Updated May 4, 2011
AGS NEWS, WITH EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY HEADLINES
AGS Meetings AGS Travel Other AGS News Exploration News
AGS in the News? .... Please Tell Us.
Working with a public relations consultant for the past few months, AGS has been sending press releases to more than one hundred media outlets, both national and regional, around the country.
So far, the press releases have been about articles appearing in the Geographical Review or in FOCUS on Geography, identified by the consultant as most apt to strike the media as newsworthy. Other AGS activities will be highlighted in the future.
Now we need a little help from our friends.
Without hiring a clipping service (very expensive!), there are only two ways we can judge whether or not this public relations campaign is having any impact or not: 1) If members of the press call us for further information. 2) If our friends let us know they have heard or read something about the American Geographical Society in their local media.
So, if you run across something about AGS in the news, please let us know what the story was about and where and when you encountered it. Either call (212)422-5456, email to AGS@amergeog.org, fax to (212)422-5480, or mail to 120 Wall St., Suite 100, New York, NY 10005.
Thank you for being our eyes and ears around the country.
AGS Breaking News
Distinguished Jefferson Science Fellow Lecture by Dr. Jerry Dobson
Dr. Dobson is a professor of Geography at the University of Kansas, who served as a Jefferson Fellow and senior scientist in the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues for 2009-2010. Dobson is also president of the American Geographical Society.
His leadership in Geographic Information System has been recognized through the Robert T. Aangeenbrug Distinguished Career Award, confirmed by the Geographic Information Systems and Science Specialty Group of the Association of American
Geographers in 2009, and the Award of Distinction conferred by the Cartography and Geographic Society in 2008. He is chair of the Great Plains Rocky Mountain Division of the Association of American Geographers, a fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. This videoed lecture took place on May 25, 2010.
The American Geographical Society’s Bowman Expeditions seek to improve geographic understanding at home and abroad: Spotlight on México Indígena
.
México Indígena was the first Bowman Expedition and is the prototype for all subsequent expeditions. From 2005 through 2008, we worked in two indigenous regions of Mexico, studying the effects of changes brought on by Mexico’s
massive new land tenure program. We put geographic tools in the hands of the communities to help them use the power of GIS and maps to support their property claims and cultural rights, educate their youth, and plan conservation and
community development strategies. Read the complete news release in English and in Spanish and view photos of the researchers and community
leaders in the field.
President of the American Geographical Society Jerry Dobson was interviewed by Greg Hurd on "River City Weekly" early in 2005 at the University of Kansas, where he is a professor of Geography. You can listen to Part I of the interview by clicking here. This videoclip requires Quicktime software, downloadable for free online. The Dawning of the G-Bomb. This Commentary by Jerry Dobson (AGS President and member of the AGS Writer's Circle) appeared in Directions Magazine on April 30, 2005. The Human Tracking Debate. This Op Ed piece by Jerry Dobson (AGS President and member of the AGS Writer's Circle) appeared in the Casper, Wyoming, Star Tribune on March 7, 2005. Every step you take, every move you make: It's time for an explicit national debate on human-tracking that goes far beyond privacy issues. Who should have the right to track you? This Op Ed piece by Jerry Dobson (AGS President and member of the AGS Writer's Circle) appeared in the South Mississippi Sun Herald on February 19, 2005. Back in the USSR?. To Understand Radicalism, We Must Know Geography. Free Trade and the Geography of Ignorance.
You can listen to Part II of the interview by clicking here.
*** Note that these are 5MB files, so they will take a while to download if you are using a dial-up connection.
Acknowledgements: Mt. Everest 3-D Geovisualization: ESRI, Inc.
Israel 3-D Geovisualization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The video clips are provided courtesy of “River City Weekly”, Greg Hurd/Brian Powell, Producers, Sunflower Broadband 6Productions, 644 New Hampshire, Lawrence, Kansas 66044, Tel: (785) 832-6372. Email ghurd@sunflowerbroadband.com.
Copies of the video may be purchased by contacting:
Kevin Hoehns, Tape Dub Coordinator, 6Productions, 644 New Hampshire,
Lawrence, Kansas 66044. Tel: (785) 832-6344. Email khoehns@sunflowerbroadband.com.
This Op Ed piece by Jerry Dobson (AGS President and member of the AGS Writer's Circle) appeared in the Chicago Tribune (Final Edition) on Feb 25, 2005; pg. 21 [Note: Requires Log-on membership to access this piece].
This Op Ed piece by David J. Keeling (AGS Councilor, Webmaster, and member of the AGS Writers Circle) appeared online in the Anchorage Press, Vol. 13, edn. 41, October 14-20, 2004
This Op Ed piece by David J. Keeling (AGS Councilor, Webmaster, and member of the AGS Writers Circle) appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader on September 7, 2004
This Op Ed piece by David J. Keeling (AGS Councilor, Webmaster, and member of the AGS Writers Circle) appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 3, 2004, page B-9.
Geographic Ignorance Drives Foreign Policy.
This commentary by Jerry Dobson (AGS President) appeared in the
April 2004 issue of Geoplace.com and addresses the issue of geography in the development and management of foreign policy.
Dr. John A. Kelmelis, Chief Scientist for Geography at the U.S. Geological Survey, has accepted a temporary assignment as Senior Counselor for Earth Science at the U.S. Department of State. As such, he provides policy level advice on using geography, geology, hydrology, biology, oceanography, climatology, and related sciences and technologies in establishing and executing U.S. foreign policy and in building confidence in science and technology in foreign regions of interest to the United States. Among his tasks are enhancing the use of earth and natural sciences for improved diplomatic planning and response; identifying new and emerging earth and natural science findings that have foreign policy implications; and serving as senior advisor to the interagency Humanitarian Information Unit on the use of earth science data and expertise for responses to natural disasters and complex emergencies in foreign lands. John is a Councilor of the American Geographical Society and is active in numerous other professional and scientific organizations nationally and internationally. He received his B.A. in Earth Science from Central Connecticut State University, M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri at Rolla, and a Ph.D. in Geography from the Pennsylvania State University.
The American Geographical Society Library at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee has just received a particularly significant and valuable addition to the collection.
A major part of the personal library of the late James Parsons of the University of California-Berkeley has been given to the AGS Library by his widow Betty. The donated materials have a strong focus on Colombia but also contain significant items relating to Venezuela and the Canaries. "Gifts of this type are priceless because they provide the library with the benefits of a lifetime of focused, discriminating collecting of materials that often were simply unavailable in the United States," commented AGSL Curator, Dr. Christopher Baruth. This gift further strengthens the rich holdings on Latin America at the AGS Library, enhancing what was already an important resource for scholars of Latin America.
Dr. Parsons, who received the David Livingstone Centenary Medal from the AGS in 1985 for “scientific achievement in the field of geography of the southern hemisphere”, was a strong supporter of the Geographical Review over his entire professional career and a frequent contributor to its pages. One of his one-time graduate students, Dr. Paul Starrs, has just stepped down as editor of the Geographical Review after a notable seven-year tenure in that post.
The AGS and the AGS Library thank Mrs. Parsons for this exceptional gift.
In August, Dr. Gregory Chu, Editor of FOCUS on Geography took up duties at the National Science Foundation (NSF) as Program Director for the Geography and Regional Science Program in the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences in the Directorate of Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences.
Dr. Chu has made arrangements to share editorial duties for the magazine during the time he is at NSF, since he will be working on FOCUS on Geography on personal time while dealing with the heavy workload at NSF. A member of the magazine’s editorial board, Dr. James E. Young, has agreed to serve as co-editor for the duration of Dr. Chu’s tenure at NSF. Young is Associate Professor and Chair at the Department of Geography and Planning at Appalachian State University.
Until further notice, manuscript submissions for FOCUS on Geography should be sent to Dr. Young at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608.
Dr. Chu, who began work on FOCUS on Geography in mid-2002, has delighted devotees of the Magazine by swiftly bringing out four solid issues in less than a year, with a fifth expected before the end of 2003. The four issues published include a special issue on Mongolia and one on Greece. Chu credits previous editor, Hilary Lambert, for the development of the Mongolia and Greece issues, which have been several years in the making.
Geoslavery. This thought-provoking article by Jerry Dobson (AGS President) and Peter Fisher appeared in The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) journal - The Technology and Society Magazine -- Vol. 22 (1), pp. 47-52, Spring 2003.
To read this article, just click on: Wall Street Journal article.
On Tuesday, February 4, 2003, the parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia voted to
disband itself, officially dissolving the country that was created in 1918 as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Seventy-four years ago, in 1929, the Kingdom changed its name to Yugoslavia, a name
that now lives on in history. Visit About Geography for the full story.
In his recent article, “Cellular Tower Proliferation in the United States” published in the Geographical Review (GR), Dr. Thomas A.Wikle points out how America’s love affair with wireless telephony is in full bloom and still growing. He also shows us, as any good geographer would, what are some of the consequences of and responses to this communications phenomenon.
According to Dr. Wikle’s research, cell phone users in our fair land now number 128 million and require 138,000 cell phone towers in order to facilitate the innumerable number of calls we make from our cars, our streets, our trains, and yes, even from our offices and homes. And, lest we think there is likely to be any pause in the growth in usage of cell phones, our cell phone service providers recruited 23,000,000 new users between 2000 and 2001. A fact requiring the erection of 20,000 new cell phone towers.
As the title of his article makes clear, the principal focus of Dr. Wilkie’s investigation and report is how these towers are affecting America’s suburban and rural countryside - often causing consternation to residents, environmentalists and town boards - and how imagination and ingenuity is coming into play in order to relieve rightful concerns.
For example, cell phone towers come in a variety of sizes and shapes, not all of which are 200 feet in height. In fact, many of the newer cell phone towers are no longer self-standing towers at all but are installed - and hidden -- in church steeples and farm silos. And that funny looking tree that shot up overnight out in that field isn’t a tree at all.
Dr. Wikle’s emphasis on cell phone tower proliferation as mainly a matter of visual aesthetics and to a lesser, though not unimportant, extent, the potential impact on land values, is well-placed. Sensationalist rumors to the contrary, no substantial claims or survey results show that proximity to cell phone towers, whatever form they may take, causes problems with the health of individuals - unless one is trying to catch a few extra winks an the early morning train and has the misfortune of sitting next to a person whose cell phone voice is a couple too many decibels above neighborliness.
The American Geographical Society, founded in 1851, is the oldest national geographical organization in the United States. It is recognized as a worldwide pioneer in geographical exploration and education. Its mission is to link the business, professional and scholarly worlds in the creation and application of geographical knowledge and techniques in order to address the social, commercial and environmental issues of the day.
For more information and/or a copy of Dr. Wikle’s article, “Cellular Tower Proliferation in the United States” please contact Mary Lynne Bird, Executive Director of the American Geographical Society at 212/422-5456 (voice), 212/422-5480 (fax).
New theories suggest that the Chinese
may have discovered North America in 1421! Visit the website of the new book 1421- The Year China Discovered The World, and explore the evidence.
Erik Lindbergh, grandson of AGS Globe-signer and famous aviator Charles Lindbergh,
recreated his grandfather's record-breaking flight by flying solo across the Atlantic to Le Bourget airport outside Paris on the 75th anniversary of the original 1927 flight.
Erik arrived in France on May 2, 2002.
Prince William of the United Kingdom recently announced that he's changing his university major from Art History to Geography!
AGS Announces New Leadership
Dr. Jerome E. Dobson was elected president of the American Geographical Society at the meeting of the Society's Council on February 23rd in New York.
Dobson is a research professor at the University of Kansas in the Applied Remote Sensing Program of the Kansas Biological Survey and in the Department of Geography.
He is also Contributing Editor of GeoWorld.
Dobson went to Kansas only recently, having served for many years as a member of the Distinguished Research &
Development Staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Among other things, he has served as President of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science,
U.S. Delegate and Expert to the International Standards Organization, member of the Editorial Advisory Board of GISWorld, Scientific Editor of the GIS World Sourcebook,
Chair of the Geographic Information Systems Specialty Group of the AAG, member of the Steering Committee of the National Committee for Digital Cartographic Data Standards,
Leader of the Resource Analysis Group in ORNL's Energy Division, and co-founder and first Chair of the Energy Specialty Group of the AAG.
The new AGS president played an instrumental role in originating the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis
and in establishing the Department of Defense's LandScan Global Population Project and NOAA's Coastal Change Analysis Program. With colleagues at ORNL he produced the
LandScan Global Population Database that has become the world standard for estimating populations at risk during natural disasters, wars, and terrorist acts.
The AGS Council also acquired a new member on February 23rd, with the election of Chris Duncan. Duncan is Vice President for
Finance and Chief Risk Officer of Delta Airlines. Previously, he has served as a risk management analyst for such companies as Ford Motor Company and Tillinghast. He is a
contributing author to the American Management Association's Management Handbook on the role of risk management in organizations. The new AGS Councilor is also part owner and
Chief Financial Officer of Navigational Sciences Inc., a privately held company dedicated to developing, innovating, and marketing data, products, and solutions in the marine
transportation and marine geographic information systems marketplace. According to a report in the New York Times on March 3rd, Duncan is an architect of the plan to
establish an insurance company for the airline industry that would "resist the sharp price increases and reductions in coverage imposed by traditional insurers since the
September terrorist attacks....By having their own insurer, the airlines expect to save hundreds of dollars a year, which would help to keep airfares from rising."
AGS Announces New Editor of the Geographical Review
The American Geographical Society has appointed the new EDITOR of the Geographical Review for a three-year term beginning January 2003, with responsibility for the annual volumes 2003-2005. Visit the webpage for more information or contact the AGS office (212-422-5456).
AGS Announces New Editor of FOCUS on Geography Magazine
The American Geographical Society has appointed the new EDITOR of FOCUS on Geography Magazine for a three-year term beginning March 1, 2002. Visit the webpage for more information or contact the AGS office (212-422-5456).
Discovery and Exploration News
On September 19, 1991, the Iceman, a Stone Age wanderer and the most ancient human being ever found, is discovered in the
Similaun glacier in the Alps on the Italian-Austrian border.
On September 2, 1985, a joint U.S.-French expedition team announced that it had located the wreckage of the Titanic about 560
miles off Newfoundland, 73 years after the British luxury liner sank.
On August 7, 1927, the Peace Bridge between
the U.S. & Canada was dedicated during ceremonies attended by the Prince of Wales and Vice President Charles Dawes.
On July 5, 1841, Thomas Cook (1808-1892) arranged a special train between Leicester and Loughborough in England for
a temperance meeting. This is believed to be the first publicly advertised excursion train in England. For more details about AGS-sponsored excursions, go to AGS Travel.
On June 13, 1983, space probe vehicle Pioneer 10 crossed the orbit of Neptune and became the first human-made object to leave our Solar System.
On May 8, 1961, the first practical sea-water conversion plant in the U.S. was opened in Freeport, Texas.
On March 11, 1960, Pioneer V was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in one of the first in-depth attempts to explore and study
the solar system.
The Mars Odyssey spacecraft has identified what appear to be large areas of ice on the red planet's surface,
a discovery that could prove key to the search for life there, U.S. space scientists reported on March 1, 2002.
Deep-ocean researchers found an extraordinary oasis of extremophile life on February 19, 1977, when John B. Corliss and John M.
Elmond used the research submersible Alvin to descend to the Pacific Ocean floor off the Galapagos Islands.
On February 13, 1633, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition for professing the
belief that the earth revolves around the sun.
On February 8, 1999, the International
Astronomical Union (IAU) confirmed the discovery of Supernova 1999Z by amateur astronomer Michael Schwartz, the director of Tenagra Observatories.
On February 3, 1966, the Soviet Union accomplished the first
controlled landing on the Moon, when the unmanned spacecraft Lunik 9 touched down on the Ocean of Storms.
Maps in the News -- Great Maps.
About Geography with Matt Rosenberg. Basic Geographic Information
The Geography in the News
site.
Strategic Forecasting Site, with
daily political geography updates.
AGS Meetings
The Summer 2005 AGS Council Meeting convenes on Saturday May 7 in Charleston, SC.
Other AGS News and Calendar
New issue of FOCUS on Geography now available.
All issues of FOCUS since 1950 are now archived and searchable online
AGS Travel Program
Several new and exciting AGS travel itineraries are available for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. These AGS-sponsored tours are accompanied by an AGS lecturer. Visit the travel program page for more details about these exciting travel opportunities.