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The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
scientific and educational society aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
and related fields. Its headquarters is located in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
The organization was founded on December 29, 1904, in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, as the Association of American Geographers,
with the American Society of Professional Geographers later amalgamating into it in December 1948 in
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
.
As of 2020, the association has more than 10,000 members, from nearly 100 countries. AAG members are geographers and related professionals who work in the public, private, and academic sectors.
In 2016, AAG President Dr. Sarah Witham Bednarz announced in the ''AAG Newsletter'': "Effective January 1, 2016, the AAG will begin to operate under the name "American Association of Geographers", rather than "Association of American Geographers... in an effort to re-think our systems of representation to acknowledge our growing internationalism." Spearheaded under the presidency of geography professor
Eric Sheppard
Eric Sheppard (born 1 October 1950) is a British and American geographer, and Professor of Economic geography at UCLA.
Background
Sheppard grew up in Cambridge, England and studied geography at the University of Bristol under Peter Haggett (g ...
(
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, formerly
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
), the name change reflects the US-based organization's diversity and inclusion of non-American members and participants.
Publications
The ''
''
and ''
The Professional Geographer
''The Professional Geographer'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal publishing short articles on all aspects of geography. The journal is published by Taylor and Francis on behalf of the American Association of Geographers. According to t ...
'' are the association's flagship journals. Additional journals published by the organization include the ''AAG Review of Books'', ''GeoHumanities'', and ''
African Geographical Review
The ''African Geographical Review'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the American Association of Geographers' Africa Specialty Group.
The journal was originally established in 1963 at Makerere ...
''. The AAG also publishes a monthly newsletter
that contains reflections on programs and issues of concern in society of a geographic nature, a jobs column, and accomplishments and innovations of AAG members. The AAG additionally publishes the ''Guide to Geography Programs in the Americas'', a description of programs in higher education in North and South America that offer a geography degree, a geography certificate program, and/or geography courses.
Another publication is ''
Earth Interactions
''Earth Interactions (EI)'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, and Association of American Geographers. ''EI'' publishes research on the interactions among the atmosp ...
''.
Specialty groups
The AAG has more than 80 specialty or affinity groups, voluntary associations of AAG members who share interests in regions or topics. Specialty groups have long provided a way for geographers with specific interests to collaborate and communicate, including organizing and sponsoring sessions at the annual meeting as well as granting awards to their members. The AAG also offers Knowledge Communities, a set of online tools for collaboration.
Annual meetings
Since its founding in 1904, the AAG has held an annual meeting for the geography community.
In recent years, this conference has attracted between 7,000 and 9,000 attendees. The annual meeting offers upwards of 4,000 papers and presentations on topics as diverse as soil moisture,
climate change,
population dynamics, political instability, sustainable agriculture, natural hazards, urban landscapes, geography and militarism,
and technologies such as
geographic information system
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...
s. Hands-on workshops on methods and technological tools are an important part of these meetings. The annual meetings also offer an extensive exhibit hall featuring publishers, technology companies, universities, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Field trips are offered in the diverse locations that these conferences are held.
The Annual Meetings are held in February, March, or April each year for four to five days. In recent years, the meetings have been held virtually (2020, 2021, and 2022) and in person in DC (2019), New Orleans (2018), Boston (2017), San Francisco (2016), Chicago (2015), Tampa (2014),
Los Angeles (2013), New York (2012), and Seattle (2011).
The AAG also sponsors fall meetings based within each regional divisions of the organization. These regional divisions are groupings of several states in the United States, and include, Pacific Coast, Great Plains/Rocky Mountains, Southwest, West Lakes, East Lakes, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Middle States, and New England/St. Lawrence Valley.
Partnerships
To effectively advance geography in society requires partnerships. The AAG has a long history of fruitful partnerships with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private industry. These include the
National Council for Geographic Education
The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE), chartered in 1915, is a non-profit scientific and educational society in the United States that promotes and supports geography education.
Annual conference
NCGE holds an annual conference ...
, the
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
, the
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
, the
American Geosciences Institute
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is a nonprofit federation of about 50 geoscientific and professional organizations that represents geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. The organization was founded in 1948. The name of ...
and others.
Awards
The James R. Anderson Medal of Honor (the Anderson Medal) is awarded by the AAG Applied Geography Specialty Group to recognise highly distinguished service to the profession of geography in the field of industry, government, literature, education, research, service to the profession, or public service. It is named for James R. Anderson, the third chief geographer of the
U.S. Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...
.
The
G. K. Gilbert Award for Excellence in Geomorphological Research (not to be confused with the
G. K. Gilbert Award given by the
Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences.
History
The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...
), is presented to the author(s) of a single significant contribution to the published research literature in
geomorphology
Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...
.
AAG also issues an annual award to a university geography program that is helping advance the field of geography.
It also has a series of awards for significant books about geography, the John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize, the AAG Globe Book Award for Public Understanding of Geography, and the AAG Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work in Geography.
Presidents
†died during his tenure
See also
*
Areography (geography of Mars)
Areography, also known as the geography of Mars, is a subfield of planetary science that entails the delineation and characterization of regions on Mars. Areography is mainly focused on what is called physical geography on Earth; that is the dis ...
*
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...
*
Cartography
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
*
Climatology
Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of stud ...
*
Cultural geography
Cultural geography is a subfield within human geography. Though the first traces of the study of different nations and cultures on Earth can be dated back to ancient geographers such as Ptolemy or Strabo, cultural geography as academic study first ...
*
Demography
Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and Population dynamics, dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups ...
*
Development geography
Development geography is a branch of geography which refers to the standard of living and its quality of life of its human inhabitants. In this context, development is a process of change that affects peoples' lives. It may involve an improvement ...
*
Economic geography
Economic geography is the subfield of human geography which studies economic activity and factors affecting them. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics.
There are four branches of economic geography.
There is,
primary secto ...
*
Gamma Theta Upsilon
Gamma Theta Upsilon ( or GTU) is an international honor society in geography.
History
On May 15, 1928, a local professional fraternity by the name of Gamma Theta Upsilon was formed at Illinois State University under the guidance of Dr. R. G. Bu ...
*
Geodesy
Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...
*
Geographic Information Science
*
Geographic Information Systems
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a br ...
*
Geographical space
*
Geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
*
Geomatics
Geomatics is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as the "discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information". Under another definition, it ...
*
Geomorphology
Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...
*
Geovisualization Geovisualization or geovisualisation (short for geographic visualization), also known as cartographic visualization, refers to a set of tools and techniques supporting the analysis of geospatial data through the use of interactive visualization.
Li ...
*
Glaciology
Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice.
Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, climato ...
*
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
*
Health geography
Health geography is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of health, disease, and health care. Medical geography, a sub-discipline of or sister field of health geography, Oxford Bibliographies entry of ...
*
Historical Geography
Historical geography is the branch of geography that studies the ways in which geographic phenomena have changed over time. It is a synthesizing discipline which shares both topical and methodological similarities with history, anthropology, eco ...
*
Hydrology
Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...
*
Landscape ecology
Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems. This is done within a variety of landscape scales, development spatial patterns, and organizati ...
*
National Council for Geographic Education
The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE), chartered in 1915, is a non-profit scientific and educational society in the United States that promotes and supports geography education.
Annual conference
NCGE holds an annual conference ...
*
Oceanography
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...
*
Palaeogeography
Palaeogeography (or paleogeography) is the study of historical geography, generally physical landscapes. Palaeogeography can also include the study of human or cultural environments. When the focus is specifically on landforms, the term pale ...
*
Pedology
Pedology (from Greek: πέδον, ''pedon'', "soil"; and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is a discipline within soil science which focuses on understanding and characterizing soil formation, evolution, and the theoretical frameworks for modeling ...
*
Planetary Science
*
Remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Earth ...
*
Time geography Time geography or time-space geography is an evolving transdisciplinary perspective on spatial and temporal processes and events such as social interaction, ecological interaction, social and environmental change, and biographies of individuals. T ...
*
Transportation geography
Transport geography or transportation geography is a branch of geography that investigates the movement and connections between people, goods and information on the Earth's surface.
Aims and scope
Transportation geography detects, describes, and e ...
*
Urban geography
Urban geography is the subdiscipline of geography that derives from a study of cities and urban processes. Urban geographers and urbanists examine various aspects of urban life and the built environment. Scholars, activists, and the public have ...
References
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
*
AAG YouTube ChannelAAG Knowledge CommunitiesNational Council for Geographic EducationArchives of the AAG held at the AGS Library, UW Milwaukee
{{Authority control
1904 establishments in Pennsylvania
Geographic societies
Scientific societies based in the United States
Organizations established in 1904
Professional associations based in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Geographic data and information organizations in the United States