Programs

Bridging the Digital Divide

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Tomorrow’s Geographers Need the Best Tools Now

The Bridging the Digital Divide (BDD) program was created in mid-2020 by the American Association of Geographers, to quickly address the technology needs of geography students at minority-serving institutions, as COVID-19 disrupted their learning environments. In 2020, BDD provided $238,000 in equipment and software assistance to faculty and students at 23 institutions, including 8 Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), 14 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and 1 predominantly Black institution.

Mark Barnes, Associate Professor, Department of History, Geography, and Museum Studies, Morgan State University“Now, because of AAG’s Bridging the Digital Divide Initiative, impacts of the global pandemic may better be met by our department in the months and even years to come….The gesture truly creates a win-win situation for Morgan State University, other HBCUs, and other minority-serving institutions invested in making geography an indispensable component of our liberal arts endeavors.”

— Mark Barnes, Associate Professor, Department of History, Geography, and Museum Studies, Morgan State University

 

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The COVID-19 crisis aggravated a longstanding problem for students of color, for whom access to technology is a career-threatening challenge. In partnership with Esri, AAG is continuing the BDD program to close this critical access gap for geography students who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Help us create a future in which the next generation of geographers is more representative of the places and people where geography’s most crucial work is located.

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An AAG survey of student members this year showed how COVID-19 has affected their learning environment and access to technology. Students of color have experienced these effects even more acutely, due to inequities that existed before COVID-19.

 

BDD’s first round of equipment grants in 2020 helped students in more than 95 geography courses gain access to laptops, internet connections, software, and other equipment, while also enabling a few faculty to offer socially distanced classroom and fieldwork experiences through the use of advanced technologies such as virtual reality (VR) headsets and action cameras.

 

Your Support Makes All the Difference

As AAG prepares for the second phase of this program, we are seeking out additional institutional partners to continue to grow the initiative. We also rely on the support of our 12,000 members worldwide—geography instructors, faculty, students, and professional geographers in the public and private sectors—to help us secure greater access to the critical tools of learning for the next generation of BIPOC geographers. Even if you can only give a small amount, your support helps us demonstrate our members’ commitment to this initiative, which is vital to attract greater support from partners.

“Mandy Guinn, Environmental Science Chair, United Tribes Technical CollegeMinority-serving institutions, including TCUs, are up against some of the biggest challenges we have ever faced. Although food security, financial stability, and academic preparedness are issues that the TCUs have always faced, COVID-19 has exacerbated those issues and also created additional concerns of isolation and lack of connectivity. With $10,000 from the Bridging the Digital Divide fund, we purchased laptops, webcams, wifi, Microsoft Office, and ArcGIS licenses. With additional funding, we could purchase more …”

— Mandy Guinn, Environmental Science Chair, United Tribes Technical College

 

As campuses enter into a new era of belt-tightening, we can anticipate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to hamper many students’ access to technology—adding to decades-long racial disparities. We count on our members and partners to help us realize the vision for a level playing field for young geographers of colors, enabling them to access the tools they need to succeed.

BDD is part of AAG’s Rapid Response to COVID-19 which is dedicating nearly $1 million in Council-designated funding from AAG’s reserves to help support and stabilize the geography discipline during the COVID-19 crisis, while also addressing long-standing systemic issues and inequities that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Equitable access to equipment and connections is but one such issue, yet it is one that we know can be remedied immediately with resources.

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AAG Staff
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Yasuyuki (Yas) Motoyama

Education: Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning (University of California, Berkeley), Master of Public Administration (Cornell University), B.A. (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Describe your job. What are some of the most important tasks or duties for which you are responsible?
As a background, the Kauffman Foundation was a philanthropic entity to promote entrepreneurship. I summarize my tasks into three categories: The first is research. Kauffman Foundation was one of the few foundations with internal research functions. Second, it was engagement with policymakers and practitioners. There was a philosophy that we had to make an impact on society by using our research products, which meant we had to engage with people who were on the front line of making and promoting entrepreneurship. I gave a number of presentations and consultation to policymakers and entrepreneurship support organizations. Third, it was grant management. As a foundation, we provided grants, and I was primarily in charge of research grants to academic institutions.

What attracted you to this career path?
A unique combination of the three functions describe above: research, engagement in policy and practice, and grant making to academic institutions. A possibility of making a real impact on society.

How has your education/background in geography prepared you for this position?
Traditionally, entrepreneurship was studied by business and economics disciplines, which only perceived entrepreneurship as an individual or corporate phenomenon. Lately, people have been finding that entrepreneurship is actually a local phenomenon as every entrepreneur is supported by entrepreneurship organizations, mentors, peer entrepreneurs, etc. in a regional context. In other words, a geographic or spatial perspective was important, and geography-trained researchers were needed.

What geographic skills and information do you use most often in your work? What general skills and information do you use most often?
I used some GIS-related skills, but perhaps the most important one was knowledge of various kinds of data related to entrepreneurship and its geographic context. For example, it’s important to know not only the availability of self-employment data in the Census or American Community Survey, but also the geographic scale that you can analyze. Then, the Business Dynamics Statistics by the Census Bureau provides different entrepreneurship data with a different geographic scale.

Are there any skills or information you need for your work that you did not obtain through your academic training? If so, how/where did you obtain them?
Most academics are theory and publication oriented, and I find that geographers are more so than other disciplines, such as city planning and business administration. When it comes to the question about how we can apply that knowledge to policymakers, I was finding that my graduate school prepared me little. By interacting with mayors, governors, as well as intergovernmental organizations, such as Council of State Governments and National League of Cities, I had to learn how policymakers think and what kind of information can benefit them or lead them to action.

Do you participate in hiring, screening, or training of new employees? If so, what qualities and/or skills do you look for?
Yes, I was involved in the recruitment process for entry and midlevel positions. I think what we looked for were three traits essential for general social science researchers: The first one is curiosity. What kind of problem or question do you have? What are your methods for analyzing tentative answers? The second is flexibility. Unlike the academic world where there are standard research products and protocols, foundation research can evolve into different dimensions, so every researcher needs to identify different needs and audience for every research project. The third is interpersonal skills. Most of the work including research and engagement was team work, so you need to be able to communicate effectively with people of different backgrounds.

What advice would you give to someone interested in a job like yours?
Most foundations do not have a standard recruitment process or publicized job market, so you need to think outside the box and be creative. Many foundations may not post job openings, but hire in a highly opportunistic way when they see a good candidate. So do your homework by researching every foundation and every foundation officer that you can relate to. If you see a potential fit, approach it proactively, and you should usually contact the director level people.

What is the occupational outlook for career opportunities in your field/organization, esp. for geographers?
The job market for foundations is not large. However, it is one of the few places that do not experience a major decline during an economic crisis, thanks to large endowments by founders. So while it may not be big or growing, it is a relatively stable market.

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Richard Quodomine

Education: M.A. in Geography (SUNY Buffalo), B.A. in Geography (SUNY Buffalo)

Describe your job. What are some of the most important tasks or duties for which you are responsible?
My job literally varies day to day, which suits my personality and abilities. One day, I may be generating specialty maps and reports covering public investment. The next day, I may be managing an RFI for specialty geospatial analysis tools. A third day, I may be working on 5G rollout plans or helping with COVID-19 response. With over 3,000 assets and 900 buildings owned by the city that may need a special map or analysis for any number of government agencies, political institutions or other members of the public.

What attracted you to this career path?
I’ve always said that a geographer needs to first love mapping something. It could be trains, or environmental facts, or firefighting. If you have a passion for a subject and a passion for mapping it, then you can be a geographer. I love transportation – buses, trains, etc. – so I would look at maps of transportation all day. When I learned I could turn that love into a career, I majored in it, graduated in it, and spent the majority of my career in it.

How has your education/background in geography prepared you for this position?
Certainly having multiple degrees in geography helps. But degrees are just paper unless you find an application that you want to do in life. And you then should seek every reasonable opportunity to bring geographic perspectives to whatever work you have. Resiliency and ability to solve problems are very important early on, and even after you’re more secure in your career path, they’re handy. Finally, clear and cogent communication, both spoken and written, are a must. You don’t need to be a native English speaker, but being clear with your language is important. Practice with friends and colleagues to become more skilled at presenting, writing and business communication. I was involved in student politics at university – talk about how to deal with people who don’t like you and learning how to communicate!

What geographic skills and information do you use most often in your work? What general skills and information do you use most often?
The first skill I use is the geographic organization of data. Almost all data in civil service has some kind of geographic component to it. That data should be clearly organized in a proper geodatabase and displayed in feature classes or tools that are accurate and timely. It doesn’t sound sexy, but good data, in my view, is so important. The second is the ability to be geographically holistic: public buildings are not separate from roadways are not separate from parks are not separate from public health! It is a mistake to not consider geographic interconnections and context.

Be good at evaluating geographic tools – whether you using them or buying them via a Request for Proposal (RFP) – your judgment and discretion in spending money gets you a good (or bad) reputation when looking at the bottom line. If you have not done this yet, look for a committee to join that purchases GIS application software, sit in, listen and learn.

Last but not least, always be learning new skills that are relevant and timely to your job. Find ways to solve problems and take on new tasks that are adjacent to your current ones. Willingness to expand yourself beyond just the job’s basic description gets you a reputation as a doer. Conversely, don’t take on too much – when you’re branching out, keep focused on the next achievable thing.

Are there any skills or information you need for your work that you did not obtain through your academic training? If so, how/where did you obtain them?
I barely had any GIS in college; my academic background is in economic and transportation geography. So, first, I had to be able to learn GIS for my Master’s degree, and then I had to apply it at work. I also learned Visual Basic and Python. But more importantly, I learned when to use my hard skills, and when to work with others’ skillsets. GIS is like having a bucket of awesome toys, but as you advance in your career, use only the toys you like the best, and pass the bucket to others – whether working with other colleagues and departments or hiring others with complementary skills. The project is important – and it’s more important that the project gets done than who used what tool to get the credit.

Do you participate in hiring, screening, or training of new employees? If so, what qualities and/or skills do you look for?
I have been hiring for over a decade and currently supervise GIS staff. We have three possible positions, of which one is filled, and we hope to fill at least one more after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed. In addition to good knowledge of GIS, I look for adaptability, problem solving, and good interpersonal communication skills – make eye contact, be polite, and be clear and cogent. Also, be willing to learn – no one has all the skills a job might need, so it’s willingness to learn that shows me you want to be a productive employee.

What advice would you give to someone interested in a job like yours?
My job is mid-career, so it involves a little bit of experience in analysis and reporting, plus use of tools and other skills like managing a Request for Proposal (RFP) – being on a team that buys or hires is really important! Always be adaptable and look for opportunities to help a team shine. Accomplishment matters – carry a portfolio of accomplishments when you interview. Don’t just tell people on a resume, show them you deliver!

What is the occupational outlook for career opportunities in your field/organization, esp. for geographers?
The city has recently hired a number of public safety analysts with GIS backgrounds. While COVID-19 has slowed many hiring efforts, and will likely impact hiring in the near future, I see a long-term growth trend. GIS that focuses on redevelopment of urban spaces, asset management, public safety, water and sewer upgrades and climate change mitigation will all be in demand. Also, don’t be afraid to apply for government jobs that don’t have geography in the title but can use geographic skills. I broke into government as an economist, and eventually found my way up the GIS ranks. It’s all about solving a problem, and we’re always looking for problem solvers.

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Newsletters

Newsletter – June 2020

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Making Data Meaningful Or Geography’s Contribution to Data Science

By David Kaplan

Dave Kaplan

Geography has always been about data. After all, the field was founded and developed over the search for more and better information. It was 200 years ago that Alexander von Humboldt, perhaps the most famous geographer, acquired field observations in the Andes Mountains and used these observations to make a series of connections… Later—as geographers came to critically inspect the sources, meanings, and uses of information—data continues to be the engine of our discipline.

Continue Reading.

ANNUAL MEETING

Save the Date for AAG Seattle!

Dusk view of the skyline, Seattle, Washington

Join us for the 2020 AAG Annual Meeting April 7-11, 2021 both in person and virtually. We invite you to organize and participate in sessions, workshops, field trips, special events, and activities. Look for the call for papers in July 2020. We look forward to seeing you in the Pacific Northwest and online!

PUBLICATIONS

NEW GeoHumanities Issue Alert:
Featuring Articles that Engage with Literary Works, Address Climate Change, and Explore New Mediums

GeoHumanities-cover

The most recent issue of GeoHumanities has been published online (Volume 6, Issue 1, June 2020) with 15 new research articles and creative pieces on subjects within geography. Several articles in this issue focus on the works of authors such as Anna Seghers, Barbara Kingslover, and Terry Pratchett. Other topics in this issue include television communities, human-wildlife relations, urbanization in Mumbai, the Personal Place Project, climate change risks, offerings at spiritual sites, and ethics in the geohumanities. Articles also explore mediums such as oral histories, testimony, theater, poetry, and artwork.

All AAG members have full online access to all issues of GeoHumanities through the Members Only page. In every issue, the editors choose one article to make freely available for two months. In this issue you can read “Forgetting the Stories Would Be Catastrophic”: Writing the Oral and Protecting the Place in the Poems of Temsula Ao and Esther Syiem by Sayantan Chakraborty for free.

Questions about GeoHumanities? Contact geohumanities [at] aag [dot] org.

In addition to the most recently published journal, read the latest issue of the other AAG journals online:

• Annals of the American Association of Geographers
• The Professional Geographer
• GeoHumanities
• The AAG Review of Books

ASSOCIATION NEWS

AAG Commitment to Justice and Equity

AAG has issued a statement condemning the racism, violence, and systemic inequities that directly threaten the lives of Black Americans. Within our own community, we stand in support of Black geographers and geoscientists, who bear a disproportionate daily burden in confronting and fighting structural racism. We renew our commitment to actively combat oppression and support our members who challenge institutions to create a more just and inclusive society. We welcome your thoughts, feedback, and suggestions on how we as an organization can offer support. Contact us at feedback [at] aag [dot] org.

Celebrate Pride 2020: Join AAG’s Queer and Trans Geographies Specialty Group

The Queer and Trans Geographies Specialty Group (QTGSG) welcomes AAG members who identify as LGBTQ2IA+, whether or not your work touches on LGBTQ2IA+ topics. QTGSG is here to support and connect you to our community of LGBTQ2IA+ geographers in all the subdisciplines and all sectors. To find out more, follow @QTGAAG on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook; or find the group in the AAG’s Knowledge Communities.

AAG to Hold Special Election to Update Conduct Policy

Election-buttonIn April, AAG formally adopted a revised Professional Conduct Policy, signaling an important benchmark in the work of the Harassment-Free AAG Task Force, AAG Council, and AAG leadership and staff. In order to include the provisions of the new policy in the AAG’s Constitution and Bylaws, members must vote on whether or not they choose to ratify the proposed changes. The special election will be held online between June 4 and 19, 2020. As in other elections, an electronic ballot will be emailed to all member’s current email addresses. Please ensure your email address is up to date to receive the ballot.

Read more about the proposed changes.

NAEP Geography Data Offers Research Opportunities

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has released its most recent report card on geography education in the United States. The 2018 report card, with a representative sample size of 13,000 8th graders, provides insight into student achievement in a wide array of geographic content and skills. Senior Advisor for Geography Education, Michael Solem discusses the outcomes of the NAEP report and the questions it poses for researchers in geography education.

Learn more about the opportunities to use NAEP data.

Final Call for Submissions to the Guide to Geography Programs

The AAG will continue to accept late submissions to the 2020 Guide to Geography Programs in the Americas through Friday, June 12, 2020.

Updated each academic year, the Guide lists undergraduate and graduate programs in all areas of geography and includes an interactive map that students can use to explore and discover geography programs, with easy-to-use search tools to find programs by degree type, region, and program specialization. It has long been an invaluable reference for faculty, prospective students, government agencies, and private firms in the United States, Canada, and throughout the world.

For more information and to list your program, please contact Mark Revell at guide [at] aag [dot] org.

POLICY CORNER

As States Reopen Amid COVID-19, Data Integrity is Key

In response to his recent comments that a Florida Department of Health employee with a geography degree “isn’t a data scientist,” the AAG sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) reminding him of the importance of geography in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. These comments were made after the GIS manager at hand claimed her recent termination was the result of her refusal to manipulate state health data to reflect favorable conditions for reopening. Florida is not the only state that’s been called into question over issues of COVID-19 data integrity. Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and others have been in the spotlight on issues ranging from accidental inconsistencies in calculations to perceived manipulation of the numbers.

With the U.S. unemployment rate hitting 14.7%, reflective of some 23.1 million people out of work, there is no doubt that Americans need solutions and resources to sustain themselves while the economy stagnates. But as we craft plans to send laborers and consumers back into the market, it is imperative to do so strategically and with the most up-to-date public health data available. We cannot let eagerness to resume everyday life preclude our capacity to contain the spread of the virus and to keep individuals safe.

The AAG recognizes that geographers and GIScientists continue to play a crucial role in the public health analyses that inform our urgent policy decisions addressing the COVID-19 crisis. It is up to our nation’s public officials to join us in upholding the highest quality of science and to subsequently act with the most accurate, transparent available data.

In the News:

  • On May 21, Sens. Schumer (D-NY) and Young (R-IN) introduced the Endless Frontier Act (S. 3832), which proposes a new Technology Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and renames the agency the “National Science and Technology Foundation” (NSTF). The bill provides $100 billion over five years for research and development in 10 technology areas of global strategic significance.
  • On June 3rd, Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan’s nomination as next Director of the National Science Foundation was favorably reported out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. His final confirmation will be before the full Senate.
  • The Census Bureau has released the first data from its new COVID-19 Household Pulse Survey.
MEMBER NEWS

Profiles of Professional Geographers

“If you have a passion for a subject and a passion for mapping it, then you can be a geographer,” says Richard Quodomine, Senior Lead GIS Analyst, Department of Public Property, City of Philadelphia and this month’s featured Professional Geographer. Quodomine emphasizes that the ability to solve problems, a desire to learn new things, and clear communication skills are some of the best assets for a geography career. In terms of job growth, Quodomine thinks that the future is bright, especially for GIS work focusing on urban redevelopment, public safety, or climate change mitigation efforts.

Learn more about Geography Careers.

Update: Geographers respond to COVID-19

As many countries resume higher levels of activity, geographers continue to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 and draw out the lessons of the winter and spring.

At Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, PhD students Siqiao Xie and Yining Tan are working with professor Wei Li on a project entitled The Geography of COVID-19 and Asian American Vulnerability, Infection, and Anti-Discrimination and are adopting geographer Susan Cutter’s Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) through a customization of the CDC’s SVI, using its four themes (socioeconomic, household composition and disability, minority status and language, housing type and transportation) and 15 variables, but crosstabbing each variable with Asian population. The illustration is a county-level map that illustrates the distinct spatial patterns between the two sets of SVIs (Asian specific v CDC general population). The project team then used the adapted SVI to explain the patterns of COVID-19 Asian infection and death data, and anti-Asian discrimination incidents. The team will now further examine whether such a method is applicable and can be generalizable among different vulnerable population groups.

Geographers continue to shape the public discourse on COVID-19. Brandi T. Summers, assistant professor of geography and global metropolitan studies at UC-Berkeley, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times on May 15 entitled Ahmaud Arbery, race and the quarantined city. In Buffalo, economic geographer Russell Weaver was interviewed by WSYR-TV in Syracuse about COVID-19-related unemployment: Newsmakers: economic geographer breaks down unemployment numbers. In St. Louis, Jerome Dobson and William A. Herbert offered Pandemic puts Americans’ patience, flexibility to the test. Bill Moseley, DeWitt Wallace Professor of Geography at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, addressed global food security issues in a May 12 perspective in the World Politics review: The geography of COVID-19 and a vulnerable global food system.

Penn State’s geographers–both professors and alumni–are using geospatial data in several projects, from tracking disease transmission and allocating resources to prevent spread, to proactively assessing activity and mobility to address prevention.

Do you know about a geographer’s work to respond to COVID-19? Contact Lisa Schamess, AAG Director of Communications.

RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Call for Nominations for AAG Honors, AAG Fellows, and Committees

Please consider nominating outstanding colleagues for the AAG Honors, the highest awards offered by the American Association of Geographers, and the AAG Fellows, a program to recognize geographers who have made significant contributions to advancing geography. Individual AAG members, specialty groups, affinity groups, departments, and other interested parties are encouraged to nominate outstanding colleagues by June 30. Openings are also available to serve on either the AAG Honors Committee or the AAG Nominating Committee. Nominations of members who wish to serve on these committees are also due June 30.

More information about AAG Committees and Awards.

Call for Participants: AGI Study on the impact of COVID-19 on the Geosciences

AGI is conducting a year-long study to understand how geoscience employers and educational institutions are changing their workplace and instructional environments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to discover which of these changes will become permanent. This study is open to all geoscientists, including geoscience students, retired, and not currently employed, who reside in the United States, and are at least 18 years old. Over the next 52 weeks, AGI will email a brief online status survey twice a month to each participant, which will only take a few minutes to complete. The results of this study will be valuable in helping geoscience academic institutions, geoscience employers and decision makers to understand the structural impacts on the geoscience enterprise from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about participation in the study.

IN MEMORIAM

James R. McDonald

James R. McDonald passed away on April 20, 2020. A proud 50 year member of the AAG, McDonald was a professor of geography at Eastern Michigan University from 1965 until his retirement in 2000. McDonald’s work specialized in migration, tourism, and environment assessment in Eastern Europe, predominantly France. In addition to publishing two books and numerous articles, McDonald was the recipient of research grants from the National Geographic Society, the Social Science Research Council, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Read more.

The AAG is also saddened to hear of the passing of Ron Johnston this past month with a written tribute forthcoming.

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President's Column

Making Data Meaningful Or Geography’s Contribution to Data Science

Geography has always been about data. After all, the field was founded and developed over the search for more and better information. It was 200 years ago that Alexander von Humboldt, perhaps the most famous geographer, acquired field observations in the Andes Mountains and used these observations to make a series of connections. In her 2015 book, The Invention of Nature, Andrea Wulf writes how Humboldt presented data he had painstakingly collected about a mountain:

To the left and right of the mountain he placed several columns that provided related details and information. By picking a particular height of the mountain, one could trace connections across the table and the drawing of the mountain to learn about temperature, say, or humidity or atmospheric pressure, as well as what species of animals and plants could be found at different altitudes . . . All this information could then be linked to the other major mountains across the world, which were listed according to their height next to the outline of Chimborazo. (p. 103)

Alexander von Humboldt: 19th Century Data Scientist

Data continued to power geographical quests and queries.  While many nineteenth-century geographers sought to find novel information about places they encountered, geographers in the twentieth century questioned how to make sense of it. These debates focused on factors of causation, the value of regional synthesis, and the spatial variations of select data.  Later—as geographers came to critically inspect the sources, meanings, and uses of information—data continues to be the engine of our discipline.

So, it was particularly disheartening to hear the governor of Florida dismiss somebody with advanced degrees in geography as not being a “data scientist.” As most of you are probably aware, this remark came as justification for the firing of Rebekah Jones, the architect and manager of Florida’s acclaimed COVID-19 dashboard, purportedly because Florida officials did not like how she was presenting the data. Sadly, this follows along some other attempts at squelching inconvenient truths, like banning the use of the term “climate change.” In justification, Governor DeSantis said that Jones “is not a data scientist” because she has a degree in geography. Whatever the reasons for terminating an employee who had previously been praised and profiled, this is a particularly low blow.

And what is “data science” anyway? The Data Science Association, which ought to know, defines it as “the scientific study of the creation, validation and transformation of data to create meaning.” Accordingly, a data scientist “can play with data, spot trends and learn truths few others know.” This sounds an awful lot like what a lot of geographers do. Of course, I don’t need to tell you about how much data creation and analysis is involved in fields such as climatology, housing analysis, land science, big data, to name just a few. The major scientific development of our field, Geographic Information Science, is built around the manipulation of locationally based data. ESRI has developed a COVID-19 GIS Hub, and geographers have been active in examining COVID-19 in light of vulnerable people, economic data, and the spaces of everyday life.

The Florida governor’s drive-by slighting is yet more evidence of geographical ignorance and insensitivity. We have a long way in correcting for the type of geographical illiteracy that relegates half the world to “sh*t-hole countries” and where many cannot locate North Korea on a map. It begins early, as most school children still lack basic proficiency in geographical concepts. This has real consequences. It causes the public to overstate certain dangers to our security  while minimizing perils at our front door.

We also need to consider how we got to a place where the very essence of what we do can be so easily dismissed. The state of Florida has several fantastic geography programs: strong PhD granting departments, excellent masters, bachelors and community college programs. Yet, the lack of general knowledge about our field still disappoints. It is easy to complain about willful ignorance, but who could imagine people saying that a trained economist knows nothing about trade, or that a botanist provides no guidance on ecosystems. Yet here is where we are. The hope of the AP Human Geography explosion—especially prominent in Florida—is that it will result in a generation of people who know what geography does and why it matters. Any other steps we can take—from responding forcefully to these misstatements, to seeding geographers in public agencies and private companies—will mercifully wash away such unfortunate views.

__________

When I was elected as vice president of the AAG in February 2018, I would have never thought that my presidential term would be quite so eventful.  It began auspiciously, with the hiring of our new executive director and the prospect of new horizons, and it has ended with the upending of society as the pandemic has completely restructured how we live, work, and congregate, while the murder of George Floyd exposes once again the vicious and unrelenting racism embedded in our society.

If there was a theme to my presidential year, it lay in expanding the community of geographers. We have accomplished some terrific things including more assistance to the AAG regions and the prospect of a new international councilor. Unfortunately, the pandemic prevented us from experiencing the remarkable community manifested in our annual conference. This year, we missed the chance to come together in lecture halls, meeting rooms, hotel lobbies, bars, and cafes. We lost our chance to reunite with old friends, mentors, and students, to personally tell a colleague how much you enjoyed her article, to come together and plan further projects. To commune.

Given the circumstances, we have tried to carry forward, with virtual options and laying the groundwork for a return of physical conferences in the near future. We have also developed a remarkable taskforce to address the challenges brought about by COVID-19. My final presidential communication to you, later this month, will feature the results of that taskforce.

In the meantime, I want to thank everybody who has made this year so memorable and meaningful.  The past presidents, especially Glen MacDonald, Sheryl Beach, and Derek Alderman have each helped me find my footing. I look forward to working with Amy Lobben and Emily Yeh in the coming year as we continue to confront the issues of the coronavirus and the desire to move ahead. The AAG staff have been a remarkable backstop. They have all been so wonderful, but I would especially thank Candida Mannozzi, Gary Langham, Becky Pendergast, Emily Fekete, and Oscar Larson for guidance at various key points over the year. And of course, I want to thank you—for trusting me as president, for emailing me your insights, and for helping me through this unprecedented year. Never forget that the American Association of Geographers is your organization.  And never forget that our strength lies in our community.  May we move forward together.

— Dave Kaplan
AAG President

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0072

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News

The “Nation’s Report Card” on Geography Reveals a World of Opportunities

Periodically since 1994, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has released its “report card” on geography education in America, providing a snapshot of student achievement. The most recent assessment was conducted in 2018 with a nationally representative sample of nearly 13,000 8th grade students.

NAEP assesses geography achievement in three content domains:

  • Space and place questions measure students’ knowledge related to particular places on Earth, spatial patterns observed on Earth’s surface, and the physical and human processes that shape spatial patterns. 
  • Environment and society questions measure students’ knowledge of how people depend upon, adapt to, are affected by, and modify their natural environment.
  • Spatial dynamics and connections questions measure students’ ability to understand geography as it relates to spatial variations and the connections among people and places.

Within each content domain, questions test student cognition in three dimensions: knowing (what is it? where is it?); understanding (why is it there? how did it get there? what is its significance?); and applying (how can geographic knowledge and understanding solve problems?).

When the 2018 NAEP geography report was released on April 23, among the things we learned include:

  • There has been no change in the 8th-grade geography average score since 1994, which means three out of four 8th graders still perform below “NAEP Proficient” (defined as competency over challenging subject matter);
  • There was a three-point decline in the geography average score since 2014;
  • 2018 scores are lower in the “Space and Place” and “Environment and Society” content areas compared to 2014; students also scored lower in “Environment and Society” compared to all previous assessments in 2014, 2010, 2001, and 1994.

Whenever NAEP Report Cards signal setbacks in student achievement, it is common to see an uptick of press lamenting the latest round of bad news about how much young people don’t know. Yet this media coverage does not convey the many opportunities NAEP assessments offer to stakeholders to gain valuable perspective on the educational context in which students, teachers, and schools pursue knowledge and instruction about our world. Geographers owe it to our discipline to dig deeper into these data to learn how geography education is or is not working for American students—and which students are missing out the most. Investing in this type of research now can not only influence the educational outcome for the next generation of geographers, it can also afford important insight into the practice and advancement of our discipline.

A Rich Source of Data for Research, Public Advocacy, and Equity in Education

NAEP reports do not include interpretations or explanations of achievement scores for different groups, nor do they make value judgments on the significance of the subject matter assessed. It’s up to education researchers to search for those clues in the data, and therein lies an important opportunity for geographers: to use NAEP data and reports in ways that support the discipline. Here are just a few examples.

Improve public understanding and perceptions of geography.

Geographers can use NAEP to counter misconceptions about what geography education entails by showing what it means to be proficient in geography. NAEP releases sample test questions to help the public understand how knowledge, understanding, and application in each content area are measured. Figure 1 shows a released “Spatial Dynamics & Connections” question that only 8 percent of eighth graders correctly answered. This is an opportunity for geographers to make a case for geography education by explaining how geography teaches conceptual knowledge and offers tools that can help young people understand and act on important and complex real-world issues such as urban growth and urbanization.

Figure 1: Sample question for the geography subject NAEP 2018 assessment.

Address issues of equity, access, and justice in education.

Since the first geography assessment in 1994, NAEP has repeatedly reported stark achievement gaps. When achievement scores are examined by race and ethnicity, we see that scores for Hispanic and Black students have consistently fallen near “NAEP Basic” (defined as partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work). Over the same quarter century, disciplinary data show that geography college majors and professionals have remained disproportionately white and male.

Geographers have a robust record of analyzing relationships among race, ethnicity, and place, and there have been many national initiatives to enhance disciplinary diversity. NAEP offers geographers a chance to extend these efforts by conducting K-12 educational research utilizing NAEP’s deep contextual datasets to identify factors that appear to explain achievement gaps. This information could then be used to inform educational interventions that address achievement disparities.

Additionally, geographers can use NAEP data to search for clues about subject matter and instructional strategies that students of color perceive to be interesting, useful, and culturally relevant. All of this can open up new frontiers of research collaborations involving teams of geographers, psychometricians, educational assessment experts, and curriculum theorists.

Promote the values and uses of geography

An important finding from diving deeper into NAEP data is that more confident learners perform better on the geography assessment (see Figure 2). How do we make learners more confident, you ask? Research using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)1 suggests one of the most effective ways of increasing students’ confidence to do science is by conveying the applications and relevance of science.

Each of us, being geographers, are well-positioned to act on this information. For example, you can participate in AAG’s GeoMentors program, visit schools to discuss career opportunities in geography, share examples of how geographers apply their expertise in the context of work and civic life, and contribute to teacher professional development and curriculum initiatives.

AAG encourages our members to review the 2018 NAEP geography report and use the findings to renew efforts to improve the quality of geography education in the nation’s schools. A great tool for getting started is the NAEP Data Explorer.

The National Center for Research in Geography Education is also organizing a research network for geographers interested in pursuing research using NAEP data. The goal of this network is to plan a long-term research strategy utilizing NAEP geography reports and datasets. This is an opportunity for geographers to apply spatial methods for analyzing large quantitative datasets, potentially resulting in new geographic insights about education. AAG invites interested individuals to join this network by completing this form.

  1. Sheldrake, R., Mujtaba, T., & Reiss, M. (2017) Science teaching and students’ attitudes and aspirations: The importance of conveying the applications and relevance of science. International Journal of Educational Research, 85, 167-183.

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0073

 

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The “Nation’s Report Card” on Geography Reveals a World of Opportunities

Periodically since 1994, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has released its “report card” on geography education in America, providing a snapshot of student achievement. The most recent assessment was conducted in 2018 with a nationally representative sample of nearly 13,000 8th grade students.

NAEP assesses geography achievement in three content domains:

  • Space and place questions measure students’ knowledge related to particular places on Earth, spatial patterns observed on Earth’s surface, and the physical and human processes that shape spatial patterns. 
  • Environment and society questions measure students’ knowledge of how people depend upon, adapt to, are affected by, and modify their natural environment.
  • Spatial dynamics and connections questions measure students’ ability to understand geography as it relates to spatial variations and the connections among people and places.

Within each content domain, questions test student cognition in three dimensions: knowing (what is it? where is it?); understanding (why is it there? how did it get there? what is its significance?); and applying (how can geographic knowledge and understanding solve problems?).

When the 2018 NAEP geography report was released on April 23, among the things we learned include:

  • There has been no change in the 8th-grade geography average score since 1994, which means three out of four 8th graders still perform below “NAEP Proficient” (defined as competency over challenging subject matter);
  • There was a three-point decline in the geography average score since 2014;
  • 2018 scores are lower in the “Space and Place” and “Environment and Society” content areas compared to 2014; students also scored lower in “Environment and Society” compared to all previous assessments in 2014, 2010, 2001, and 1994.

Whenever NAEP Report Cards signal setbacks in student achievement, it is common to see an uptick of press lamenting the latest round of bad news about how much young people don’t know. Yet this media coverage does not convey the many opportunities NAEP assessments offer to stakeholders to gain valuable perspective on the educational context in which students, teachers, and schools pursue knowledge and instruction about our world. Geographers owe it to our discipline to dig deeper into these data to learn how geography education is or is not working for American students—and which students are missing out the most. Investing in this type of research now can not only influence the educational outcome for the next generation of geographers, it can also afford important insight into the practice and advancement of our discipline.

A Rich Source of Data for Research, Public Advocacy, and Equity in Education

NAEP reports do not include interpretations or explanations of achievement scores for different groups, nor do they make value judgments on the significance of the subject matter assessed. It’s up to education researchers to search for those clues in the data, and therein lies an important opportunity for geographers: to use NAEP data and reports in ways that support the discipline. Here are just a few examples.

Improve public understanding and perceptions of geography.

Geographers can use NAEP to counter misconceptions about what geography education entails by showing what it means to be proficient in geography. NAEP releases sample test questions to help the public understand how knowledge, understanding, and application in each content area are measured. Figure 1 shows a released “Spatial Dynamics & Connections” question that only 8 percent of eighth graders correctly answered. This is an opportunity for geographers to make a case for geography education by explaining how geography teaches conceptual knowledge and offers tools that can help young people understand and act on important and complex real-world issues such as urban growth and urbanization.

Figure 1: Sample question for the geography subject NAEP 2018 assessment.

 

Address issues of equity, access, and justice in education.

Since the first geography assessment in 1994, NAEP has repeatedly reported stark achievement gaps. When achievement scores are examined by race and ethnicity, we see that scores for Hispanic and Black students have consistently fallen near “NAEP Basic” (defined as partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work). Over the same quarter century, disciplinary data show that geography college majors and professionals have remained disproportionately white and male.

Geographers have a robust record of analyzing relationships among race, ethnicity, and place, and there have been many national initiatives to enhance disciplinary diversity. NAEP offers geographers a chance to extend these efforts by conducting K-12 educational research utilizing NAEP’s deep contextual datasets to identify factors that appear to explain achievement gaps. This information could then be used to inform educational interventions that address achievement disparities.

Additionally, geographers can use NAEP data to search for clues about subject matter and instructional strategies that students of color perceive to be interesting, useful, and culturally relevant. All of this can open up new frontiers of research collaborations involving teams of geographers, psychometricians, educational assessment experts, and curriculum theorists.

Promote the values and uses of geography

An important finding from diving deeper into NAEP data is that more confident learners perform better on the geography assessment (see Figure 2). How do we make learners more confident, you ask? Research using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)1 suggests one of the most effective ways of increasing students’ confidence to do science is by conveying the applications and relevance of science.

Each of us, being geographers, are well-positioned to act on this information. For example, you can participate in AAG’s GeoMentors program, visit schools to discuss career opportunities in geography, share examples of how geographers apply their expertise in the context of work and civic life, and contribute to teacher professional development and curriculum initiatives.

Figure 2: Percentage and average score of eighth-grade students in NAEP geography, by students’ confidence in geography knowledge and skills index score category: 2018.

AAG encourages our members to review the 2018 NAEP geography report and use the findings to renew efforts to improve the quality of geography education in the nation’s schools. A great tool for getting started is the NAEP Data Explorer.

The National Center for Research in Geography Education is also organizing a research network for geographers interested in pursuing research using NAEP data. The goal of this network is to plan a long-term research strategy utilizing NAEP geography reports and datasets. This is an opportunity for geographers to apply spatial methods for analyzing large quantitative datasets, potentially resulting in new geographic insights about education. AAG invites interested individuals to join this network by completing this form.

  1. Sheldrake, R., Mujtaba, T., & Reiss, M. (2017) Science teaching and students’ attitudes and aspirations: The importance of conveying the applications and relevance of science. International Journal of Educational Research, 85, 167-183.

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0073

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Michael Solem
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Ezekiel Kalipeni

The AAG community is mourning the loss of Dr. Ezekiel Kalipeni, a longtime geography professor who died in the early hours of April 11, 2020 from heart-related complications while he was in his native country, Malawi at age 66. Dr. Kalipeni globally renowned for his work around medical geography, population and environment, and international development focusing on Africa retired from an illustrious academic career in the Department of Geography & Geographic Information Science at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) in June 2019. Dr. Kalipeni was a prolific scholar of human geographer, a great teacher and mentor, a philanthropist, a world traveler, a devoted husband, and loving father.

Dr. Kalipeni earned his Bachelor of Social Science degree (with distinction) at the University of Malawi (1979), and masters (1982) and Ph.D. (1986) degrees in geography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Although he admitted that his original career plans lay elsewhere, and that he came to geography “by chance,” he was an outstanding scholar and gifted teacher, highly respected by his colleagues and committed to his students. His distinguished academic and public intellectual career spanned nearly four decades having worked at the University of Malawi (1986-88), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1988-91), Colgate University (New York, 1991-94), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1994-2019). During his career, he published 16 books and over 170 peer reviewed articles, book and encyclopedia chapters. Dr. Kalipeni’s work is widely acknowledged in citations from these and other published works, at many conferences, symposia and workshops, as well as in policy circles in Africa and other developing countries.

He earned international reputation for his seminal work on spatial analysis and mapping of the HIV/AIDs epidemic in Africa and in advancing understanding of the complex underlying drivers. Dr. Kalipeni devoted many years to field research in southern Africa to examine the demographic, economic, cultural, political, economic, socio-institutional and geographic factors that shape the spatial and temporal spread of HIV and other health challenges. His work on issues of health disparities, population and natural resources management, and development in Sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on southern Africa is also widely recognized. In 2014, the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Africa Specialty Group honored Dr. Kalipeni with the Kwado-Konadu-Agyemang Distinguished Scholar in African Geography Award.

During his career, Dr. Kalipeni provided significant leadership and service to the scholarly and scientific community. He served as interim Director of the Center of African Studies 2001-2002 at the University of Illinois. and as Program Director of the National Science Foundation’s Spatial Sciences Program (2009-2011). Some scholars have remarked how helpful he was as a Program Director at NSF, going well beyond the call of duty. He is also credited as the sole editor of the African Geographical Review for several years at a critical transitional time in the journal’s development. It is now a thriving journal published by Taylor & Francis in association with the Africa Specialty Group of the AAG (one of three journals published by the AAG). This journal has become a critical outlet for geographic scholarship on Africa for geographers and scholars from related disciplines in the USA, Africa and other parts of the world. Within the AAG he chaired the West Lakes Division and the Africa Specialty Group, was on the Board for the Medical Geography Group and was an active member in the Population Specialty Group. He was also the consummate collaborator, team player and leader, and collaborated with so many colleagues with geography and related fields within and outside the USA.

Fondly known as “Dr. Zeke” among his students and close colleagues, he stood out for his selfless and untiring support and mentoring for students and upcoming scholars, particularly those of African extraction. Many of the students he has trained over the past four decades have built successful careers in academia, the public and private sector in the US, Malawi and other parts of Africa. Former students and junior scholars within the AAG Africa Specialty Group—including ones from other disciplines—attest not only to his mentorship but also active support through research collaborations and co-publishing with many. Many upcoming scholars have credited him for some of their career success. Dr Zeke never forgot his first alma mater, where he also launched his academic career.  Dr. Kalipeni cultivated and sustained strong research and mentoring relationships with the university, and after  retiring, he donated and shipped his 1,700-volume personal library to the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Malawi.

As a teacher, Dr. Kalipeni took joy in teaching large classes of undergraduate students, including Global Development & Environment, and Cities of the World, and others including population geography and Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa. He made his courses exciting and students liked his sense of humor, preparedness, and for inculcating critical thinking among students. He inspired graduate students and published with most of them, building a bridge for their future careers. He was particularly helpful to international students, helping them to navigate the US education system, and going beyond to providing temporary housing at his house if they were stranded.

Despite his prolific academic career, Dr. Kalipeni maintained some balance with family life. His wife, Fatima, and grown children Josephine, Jackie, Juliana, Jacob, Joshua, Natalia and Melissa, remember him as a loving and proud husband and father, a jovial storyteller with a ‘wicked’ sense of humor, a generous giver, and a motivator who taught them the value of hard work. Together with his family, he established the Kalipeni Foundation to support local development projects in Malawi’s southern district of Mulanje, including on education, safe water supply, environmental management and  livelihood support. His family will carry on his legacy through this foundation and in living the many lessons he taught them.

He will be missed dearly by colleagues, family, and friends but his legacy and works will live on.

Fare you well, Dr. Zeke

May his soul rest in eternal peace.

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Newsletters

Newsletter – April 2020

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Making Data Meaningful Or Geography’s Contribution to Data Science

By David Kaplan

Dave Kaplan

Geography has always been about data. After all, the field was founded and developed over the search for more and better information. It was 200 years ago that Alexander von Humboldt, perhaps the most famous geographer, acquired field observations in the Andes Mountains and used these observations to make a series of connections… Later—as geographers came to critically inspect the sources, meanings, and uses of information—data continues to be the engine of our discipline.

Continue Reading.

ANNUAL MEETING

Save the Date for AAG Seattle!

Dusk view of the skyline, Seattle, Washington

Join us for the 2020 AAG Annual Meeting April 7-11, 2021 both in person and virtually. We invite you to organize and participate in sessions, workshops, field trips, special events, and activities. Look for the call for papers in July 2020. We look forward to seeing you in the Pacific Northwest and online!

PUBLICATIONS

NEW GeoHumanities Issue Alert:
Featuring Articles that Engage with Literary Works, Address Climate Change, and Explore New Mediums

GeoHumanities-cover

The most recent issue of GeoHumanities has been published online (Volume 6, Issue 1, June 2020) with 15 new research articles and creative pieces on subjects within geography. Several articles in this issue focus on the works of authors such as Anna Seghers, Barbara Kingslover, and Terry Pratchett. Other topics in this issue include television communities, human-wildlife relations, urbanization in Mumbai, the Personal Place Project, climate change risks, offerings at spiritual sites, and ethics in the geohumanities. Articles also explore mediums such as oral histories, testimony, theater, poetry, and artwork.

All AAG members have full online access to all issues of GeoHumanities through the Members Only page. In every issue, the editors choose one article to make freely available for two months. In this issue you can read “Forgetting the Stories Would Be Catastrophic”: Writing the Oral and Protecting the Place in the Poems of Temsula Ao and Esther Syiem by Sayantan Chakraborty for free.

Questions about GeoHumanities? Contact geohumanities [at] aag [dot] org.

In addition to the most recently published journal, read the latest issue of the other AAG journals online:

• Annals of the American Association of Geographers
• The Professional Geographer
• GeoHumanities
• The AAG Review of Books

ASSOCIATION NEWS

AAG Commitment to Justice and Equity

AAG has issued a statement condemning the racism, violence, and systemic inequities that directly threaten the lives of Black Americans. Within our own community, we stand in support of Black geographers and geoscientists, who bear a disproportionate daily burden in confronting and fighting structural racism. We renew our commitment to actively combat oppression and support our members who challenge institutions to create a more just and inclusive society. We welcome your thoughts, feedback, and suggestions on how we as an organization can offer support. Contact us at feedback [at] aag [dot] org.

Celebrate Pride 2020: Join AAG’s Queer and Trans Geographies Specialty Group

The Queer and Trans Geographies Specialty Group (QTGSG) welcomes AAG members who identify as LGBTQ2IA+, whether or not your work touches on LGBTQ2IA+ topics. QTGSG is here to support and connect you to our community of LGBTQ2IA+ geographers in all the subdisciplines and all sectors. To find out more, follow @QTGAAG on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook; or find the group in the AAG’s Knowledge Communities.

AAG to Hold Special Election to Update Conduct Policy

Election-buttonIn April, AAG formally adopted a revised Professional Conduct Policy, signaling an important benchmark in the work of the Harassment-Free AAG Task Force, AAG Council, and AAG leadership and staff. In order to include the provisions of the new policy in the AAG’s Constitution and Bylaws, members must vote on whether or not they choose to ratify the proposed changes. The special election will be held online between June 4 and 19, 2020. As in other elections, an electronic ballot will be emailed to all member’s current email addresses. Please ensure your email address is up to date to receive the ballot.

Read more about the proposed changes.

NAEP Geography Data Offers Research Opportunities

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has released its most recent report card on geography education in the United States. The 2018 report card, with a representative sample size of 13,000 8th graders, provides insight into student achievement in a wide array of geographic content and skills. Senior Advisor for Geography Education, Michael Solem discusses the outcomes of the NAEP report and the questions it poses for researchers in geography education.

Learn more about the opportunities to use NAEP data.

Final Call for Submissions to the Guide to Geography Programs

The AAG will continue to accept late submissions to the 2020 Guide to Geography Programs in the Americas through Friday, June 12, 2020.

Updated each academic year, the Guide lists undergraduate and graduate programs in all areas of geography and includes an interactive map that students can use to explore and discover geography programs, with easy-to-use search tools to find programs by degree type, region, and program specialization. It has long been an invaluable reference for faculty, prospective students, government agencies, and private firms in the United States, Canada, and throughout the world.

For more information and to list your program, please contact Mark Revell at guide [at] aag [dot] org.

POLICY CORNER

As States Reopen Amid COVID-19, Data Integrity is Key

In response to his recent comments that a Florida Department of Health employee with a geography degree “isn’t a data scientist,” the AAG sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) reminding him of the importance of geography in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. These comments were made after the GIS manager at hand claimed her recent termination was the result of her refusal to manipulate state health data to reflect favorable conditions for reopening. Florida is not the only state that’s been called into question over issues of COVID-19 data integrity. Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and others have been in the spotlight on issues ranging from accidental inconsistencies in calculations to perceived manipulation of the numbers.

With the U.S. unemployment rate hitting 14.7%, reflective of some 23.1 million people out of work, there is no doubt that Americans need solutions and resources to sustain themselves while the economy stagnates. But as we craft plans to send laborers and consumers back into the market, it is imperative to do so strategically and with the most up-to-date public health data available. We cannot let eagerness to resume everyday life preclude our capacity to contain the spread of the virus and to keep individuals safe.

The AAG recognizes that geographers and GIScientists continue to play a crucial role in the public health analyses that inform our urgent policy decisions addressing the COVID-19 crisis. It is up to our nation’s public officials to join us in upholding the highest quality of science and to subsequently act with the most accurate, transparent available data.

In the News:

  • On May 21, Sens. Schumer (D-NY) and Young (R-IN) introduced the Endless Frontier Act (S. 3832), which proposes a new Technology Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and renames the agency the “National Science and Technology Foundation” (NSTF). The bill provides $100 billion over five years for research and development in 10 technology areas of global strategic significance.
  • On June 3rd, Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan’s nomination as next Director of the National Science Foundation was favorably reported out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. His final confirmation will be before the full Senate.
  • The Census Bureau has released the first data from its new COVID-19 Household Pulse Survey.
MEMBER NEWS

Profiles of Professional Geographers

“If you have a passion for a subject and a passion for mapping it, then you can be a geographer,” says Richard Quodomine, Senior Lead GIS Analyst, Department of Public Property, City of Philadelphia and this month’s featured Professional Geographer. Quodomine emphasizes that the ability to solve problems, a desire to learn new things, and clear communication skills are some of the best assets for a geography career. In terms of job growth, Quodomine thinks that the future is bright, especially for GIS work focusing on urban redevelopment, public safety, or climate change mitigation efforts.

Learn more about Geography Careers.

Update: Geographers respond to COVID-19

As many countries resume higher levels of activity, geographers continue to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 and draw out the lessons of the winter and spring.

At Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, PhD students Siqiao Xie and Yining Tan are working with professor Wei Li on a project entitled The Geography of COVID-19 and Asian American Vulnerability, Infection, and Anti-Discrimination and are adopting geographer Susan Cutter’s Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) through a customization of the CDC’s SVI, using its four themes (socioeconomic, household composition and disability, minority status and language, housing type and transportation) and 15 variables, but crosstabbing each variable with Asian population. The illustration is a county-level map that illustrates the distinct spatial patterns between the two sets of SVIs (Asian specific v CDC general population). The project team then used the adapted SVI to explain the patterns of COVID-19 Asian infection and death data, and anti-Asian discrimination incidents. The team will now further examine whether such a method is applicable and can be generalizable among different vulnerable population groups.

Geographers continue to shape the public discourse on COVID-19. Brandi T. Summers, assistant professor of geography and global metropolitan studies at UC-Berkeley, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times on May 15 entitled Ahmaud Arbery, race and the quarantined city. In Buffalo, economic geographer Russell Weaver was interviewed by WSYR-TV in Syracuse about COVID-19-related unemployment: Newsmakers: economic geographer breaks down unemployment numbers. In St. Louis, Jerome Dobson and William A. Herbert offered Pandemic puts Americans’ patience, flexibility to the test. Bill Moseley, DeWitt Wallace Professor of Geography at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, addressed global food security issues in a May 12 perspective in the World Politics review: The geography of COVID-19 and a vulnerable global food system.

Penn State’s geographers–both professors and alumni–are using geospatial data in several projects, from tracking disease transmission and allocating resources to prevent spread, to proactively assessing activity and mobility to address prevention.

Do you know about a geographer’s work to respond to COVID-19? Contact Lisa Schamess, AAG Director of Communications.

RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Call for Nominations for AAG Honors, AAG Fellows, and Committees

Please consider nominating outstanding colleagues for the AAG Honors, the highest awards offered by the American Association of Geographers, and the AAG Fellows, a program to recognize geographers who have made significant contributions to advancing geography. Individual AAG members, specialty groups, affinity groups, departments, and other interested parties are encouraged to nominate outstanding colleagues by June 30. Openings are also available to serve on either the AAG Honors Committee or the AAG Nominating Committee. Nominations of members who wish to serve on these committees are also due June 30.

More information about AAG Committees and Awards.

Call for Participants: AGI Study on the impact of COVID-19 on the Geosciences

AGI is conducting a year-long study to understand how geoscience employers and educational institutions are changing their workplace and instructional environments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to discover which of these changes will become permanent. This study is open to all geoscientists, including geoscience students, retired, and not currently employed, who reside in the United States, and are at least 18 years old. Over the next 52 weeks, AGI will email a brief online status survey twice a month to each participant, which will only take a few minutes to complete. The results of this study will be valuable in helping geoscience academic institutions, geoscience employers and decision makers to understand the structural impacts on the geoscience enterprise from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about participation in the study.

IN MEMORIAM

James R. McDonald

James R. McDonald passed away on April 20, 2020. A proud 50 year member of the AAG, McDonald was a professor of geography at Eastern Michigan University from 1965 until his retirement in 2000. McDonald’s work specialized in migration, tourism, and environment assessment in Eastern Europe, predominantly France. In addition to publishing two books and numerous articles, McDonald was the recipient of research grants from the National Geographic Society, the Social Science Research Council, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Read more.

The AAG is also saddened to hear of the passing of Ron Johnston this past month with a written tribute forthcoming.

GEOGRAPHERS IN THE NEWS
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2018 NAEP Geography Report Card Offers Crucial Insight into Geographic Literacy

April 23, 2020 marks the date for The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB)’s release of the 2018 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Geography Report Card, along with the nation’s 2018 assessments of U.S. History and Civics education.

This year’s Geography Report Card is particularly important, as the NAEP is not due to assess geography again over the coming decade. The data collected in 2018 could be the only such information available for insight into geography education for the foreseeable future.

Popularly known as the Nation’s Report Card, NAEP is the largest, continuous, national assessment of what U.S. students know and can do in school subjects. Since 1994, NAEP has conducted nationally representative studies of student achievement in geography. The 2014 assessment showed a critical shortfall in geographic literacy among students, with three out of four eighth graders scoring below the “Proficient” level (defined by NAEP as competency over challenging subject matter).

NAEP results provide an important window on the status and needs for geography education in the United States. The data can be analyzed on the basis of geographic region, school factors (including sector), student demographics, and teacher characteristics and instructional approaches, among other contextual variables. As was the case in 2014, the 2018 NAEP Geography Assessment will report student achievement at the eighth-grade level (pre-2014 assessments included fourth and twelfth grade students). One of the novel elements of the 2018 geography assessment was the inclusion of digitally administered items that test fundamental GIS knowledge and skills.

AAG will participate in a virtual event, sponsored by the NAGB, to share and discuss the 2018 findings on April 23 from 1:30 – 3:00 pm EDT. Pre-register for the event here. NAGB staff will present highlights of the geography, U.S. history, and civics assessments. Additional speakers will present an overview of current initiatives aimed at enhancing and improving learning outcomes in those subject areas. Dr. Michael Solem (Professor of Geography, Texas State University and AAG Senior Advisor for Geography Education) will present geography-related strategies and resources at the event.

NOTE: In anticipation of the 2018 NAEP Geography Report Card, the AAG will host a virtual panel session, “Using NAEP Geography Datasets to Improve Geography Education,” on Wednesday, April 8 from 1:45 PM – 3:00 pm MDT (this is the original session date and time scheduled for the cancelled in-person AAG Annual Meeting). The discussion will focus on the importance of the NAEP Geography Assessment as a source of data on geographic literacy, the opportunities NAEP affords for conducting research on geographic learning, and the implications of NAEP findings for strategic planning, K-12 curriculum development, and achieving greater diversity and inclusion at all levels of the discipline and workforce. Panelists will also discuss the potential of reinstating geography to the NAEP assessment schedule in the coming years. To register for this session, see this link.

Later in 2020, AAG will collaborate with other organizations, including the National Council for the Social Studies, to pursue the expansion of the use of NAEP data and research findings for strengthening educational practice and policy. Additionally, the AAG will contribute to a NAEP webinar that highlighting a study by the National Center for Research in Geography Education (NCRGE) involving the use of raw, restricted-use NAEP geography datasets to model variability in student achievement. Research of this nature offers a chance to reach a deeper understanding of the student, household, and school-level factors that appear to be associated with achievement gaps across demographic and socioeconomic fault lines. Information about these collaborations and events will be shared in future issues of AAG News.

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AAG Staff
AAG Staff