Geospatial Information Technologies at the AAG Annual Meeting

The American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting showcases emerging trends in geography, GIScience, and geospatial information technologies.

The 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers will be held in Denver, Colo., from April 6-10. The meeting is expected to attract close to 8,000 academic, professional, and student geographers from across the globe, and will exhibit the latest research and scientific applications of geography, GIS, surveying, and mapping through nearly 1,600 of its 6,000+ presentations.

Of particular note is one of the 2020 annual Meeting themes:

The Changing North American Continent — examines how the land and people have been transformed from pre-history through history. A meeting in Denver, the capital city of the US West, allows us to focus specifically on the transformation of the western landscape, the effects of climate change, indigenous rights, new immigrant geographies of the West, the perils to our ecosystems, water scarcity and distribution, the West as a social laboratory, and other related aspects. We seek papers and other forums that address these topics and that otherwise fit within this broad rubric.

Ethnonationalism and Exclusion around the World — describes and interrogates new political movements based around a more exclusive form of national identity. These movements often draw on race-based appeals, target immigrant populations, and may be violent. While ethnonationalism has been present within every society throughout history, modern-day ethnonationalist movements have given rise to several strong political movements contributing to the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, the rise of populist parties in Hungary, Poland and Brazil, and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. An exclusionary nationalist identity has also led to the hardening of borders as well as the vicious repression and destruction of minority groups, such as the Uighur people in China and the Rohingya in Myanmar. As part of this theme, we seek papers and other forums that are broadly concerned with nationalism, ethnic-inspired terrorism, racism, immigration, genocide, borders, populism, electoral geography and other related aspects.

Expanding the Community of Geography — looks at how we can increase the active participation of geographers, at the AAG and elsewhere, who may have otherwise felt excluded, moved away from geography as a discipline, or may not realize their kinship with geography. One factor of this exclusion lies with geographers who work in often underrepresented institutions. This includes stand-alone geographers, community college stakeholders, those who work and study at Historically Black and Tribal institutions, and geographers who work outside of the academy. Most people who go on to get a Masters or Ph.D. in geography do not end up working as academics. They may have drifted away from the AAG, and we need to find ways to increase their contribution and interest in our society. As part of this theme, we seek papers and other forums that involve coping with limited resources, enhancing geography at minority serving institutions, community engagement, outreach to geographers beyond the academy, alternative ways of knowing, fostering interaction among stand-alone geographers, and many other related aspects.

Other related topics will be explored including cyber GIS, unmanned aerial vehicles, urban systems, geospatial privacy, big data analytics, spatial analysis, cartographic techniques, and more. In addition, the 2020 annual meeting will offer a variety of workshops, field trips, and networking opportunities to learn about developing technologies and methodologies with like-minded GIScientists, environmental scientists, and GIS practitioners. For more information please visit, http://annualmeeting.aag.org.