduate programs.

Two current initiatives supported with NSF funding illustrate Powerful Geography at work. The AAG’s Encoding Geography research-practice partnership in Southern California is applying the Powerful Geography approach to support the development of an inclusive curriculum pathway in geocomputation. The RPP is currently interviewing professionals with a combined background in geography and computer science, using a protocol with questions aligned to a model of issues-based geographic inquiry. To date the RPP has interviewed professionals who use geocomputation for a variety of purposes including to monitor health equity, promote sustainable agriculture, improve city transportation, and enhance habitat management.

Accessible two-page digests are created for each interview with examples of questions, data, geography applications, a suggested learning activity, and a profile of the interviewed geographer. Schoolteachers and college faculty use the digests and other sources to design and develop grade-level curriculum resources that engage students in authentic applications of content to solve problems they care about.

View these helpful career digests

The second project, Geoscience Exposure and Training in Texas (GET Texas), is working to create a place-based geoscience learning ecosystem (GLE) that includes informal educational institutions (Houston Museum of Natural Science and a local YMCA), high schools, a Hispanic Serving community college institution (Lone Star College), and a regional four-year, undergraduate-focused Hispanic Serving institution (Sam Houston State University). The fundamental purpose of this GLE is to raise awareness and appreciation of geoscience and geoscience careers among high school students in the greater Houston region, potentially encouraging them to consider and pursue geoscience-related postsecondary degrees. The GET Texas team uses student aspirations data to inform the content of the project’s informal and formal geoscience learning activities.

As the Encoding Geography RPP and GET Texas projects experiment with the Powerful Geography approach in a variety of courses and settings, researchers are measuring the extent that students gain confidence and interest in related degree programs and careers. Early indicators from external evaluations show promising returns on investment and geography educators at all levels have offered testimonies of their experiences with implementing Powerful Geography in their courses.

Powerful Geography’s “bottom up” and inclusive approach to teaching and learning can be replicated anywhere to design and develop curriculum resources attuned to student aspirations and workforce needs. In addition to the U.S., we are working with geography educators in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas to coordinate the creation and implementation of Powerful Geography resources. The outcomes of this work will be published in an edited volume for the Springer Geography book series.

In the spirit of Geography Awareness Week (November 14-19), we hope the message of Powerful Geography resonates with a broader group of parents, policy makers, and other key stakeholders. We know from the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s 2015 report on geography education that geography is often perceived by the public to be a trivial subject and that it perennially suffers from relatively low levels of funding support. Changing this will not be easy, but it starts with understanding students’ aspirations and attitudes and conveying the relevance and applications of geography in schools across the country.

We consider the challenge of growing and diversifying the geography discipline and workforce to be a “north star” for geography education. In the coming year the Powerful Geography website will expand to include new state-based curriculum resources connecting students and teachers with professional geographers and geography degree programs. We continue to pursue external funding to support this work and invite anyone interested in being involved to contact us at ncrge@aag.org.

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0121

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. 2031418, 2031407, and 2031380 (Collaborative Research: Encoding Geography – Scaling up an RPP to achieve inclusive geocomputational education). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

NCRGE is a research consortium with headquarters at the American Association of Geographers and Texas State University.

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Michael Solem
Michael Solem