written by Hannah Kass
This March, geographers across the US and the world descended upon sunny San Francisco for another annual meeting of the American Association of Geographers! Despite the distance from our beloved home in the tundra, many members of the UW–Madison Geography department made the trek to California. We were treated to warmer-than-usual weather for the Bay Area, a welcome opportunity to thaw from the last blizzard of winter hitting the Midwest. Many of us braved brutally stormy conditions to connect with our colleagues at the conference!
Sharing Knowledge with the AAG Community
Graduate students Benjamin Kao and c nelson hosted a series of 3 sessions on infrastructures of care. They had a great turn out in all three sessions, networked with visiting scholars from the UK at the University of Greenwich who presented and attended, and made plans to continue conversations at the RGS. Ben did an outstanding job handling c’s delayed arrival, as well as other presenters needing to present virtually due to the inclement weather conditions that impacted many AAG attendees.
Geograds Markia Silverman-Rodriguez and Kela Caldwell took part in sessions, a book party, and business meeting for the Feminist Geographies Specialty Group. Both hold graduate representative positions in the FGSG.
At the Socialist and Critical Geography Specialty Group (SCGSG) Business Meeting, geograd Hannah Kass helped establish an AAG Mutual Aid Signal chat, where attendees can connect before and during meetings to coordinate and share housing, meals, and other conference expenses. Click this link if you’d like to join the Signal chat and offset the financial burden of attending AAG!
Faculty and geograds also collaborated on session organizing and presentations. Geograd Anika Rice and Professor Matt Turner co-organized a session titled “Migration and Environment: Political ecologies of mobility, land and climate.” Anika was also awarded the Rural Geography Specialty Group Student Presentation Award for her presentation, “Landscapes of Debt: Land titling and migration loans in the Guatemalan highlands.” Congratulations, Anika!
Celebrating with Close Colleagues
On the Wednesday evening of the conference week, the Geography departments at UW and U of Minnesota came together for our annual joint AAG party! The party took place at East Brother Beer Co., a brewery located only a short walk away from the conference venue. Wisconsinites, Minnesotans, and colleagues from our shared networks gathered at the brewery to connect over drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
All in all, members of the UW–Madison Geography department maintained our usual lively presence at this year’s AAG meeting in San Francisco. Next stop, the opposite coast: UW will continue our tradition of active AAG engagement at the 2027 meeting in New York City!
